Our Investment in Andromeda Surgical: AI Robots for surgery
Andromeda is infusing AI tools with hardware to make cost-effective surgical robots which can perform error-free life saving surgeries that only the top 5% surgeons can perform currently.
Note: Attack Capital is an investor in Andromeda Surgical through our Demo Day Fund. Our Access Fund invests in the top decile of startups from recent YC batches. To be an LP, book a call here.
Andromeda is building surgical robots for making intricate surgeries error-free, efficient, and consistent and helping surgeons treat their patients better using AI.
With Andromeda Surgical, it’s back to home base for Nick Damiano and Kartik Tiwari. Both the co-founders have previously gone through Y Combinator with their companies.
Nick Damiano was a part of the YC Winter 2015 Batch with his company Zenflow, a medical device manufacturer. Zenflow managed to raise ~70Mn from top biotech VCs and is poised for a strong commercial launch after achieving success in multiple clinical trials.
Kartik Tiwari’s Starsky Robotics was a part of the YC Summer 2016 Batch. Starsky built driverless trucks and raised ~20Mn from blue-chip VCs.
The Need for Andromeda
Surgical outcomes are limited by surgeons’ skills and capabilities - both mental and physical. Not everyone around the world gets to access the top 1% of surgeons for their treatments.
Cost-effective technology can solve geographical and financial limitations for the majority of people undergoing complex life-saving surgeries.
Andromeda is targeting a $150Bn+ market for surgical robots and building 10X better technological capabilities using AI.
First Steps
Andromeda’s first product will be a surgical robot that augments urologists’ ability to perform HoLEP (Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate) surgeries for BPH (enlarged prostate) patients.
The procedure involves removing enlarged tissue using a scope or a laser; the mechanics of the procedure are relatively simple but have a steep learning curve for surgeons, creating a perfect opportunity for it to be replaced by an autonomous robot.
Nearly 40Mn men in the United States and 500Mn+ Globally suffer from this issue, and most of them need surgical care - a big enough white space for Andromeda.
Even better, Andromeda is planning to use an off-the-shelf robotic arm that controls the existing scope/laser, and the core value will come from Andromeda’s software. The company plans to use AI for needed localization and navigation.
Andromeda’s initial HoLEP robot project alone has a $3Bn+ market opportunity. Andromeda is planning to expand to a broad range of procedures, representing a $10Bn+ opportunity in urology alone.
Founder Market Fit
Nick Damiano, with Andromeda, became a 3X Medical Tech company founder. His previous company was Zenflow, which is still active. Before Zenflow, he founded Avail Medsystems, which is backed by VC powerhouses like Coatue Management and D1 Capital Partners. The company raised $113Mn and is used in over 1000 medical facilities - Nick knows how to build and scale a business.
Nick’s passion for medicine & technology comes from his early days at Stanford as an undergraduate student and then a graduate student. He studied Biomedical engineering, and he was also a Biodesign Innovation Fellow at Sanford.
Kartik Tiwari is a perfect candidate to back Nick’s medicinal inclination to build this company. He comes from a machine learning and robotics background. He was the founder of a robotics startup, UpDroid, which raised more than $700,000+ to build modular robots.
Kartik’s big success came from Starsky Robotics, a company that built autonomous trucks and managed to get investment from some of the prominent blue-chip hardware investors.
Starsky Robotics’ trucks became the first street-legal vehicle to be paid to do real work without a person behind the wheel. They were also the first street-legal truck to do a fully unmanned run. In 2019, their truck became the first fully unmanned truck to drive on a live highway.
Hardware X Medicine X AI = Andromeda
To build successful surgical robots, you need a top-notch bio-medical engineer and another engineer with machine learning, robotics, and industrial design experience.
We are glad that Nick & Kartik, both now 3X founders, met each other and started this company together. We couldn’t be more proud to play a part in their journey and cheer them on from the sidelines.
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