ForSight Robotics may be seeing stars after raising $125 million in venture capital funding to power the first human clinical trials of its eye surgery platform in the coming year.
The Israeli startup’s series B round was led by Eclipse, and was joined by the Adani Group and Reiya Ventures, plus robotic surgery leader Frederic Moll alongside “significant participation from an undisclosed strategic investor,” the company said.
“We see ophthalmology as the next frontier in the robotics revolution—much like general surgery was before the rise of Intuitive Surgical,” Joseph Nathan, ForSight Robotics’ co-founder, president and chief medical officer said in a statement. “With a comparable market size and an urgent global need, our opportunity ahead is immense.”
The company estimates that demand for ophthalmologists is set to rise by 24% over the next decade—while the number of those specialists may decline by as much as 12%. At the same time, more than 600 million people suffer from cataracts, but only 30 million have received surgical treatment, with about 4 million procedures being completed in the U.S. annually.
“Through our latest funding round, we will bring the same level of transformative impact to eye surgery, with technology designed specifically for its unique precision and complexity,” Nathan added.
The former Fierce Medtech Fierce 15 winner’s Oryom micromechanical platform aims to start with cataract procedures—though it is designed to reach any point within the human eye, and has its sights set on treating glaucoma and conducting retinal surgeries in the future.
The company said more than two dozen ophthalmic surgeons have completed hundreds of procedures in animal models using the Oryom system.
“ForSight Robotics is at the forefront of a transformation in surgical robotics, and the potential impact of its technology on global eye care is extraordinary,” said Seth Winterroth, partner at Eclipse, which previously backed the startup during its seed round and $55 million series A in 2022.
“The company is tapping into a massive, underserved market with a breakthrough approach to ophthalmic surgery, positioning itself to set a new standard in eye care and drive innovation on a global scale,” Winterroth said.
ForSight has raised $195 million to date, and recently established a strategic advisory board, including Rony Abovitz, founder of Mako Surgical, and Moll, who co-founded Intuitive and Auris Surgical; Moll also recently joined the company’s board of directors.