Shantel
Current Surgical Inc. today announced a $3.2 million seed funding round led by True Ventures, with participation from 1517 Fund and SciFounders. The Washington, DC-based medtech company is developing a software-enabled surgical platform to allow doctors to precisely and curatively treat a range of diseases. Since co-founders Alireza (Al) Mashal, PhD, and Chris Wagner, PhD, started Current Surgical in 2020, the company has raised $4 million in total, including a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation.
Cancer continues to be a leading cause of death worldwide, with more than 18 million new cases detected every year. More than 50% of these cases are now detected at an early stage, yet curative options have not kept pace. For example, the only curative option for solid tumors is a surgical procedure. However, nearly 50% of patients are not eligible for surgery, because the tumor is too difficult to remove without damaging surrounding organs. Chemotherapy and radiation therapies, with their associated side effects, therefore remain the most common treatment options, which are non-curative for most cancers.
Current Surgical is addressing this lack of curative treatment by giving doctors a precision guided needle that can accurately destroy tumors, without harming surrounding healthy tissue, anywhere in the body. Current Surgical’s smart surgical needle technology combines high resolution sensors and real-time image analysis into one tool, giving doctors precise control and feedback while destroying tumors. As a result, surgeons will be able to treat any solid tumor in any location — allowing millions of patients to receive curative surgery without the traditional limitations.
“Technological advancements now allow us to detect cancers earlier and earlier, but the capability to treat those tumors hasn’t improved,” explains Current Surgical CEO Al Mashal. “We are bridging this gap through our smart needle technology. We want to give doctors the ability to curatively treat cancers in hard-to-reach places — without the harmful, debilitating side effects of other treatment options.”
“We’re excited about this technology not only for its curative potential, but also because of how easy it is to put into the hands of the surgeon,” says Current Surgical CTO Chris Wagner. “Since the technology is integrated into the needle, it doesn’t take a large, expensive operating room to actually help patients.”
“There’s so much to be excited about with Current Surgical,” said Natasha Sharma, principal at True Ventures. “Al and Chris have put their energy and deep experience with surgical robotics and biophysics into creating smart surgical needles that give surgeons ‘eyes inside’ so they can work with greater precision, like never before. This team also has immense compassion for the patients and customers who will benefit. We seek that in founders, and we can’t wait to see this work come to life.”
Current Surgical’s technology is automating key steps of surgery so doctors can instead focus on determining the best treatment for patients. Beyond treating even the most intractable diseases, the technology has wide-ranging applications, from treating cardiac arrhythmias and hypertension to other sources of chronic pain.
About Current Surgical
Current Surgical is a preclinical-stage company enabling a new generation of hybrid therapies through the development of smart surgical tools to allow doctors to precisely treat currently untreatable solid tumors. For more on Current Surgical, please visit www.currentsurgical.com.
About True Ventures
Founded in 2005, True Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in early stage technology startups. With more than $3.8 billion under management, True provides seed and Series A financing to founders in some of today’s fastest growing markets. To date, True has helped more than 350 companies launch and scale their businesses, creating over 85,000 jobs worldwide. To learn more, visit www.trueventures.com.
