German startup inveox secures €17m, axial3D raises funds to accelerate US expansion, and more news briefs

Also: FundamentalVR announces that its education platform can now support the Vive Pro Eye VR headset; Cutitronics doubles team ahead of product launch.
By Leontina Postelnicu
06:57 am
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Munich-headquartered startup inveox, maker of an AI-enabled system developed to digitise processes in pathology laboratories, has secured an investment of €17m. The new funds will be used to support their “forthcoming series production and expansion into new markets”, according to managing partner Maria Sievert. The names of the investors were not disclosed. 

The system is reportedly currently being deployed across several organisations in the DACH region, including university clinics in Germany. At the end of 2018, inveox, which was founded the previous year, opened an office in Krakow, Poland, that now hosts around 10 of its employees.

“We want to help lab technicians who give their best every day at labs and we want to ensure the safety of patients as well as the speed and reliability of the entire diagnostic process,” Sievert added in a statement.


Belfast-headquartered company axial3D, which is developing a medical 3D printing solution, has landed $3m (approx. €2.68m) in funding to accelerate its push into the US market and grow its team.

The round was led by science and tech investor Imprimatur Capital Fund Management, with participation from a US investment consortium that was not named and existing backers Techstart Ventures, Clarendon Fund Managers and Innovation Ulster Ltd.

“The closure of this investment round marks an important milestone for our company,” said Daniel Crawford, axial3D chief executive. “It will accelerate our growth within our expanding markets and enable us to bring our 3D printing solution to more healthcare organizations, helping them to drive down costs, improve compliance and ultimately, enhance patient care.”

Crawford said the company would now focus on the North American and European markets, while looking to open an office in the US and recruit more machine learning specialists. “This will enable us to continue to innovate and find new ways to bring 3D printing on-demand to the entire healthcare sector,” he added.


London-based FundamentalVR, maker of a surgical training platform combining VR with haptic sensors, has announced that Fundamental Surgery can now support the Vive Pro Eye VR headset which offers eye-tracking capabilities. The aim is to enable users to navigate their platform more seamlessly.

“For surgeons, understanding where to look and focus attention during a procedure is an imperative skillset,” said Richard Vincent, chief executive at FundamentalVR. “As a company committed to providing surgeons with the best virtual reality training experience possible with Fundamental Surgery, enabling eye-tracking was an obvious and important new offering for us to provide users to practice their visual skills easily, from a virtual world.”

Last year, after landing a three-year deal with the Mayo Clinic in the US, FundamentalVR secured $1.4m in new funding from investment company Tern Plc.


Glasgow-based Cutitronics, a University of Strathclyde spinout, has doubled its team ahead of the release of its first product in 2020. It revealed a prototype in France this April at the In-Cosmetics Global tradeshow, which consists of a device and accompanying app that analyses a user’s skin to dispense the appropriate amount of beauty products and cosmetics according to their needs.

Cutitronics says its solution, dubbed a “Fitbit for the skin”, can be adapted for any brand, therefore enabling businesses to build tailored packages for their customers, as personalised skincare continues to be a key trend in the industry.

“Technology companies need clever ideas, but they also need talented staff to turn those ideas into reality,” said Barry Hochfield, who opened Apple’s first R&D unit outside the US market and is a cofounder of Cutitronics.

“I was thrilled with the response we got at In-Cosmetics Global Paris in April and Beauté Connectée in May, so I know our growing team will help us to introduce our product to more potential customers over the coming weeks and months,” Hochfield added.

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