Last week, Iowa City based iotaMotion CEO and co-founder, Chris Kaufmann, MD, announced that the company had completed its usability testing and raised $2.52 million in funding to help the company continue building products and managing the regulatory hurdles associated with commercialization.
“We’re pleased to have completed this second round of friends-and-family financing with participation from both existing and new investors,” said Chris Kaufmann, MD, President and co-founder of iotaMotion. “The funds will be used to complete key milestones as we move towards regulatory submission and prepare for a controlled, phased commercialization of the technology. We remain excited by the impact that the iotaSOFT robotic-assisted insertion technology can have on cochlear implant surgery, especially after the positive surgeon feedback in completing our usability study last month.”
iotaMotion is building products that help create tools for treating hearing loss. In particular, the company has focused on making cochlear implants safer and more effective through their new technologies. iotaSOFT is a robotic system which aides insertion allowing surgeons to treat hearing loss more effectively. The announcement of the fundraise was also marked by the successful completion of the iotaSOFT human factors usability study which was held in July. This usability study marks an important hurdle on the path of FDA regulatory approval.
“We’re excited to prepare and file our submission to the FDA seeking regulatory clearance for the iotaSOFT system,” said Eric B. Timko, Executive Chairman of iotaMotion. “Robotics have made significant impacts in healthcare across many disciplines, and iotaMotion is well positioned to be the leader in providing robotics solutions that are clinically effective, economically efficient, and operationally simple to deploy and support.”
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The company is a spin-out startup from the University of Iowa’s Otolaryngology Department. This spin out marks the second time this year that Iowa City has seen a significant venture capital raise from a startup company that was spun out from the University of Iowa. The first was the $33 million raise by IDx, a device that helps treat patients with glaucoma and other eye related diseases.
This is the second private fundraising event for iotaMotion. However, in addition to private financings, iotaMotion has been the beneficiary of both IEDA grants, National Science Foundation grants, and other federal government allocations.
To find out more about the company, check out their website at www.iotamotion.com.
