SquareMind, a France-based robotics startup developing AI-powered dermatology solutions to make high-quality skin exams more efficient and accessible, raised $18 million in a pre-Series A funding round.
The recent funding round for SquareMind marks a pivotal shift from research and development to global commercialization for the Paris-based robotics startup.
Sonder Capital, a California-based venture fund co-founded by medical robotics pioneer and Intuitive Surgical founder Fred Moll, led the investment round with participation by the Deeptech 2030 Fund, managed on behalf of the French government by a Bpifrance initiative, Adamed Technology, Calm/Storm Ventures, Teampact Ventures, and several prominent entrepreneurs.
SquareMind said the fresh funding will support the growth of its commercial, engineering, and customer support teams in preparation for a near-term commercial launch of the Swan robotic skin imaging platform in the United States and Europe, where demand for skin exams is high and rising.
The platform uses a robotic arm to perform a contactless, full-body scan in just a few minutes. It acts as a “digital companion” for doctors, automating the tedious task of mapping every mole and lesion to reduce diagnostic fatigue.
Skin screening is the number-one volume procedure in dermatology, and demand continues to outpace capacity due to a rapidly aging population concerned with skin care, with waitlists stretching months. Time constraints leave little room for thorough documentation, which is important for early detection as 80% of melanomas – a lethal skin cancer – are new lesions.
“We are excited to partner with Sonder Capital and all our investors as we ready ourselves to bring Swan™ to market and respond to the strong traction we are seeing from practices and hospitals,” said Ali Khachlouf, Co-founder and CEO of SquareMind.
Digital health companies, including healthcare robotics startups, have secured more than $180 billion in funding to date, according to our recent Funding Database.
More recently, Almanac Health, a provider of an AI-powered point-of-care evidence-based clinical decision support platform for healthcare providers, raised $10 million in Seed funding.
In another deal, AcuityMD, a provider of a data-driven sales enablement platform designed specifically for the medical technology (MedTech) industry, raised $80 million in a recent Series C funding round to advance its platform with cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and drive the adoption of its medical technology platform.