When it comes to investment opportunities, there aren’t many industries that can make a widespread positive impact on society – but Medtech can. With each emerging technology healthcare professionals across the world can advance the way we treat illness, injury, and disease, and each time improve patient outcomes.  

Nami Surgical is a Glasgow-based Medtech company that’s set to transform the future of robotic surgery – and with first-round of funding secured, the company really is on track to revolutionise surgical procedures across the globe. 

The Medtech opportunity  

The surgical robotics market was valued at $8 billion in 2022 and is forecast to reach $36.37 billion by 2032 – a projected CAGR of 16.4% in a nine-year period1. The year 2024 saw the size of the wider Medtech industry stabilize at pre-pandemic growth rates, and procedure numbers worldwide remain high, after rebounding post pandemic.  

But there’s no doubt that numerous contributing factors mean that the industry remains highly competitive for individual business – especially when it comes to securing funding for labour and research intensive product development. Recent research by Deloitte has identified that startups who can focus on transformative technologies, address unmet needs in large markets, and create more efficient procedures across healthcare systems  will be more successful in attracting investment. Nami Surgical’s technology does all of the above – and the company is currently collecting ample evidence of its potential impact.  

The technology 

Nami Surgical develops miniaturized ultrasonic scalpels that have the capability to be used in robotic assisted surgeries. The company’s first product to enter the market, the Nami S, has been developed with direct input from robotic surgeons, and is the first ultrasonic scalpel to be compatible with robotic assisted surgeries.  

Robotic assisted surgeries allow the surgeon to have better visualisation of the surgical site and be more precise in the surgery which, in turn, directly leads to better outcomes and shorter recovery for patients. Ultrasonic scalpels allow surgeons to cauterise tissue as they operate, but until now, ultrasonic scalpels have been incompatible with wristed robotic assisted surgery due to their large size and lack of flexibility. The Nami S is miniaturised which allows for its increased compatibility. 

The status quo is a high unmet clinical need confining millions of procedures and affecting patient outcomes – the Nami S is the solution.  

The business 

Founded by Dr. Nico Fenu and Dr. Rebecca Cleary in 2022, the co-founders met while both completing their PHDs in relative specialisms within ultrasonics at the University of Glasgow. The early iterations of Nami’s technology were researched and applied within the University’s world class Centre for Medical and Industrial Ultrasonics (C-MIU). 

Since the development of Nami’s inaugural technology, the Nami S™, the team have achieved the following:  

• A building bank of patents for the precise technology that enables ultrasonic scalpel miniaturisation, without compromising surgical performance.  

• Proven to be comparable with the current ‘state of the art’ technology in seal strength and speed of dissection. 

• Secured £2.5 million in investment and £700,000 in grant funding.  

• Identified and refined a clear fast-tracked route to market.  

• Have built a team of experts who are willing to push the boundaries of what is possible in their field. 

• Built an experienced board of non-executive directors and scientific advisors, from across the Medtech industry.   

• Moved to new premises which include space for a state-of-the-art R&D prototyping lab.  

The Co-founders also recently met with Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes at the University of Glasgow’s Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre. Here, using Nami as an example, they discussed how spinouts that bridge the gap between academia and government are supercharging entrepreneurship, and the vital role this plays in Scotland’s economic landscape. 

If you would like to find out more about Nami Surgical and the opportunities it presents for investors and larger Medtech companies, please get in touch with the team, who can then share more information.