Forcen Secures $500K Seed Funding to Advance Force-Sensing Film Technology for Safer Minimally Invasive Surgery

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned that Forcen, a startup based in Toronto, Canada, has completed a $500,000 seed funding round. The round was led by NorthSpring Capital Partners, with participation from Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN) and Angel One.

Forcen is developing a force-sensing film technology that can enhance the safety of minimally invasive surgeries. The force-sensing film is a device wrapped around the exterior of surgical instruments, capable of measuring the forces exerted on internal tissues during procedures. It transmits the detected force values wirelessly to a monitor used by the surgeon, providing real-time force feedback. Additionally, the device triggers an alarm when the forces applied to internal tissues reach dangerous levels during surgery.

Compared with traditional surgery, minimally invasive surgery is increasingly chosen by patients due to its advantages of less trauma, reduced scarring, and faster recovery. However, since the endoscopic cameras used in minimally invasive procedures fail to provide effective force feedback to surgeons, there is a significant risk of iatrogenic injury to internal tissues caused by improper force application during the operation.

The force-sensing thin-film technology developed by Forcen enables surgeons to precisely perceive the magnitude of force exerted by surgical instruments on internal tissues during minimally invasive procedures, thereby enhancing procedural safety. Furthermore, this force-sensing film can serve as a training tool for surgical practice, improving operative outcomes and reducing hospitals’ expenditures on surgical training.

Forcen was founded by Robert Brooks and Justin Wee in 2015. In the early stages, the two founders believed that force-sensing thin-film technology could be applied in the medical field to help surgeons learn suturing techniques for laparoscopic surgery. Through further communication with surgeons and extensive market research, Robert Brooks and Justin Wee concluded that, in addition to medical applications, force-sensing thin-film technology could also be utilized in industrial and defense sectors. For example, this technology can enable vehicles to detect the magnitude of external impact forces, thereby enhancing vehicle safety.

Following the completion of this funding round, Forcen plans to leverage the capital to expand its industrial customer base and accelerate the delivery of existing contracts. In the future, these force-sensing thin films will be deployed not only in medical devices but also in industrial equipment and aerospace systems.

NorthSpring Capital Partners, established in 2009, specializes in providing venture capital to small and medium-sized enterprises. Individual investments range from $250,000 to $1 million. In seeking investment opportunities, NorthSpring Capital Partners tailors its investment structure to meet business needs, engaging in either equity investments or debt financing.

Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN) primarily engages in angel investing, providing strategic development advice to startups and capital to help portfolio companies achieve rapid growth.

Angel One is a non-profit organization that provides financial services to high-net-worth investors in Southern Ontario, Canada. Angel One invests in 20 to 30 companies annually on average, and its operations are primarily supported by membership fees, corporate sponsorships, and government funding.

(Compiled by: Zhang Yujie)