Titan Medical raises $3M for surgical robotics platform

Titan Medical raised $3 million via stock sale to Aspire Capital Fund. This is part of a deal in which the Chicago-based, long-only investment fund has committed to purchase up to $35 million of common shares of Titan Medical through February 28, 2022, according to the SEC filing.

According to the agreement, Toronto-based Titan Medical will control the timing and the amount of common shares sold to Aspire Capital. Titan Medical can direct Aspire Capital to purchase up to 100,000 common shares, with a value not exceeding $500,000, of its common shares on any business day. Also based on the agreement:

• Aspire Capital will not be allowed to own more than 9.99% of the issued and outstanding common shares of at any time without approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).
• The total number of common shares that may be issued can’t exceed 24.99% of Titan Medical’s outstanding common shares unless its obtains shareholder approval.

Earlier this week, Titan Medical delayed the timeline of its Sport robot-assisted surgical device. Titan Medical CEO David McNally said the delay will allow the company to improve the single-port system and “implement all planned system and sterile instrument interface components, software enhancements and training tools, in order not only to further de-risk our IDE studies, but also to introduce a more refined product in the marketplace.”

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The delay could potentially be related to a high burn rate involved with the R&D of the Sport system. A high burn rate is quite common in the robotics world. McNally added, “by extending our resources and milestones, we can ensure the highest likelihood of success for our single-port robotic system from clinical, regulatory, and commercial perspectives, and enable a robust and careful examination of our future funding options, which may include strategic sources.”

Titan Medical closed a $25 million IPO in March 2019. It also partnered with Teleflex to integrate Teleflex’s polymer ligation technology into its Sport platform.