Businesses in Wales backed for expansion

Here we feature the latest equity investments news in Wales

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MEDTECH venture Amotio has been boosted with a six-figure pre-seed funding round.

The £810,000 fundraiser was led by with a £500,000 equity investment from the Development Bank of Wales.

Cwmbran-based Amotio will use the investment to advance technology that will support better postoperative care and recovery times for joint surgery patients. It will also support Amotio with developing Amotio's product research and development leading to pre-clinical testing and regulatory approval.

Using methods pioneered by a team of surgeons and biomechanical engineers in Utrecht, Amotio has developed a new medical device to remove surgical cement during hip operations. The development bank's investment includes £350,000 from the Technology Seed Fund and £150,000 from the Wales Flexible Investment Fund.

Also supporting the investment round were specialist co-investors NLC Health Ventures with £210,000, and £100,000 from charity Orthopaedic Research UK (ORUK). ORUK’s investment committee includes some of the country’s leading orthopaedic clinicians.

Patients undergoing joint surgery may need to have follow-on treatment, with an earlier prosthesis being replaced. To remove the older prosthesis, surgeons currently have to remove the surgical cement which holds it in place - a lengthy and often complex process. This is followed by periods of rehabilitation of up to 12 to 15 weeks before a patient's joint becomes weight-bearing again.

Amotio’s prototype technology uses 3D-printing to create a state of the art, high precision surgical cutting device and guide technology, tailored to an individual's joint. It can then be placed accurately in the joint, allowing for the safe and efficient removal of surgical cement, and lessening the risk of further damage.