Utrecht-based Vitestro has raised €20mn to bring its robotic blood drawing device to market.
Founded in 2017, Vitestro aims to improve the blood draw experience for patients and address personnel shortages in healthcare — where the demand for skilled laboratory professionals is growing at a higher rate than any other occupation.
The startup’s device relies on infrared to locate the vein and ultrasound to create an image of the blood vessel. Then, an AI-based robotic needle uses this information to determine the right puncture location with submillimetre precision.
Since 2023, Vitestro is running the world’s largest-scale clinical trial for autonomous blood drawing devices in collaboration with hospitals and medical centres in the Netherlands.
The <3 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Following the end of the study, the company expects to receive the EU’s official certification for its device later this year. Vitestro will then deploy it to several hospitals and laboratories that have already made orders.
With the fresh funding, the company plans to speed up commercialisation in Europe, begin expansion in the US, increase its team, and develop additional product features.
Both existing and new investors backed the round, including Sonder Capita, NYBC Ventures, Invest-NL, and the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund).
“Our technology represents a major step forward in healthcare innovation,” Brian Joseph, commercial director and co-founder at Vitestro, said in the statement.
With healthcare needs constantly evolving, the use of robotics has been playing a pivotal role in fields such as surgery and rehabilitation. While autonomous blood drawing is still a largely uncharted area, it’s also one that holds significant promise.
One of the themes of this year’s TNW Conference is Venture: Show Me The Money. If you want to go deeper into what it takes to get your startup funded, discover the next company to back, or simply experience the event (and say hi to our editorial team), we’ve got something special for our loyal readers. Use the code TNWXMEDIA at checkout to get 30% off your business pass, investor pass or startup packages (Bootstrap & Scaleup).