Bonsai Medical Robotics Completes RMB 100 Million Series A Funding to Empower Minimally Invasive Surgery with AI

On April 9, VCBeat learned that Borns Medical Robot Co., Ltd. (“Borns”) announced the completion of its RMB 100 million Series A financing round. The round was led by Deyi Capital, with Ruihua Holdings and Tianxun Investment as co-investors.

“The funds raised in this round will be primarily used to support the company in completing the regulatory registration and certification of Borsen’s full series of minimally invasive surgical robots, as well as preparing for their commercial launch..” Following the completion of the financing round, Dr. Li Yao, Founder and CEO of Bornsight, stated, “Bornsight symbolizes the creation of new life. Our products are specifically tailored to the clinical needs of minimally invasive surgery in China, offering comprehensive solutions that integrate advanced surgical instruments with robotic surgery. As an innovative company, Bornsight will accelerate product registration and certification, bringing hope to more patients in urgent need of minimally invasive oncologic surgical procedures.”

Dr. Li Yao, Founder and CEO of Borns

Founded in 2016, Borns Medical is an innovative company centered on AI-driven medicine, dedicated to the research and development, manufacturing, and clinical application of precision surgical robots. Headquartered in Tianfu Software Park and Bio-town in Chengdu High-Tech Zone, its R&D center is located in Silicon Valley, USA. Borns Medical was co-founded by Dr. Li Yao, a scientist from the Robotics Center at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and Dr. William Levine, an IEEE Life Fellow. The company has achieved numerous innovations in advanced surgical robotics and intelligent surgery, holding over one hundred patents. In 2017, it received the Annual Innovative Product Award and the Annual Innovative Enterprise Award, the only recipient of these honors from Tianfu Software Park that year.

According to an analysis by BCG (Boston Consulting Group), the global medical robotics industry generated annual revenues of $7.47 billion as of January 2016, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4% over the next five years, reaching an estimated market size of $11.4 billion by 2020. Driven by the rising demand for complex surgical procedures, the adoption of surgical robots in foreign healthcare institutions continues to increase. According to recent research by Morgan Stanley, U.S. surgeons predict that the utilization rate of surgical robots will rise to 50% within the next three to five years, indicating substantial market potential.

As an expert in robotics and AI-driven medical research, Li Yao has participated in numerous neuroelectrophysiological studies. He observed that the application of robotic technology significantly improves both signal quality and data analysis, raising the question: Can robotic technology play a more substantial role in modern medicine? In 2016, Borns embarked on a new journey. Currently, the company’s core team members bring years of experience across fields such as precision manufacturing, medical devices, and data science, and hold multiple patents in core areas including human-robot interaction and force-feedback control. Borns aims to ensure that no surgical procedure is too difficult for future physicians.

Furthermore, as “Internet Plus” and artificial intelligence technologies continue to empower minimally invasive surgical robots, “Internet Plus” provides a new data platform for innovative medical devices, innovative medical services, and intelligent wearable devices.

Artificial intelligence integrates data science and optimization theory, leveraging powerful computational capabilities to address key diagnostic and analytical techniques in clinical medicine. Meanwhile, intelligent terminals—including AI-enabled processors, robots, and advanced surgical instruments—have ushered minimally invasive surgery into the era of artificial intelligence. Borns Medical, with intelligent robots as its terminal platform and integrated with a clinical big data analytics system, aims to meet the clinical needs of minimally invasive surgery in China by establishing a fully independent intellectual property rights-based industrial chain for minimally invasive robotic systems.

Li Yao told VCBeat that Borns is committed to the comprehensive advancement of minimally invasive surgery, with products covering the entire surgical workflow:Hardware terminal deployment includes assisted diagnosis, surgical systems, and interventional therapy. By achieving breakthroughs in core human-machine interaction control technologies, it has realized the organic integration of robotic surgery with traditional minimally invasive surgical equipment, comprehensively enhancing laparoscopic surgery in terms of intelligence, precision, and remote capabilities.

The data platform desensitizes surgical data through the "Smart Surgery Terminal," providing physicians with precise decision support and intraoperative assistance, thereby enhancing surgical safety. Artificial intelligence has many emerging applications in surgical treatment, including surgical field recognition; intraoperative guidance holds significant importance for standardizing surgical operational protocols.。

According to Grand View Research, over 600,000 robotic surgeries have been successfully performed in more than 800 hospitals across 33 countries worldwide, covering specialties such as gastrointestinal surgery, hepatobiliary surgery, and urology. Regarding the ultimate goal of robotics, Li Yao believes that the trajectory of automation technology adoption follows a similar pattern, with a basic development path of “assistance–coexistence–dominance.” In the initial stage, robots assist physicians in performing basic surgical procedures. In the intermediate stage, humans and machines collaborate to perform complex surgeries, with physicians primarily providing intraoperative decision-making. In the future, by learning from physicians’ experience and decision-making criteria, robots will accurately implement key clinical techniques to achieve automated unit-level surgical operations.

Zhu Dezhen, founder of Deyi Capital, stated that the partnership between Borns Medical and Deyi Capital represents another win-win collaboration between innovation and capital. Borns Medical is an innovative company dedicated to the research and development, manufacturing, and clinical application of precision surgical robots. Such disruptive technological innovation is precisely what Deyi Capital seeks. Deyi Capital is committed to investing in and supporting high-potential innovative enterprises in sectors such as healthcare, information technology, and consumption upgrades, serving as a supportive partner for entrepreneurs’ growth. Deyi Capital has made significant investments in the healthcare sector, with its team having backed projects including BGI Genomics, Meiyou Technology, and Kyee Group. The collaboration between Deyi Capital and Borns Medical is expected to reshape the development and competitive landscape of China’s medical surgical robot industry within the next three to five years, alleviating burdens on physicians and benefiting numerous patients.