For Standard Bariatrics, a Cincinnati-based surgical devicemaker, collecting series B financing was a multi-step affair.
It first locked down commitments of $35 million last June, shortly after receiving FDA clearance for its Titan SGS surgical stapler, used in certain weight-loss procedures.
It wasn’t until this month, however, that Standard Bariatrics gained access to the full amount, after the successful rollout of the device unlocked the second and final tranche of funding. The last bit of series B funding amounted to $9 million and, according to the company, arrived early, as the Titan SGS reached the required commercial milestones faster than expected.
The financing was led by U.S. Venture Partners. New investor River Cities Capital also joined in, as did RiverVest Venture Partners, Hatteras Venture Partners, Queen City Angels and Emergent Medical Partners, all of whom contributed to the startup’s series A, which brought in an undisclosed amount in June 2018.
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The newly completed venture capital round will help Standard Bariatrics continue the commercial launch of Titan SGS, which began in August with the support of the original tranche of funding.
The stapler was cleared by the FDA in April 2021 for use in sleeve gastrectomy procedures, where a large section of the stomach is surgically removed, leaving a much smaller sleeve-like structure that cannot hold as much food.
The Titan SGS provides surgeons with real-time audio and visual feeds as they form the remaining stomach tissue into the gastrectomy pouch. It also offers what the company says is the longest continuous staple cutline available for bariatric sleeve procedures, spanning 23 centimeters in a single firing.
The regulatory clearance was backed by clinical research showing that the device’s stapling could be completed faster and more efficiently than that of other surgical staplers, and also resulted in fewer leaks and less bleeding at the staple line.
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It hasn’t taken long since the Titan SGS’ rollout began for Standard Bariatrics to hit a handful of clinical and commercial milestones—including, just a few weeks after the launch, the first use of the stapler in a robotic sleeve gastrectomy procedure.
Sales of the surgical stapler surpassed the $1 million mark by November, and as of this month, they’ve since surged to approximately $3 million, the company said.
On the clinical side, Standard Bariatrics reported in January that the device had been used in more than 1,000 procedures, with physicians sharing positive feedback about both the device’s handling and their patients’ outcomes.