London-based virtual surgery platform Proximie has raised $38 million in a Series B financing round led by F-Prime Capital.

Existing investors Global Ventures, BECO Capital and Cedar Mundi Ventures participated in the round along with new backers Questa Capital, Eight Roads and Maverick Ventures.

WHAT THEY DO

Proximie's technology-enabled platform uses augmented reality, machine learning and artificial intelligence to let clinicians remotely "scrub in" to operating rooms to participate in and help guide procedures in real time.

It also captures data from procedures to later be cataloged and analyzed with the hope of improving techniques and creating better patient outcomes.

The company was founded in 2016 by Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram to enable surgeon collaboration. Over the last year, Proximie says it has experienced significant growth, with more than 10,000 surgical interactions in 300 hospitals in over 40 countries.

WHAT IT'S FOR

With its latest cash infusion, Proximie will continue growing into new markets, specifically in the U.S. and Europe. It also plans to invest in new technology capabilities through additional research and development.

"We are delighted to be working with this distinguished group of new investors and are thrilled by the continued support from our existing shareholders. This investment will fuel our growth and gives our platform the opportunity to revolutionise an important area of unmet need in the healthcare sector," Hachach-Haram said in a statement.

"We aim to have a profound impact on surgeons and the patients they treat through connected surgical care, making care more efficient, effective, affordable and accessible. Over the last twelve months, Proximie has grown exponentially, especially in the U.S., and we are enormously excited to continue our development so we can democratise access to the best possible healthcare worldwide."

MARKET SNAPSHOT

There are several digital health companies using technology to empower surgeons. Boston-based Activ Surgical recently scored FDA clearance for its intraoperative imaging module ActivSight. Prior to that, it closed a $15 million venture round for platform expansion.

Surgical support platform ExplORer Surgical recently closed a funding round worth $2.5 million. Its platform gives surgical teams a "digital playbook" to guide them through operations. It provides a step-by-step, role-specific procedural workflow designed to increase surgeon preparedness and better patient outcomes.

There's also Avail Medsystems, the maker of a telemedicine platform fine-tuned for remote procedure room collaborations. The company completed a $100 million Series B round of funding last fall.

Others are focusing on surgical training, including Osso VR and FundamentalVR.