ForSight’s robotic cataract surgery platform raises $125 million

ForSight Robotics this week announced a $125 million Series B. The funding arrives as the Israeli startup looks to expand ORYOM, a robotic surgery platform for cataracts and other eye diseases. The firm has already experienced a good bit of growth over the past few years, expanding its headcount to 110, ahead of clinical trials set for later this year.

Eclipse led the round, which brings ForSight’s total funding up to $195 million, including a $10 million raised announced in early 2021. Adani Group and Reiya Ventures also participated in the round, along with some existing investors. Are far of votes of confidence go, however, the most notable fundraising contributor may well be Frederic Moll. Way back in 1995, the robotic surgery pioneer founded Intuitive Surgical, the company behind the da Vinci system.

“We see ophthalmology as the next frontier in the robotics revolution – much like general surgery was before the rise of Intuitive Surgical,” says ForSight cofounder and Chief Medical Officer, Joseph Nathan. “With a comparable market size and an urgent global need, our opportunity ahead is immense.”

The company cites some troubling figures, noting that there are currently 31.7 ophthalmologists per million people on the planet. With cataract surgeons, that figure drops considerably down to 14.1.  As worrying as those numbers are, studies forecast a 12% decline in the global number of ophthalmologists over the next decade, while demand for cataract surgery is on track to increase by a quarter.

Like Intuitive before it, ForSight believes its robotic platform will help democratize access to these procedures.