Virtual reality surgeon training platform FundamentalVR raises £16m

London-based virtual reality (VR) startup FundamentalVR has secured $20m (£16.3m) in funding for its immersive medical training tech.

Founded in 2012, FundamentalVR has developed a medical simulation platform that combines VR and haptic feedback to give training surgeons a way to practice procedures.

FundamentalVR claims its tech can accurately mimic the sights, sounds, and physical touch of real surgery.

As well as further developments to its tech platform, FundamentalVR will use the new funding to expand its business geographically, with a focus on the US.

“Our platform can conduct a walkthrough of a procedure through to a full operation, facilitating surgical skills transfer,” said co-founder and chief executive Richard Vincent.

“Our immersive environments transform surgical skills acquisition in a scalable, low-cost, multiuser way. We are excited to scale our vision of creating a medical education environment unhindered by borders.”

The investment was led by EQT Life Sciences, a health tech-focused investment firm established in 2022 by the private equity company EQT Partners. Previous investor Downing Ventures also participated in the Series B round.

“With increasingly complex surgical procedures, it is important to provide medical professionals with new methods for surgical skills transfer and continued training and education while managing both the cost and time burden associated with these activities,” said Drew Burdon, partner at EQT Life Sciences.

“HapticVRTM is a differentiated approach which has already been adopted by a number of high-quality customers, in a short period of time, demonstrating the value that this system can add today”.

As part of the investment deal, Burdon has joined the board of directors for FundamentalVR.

The Series B round has brought the total funding raised by the company to $30m (£24.5m), following a £4.3m Series A round led by Downing Ventures in October 2019.

FundamentalVR has also partnered with notable medical institutions, including the Mayo Clinic and Sana Kliniken.

It follows a record year for British VR funding, with startups raising £154m in 2021.