Symphera, a Munich-based medtech startup revolutionising laparoscopic surgery, has raised €2.4 million in seed funding. The round was led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), which is one of the most active early-stage investors in Europe, financing startups in the fields of deeptech, industrial tech, climatetech, Life Sciences and more.

Symphera latest round also saw participation from Bayern Kapital, CARMA FUND, UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators, Stern Stewart Ventures, IRCAD, and expert business angels.

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With the fresh capital, Symphera plans to advance the development of its product, conduct initial preclinical tests to initiate the preparation for the certification process. These steps are critical in bringing its technology closer to market, with the ultimate goal of transforming laparoscopic surgery and improving patient care.

Founded in 2023, Symphera was incubated at TU Munich and UnternehmerTUM, originating from the University Hospital in Basel. The company’s vision is to significantly simplify the surgical workflow, ultimately leading to greatly improved post-operative outcomes for patients.

Nico Weigand, its co-founder combines experience from high-tech startups (Revibe Energy and NavVis) and management consulting (Porsche Consulting) with a background in engineering. Conrad Heid is another co-founder with over 3 years as surgical resident at the University Hospital Basel and has extensive experience in laparoscopic surgery. Lastly, Philipp Preißler, a co-founder of Symphera completed mechanical engineering at TUM as well as his work as a freelance engineer. He has contacts to many other medtech startups as well as the UnternehmerTUM network.

Symphera works with the mission to align with the current trends in healthcare that aim to increase operating room efficiency and provide surgeons with better working environments.

To meet with its mission, the company has developed advanced surgical systems for laparoscopic procedures that automate tool-switching. Its technology makes manual instrument changes obsolete.

With the push of a button, surgeons can switch between instruments, similar to using a multi-pen. This allows surgeons to maintain full focus throughout the whole procedure. The goal is to simplify surgical workflows, reduce the operating time and improve post-operative outcomes for patients.

The company has developed a one-of-its-kind revolutionary laparoscopic device, which allows a surgeon to do an entire surgery with just one device. As it is a new device category, there are no direct competitors with similar devices, claims the company. However, it is a threat to the other medical devices used in the category.

With its technology, Symphera is well-positioned to meet the demand for more efficient surgical procedures and has gained support from experts and institutions specialising in minimally invasive surgery.

Prof. Jacques Marescaux, Founder and President of IRCAD said: “At IRCAD, we are always on the lookout for innovations that can reshape the landscape of minimally invasive surgery. Symphera’s approach to automating tool-switching is not only innovative—it’s revolutionary. We are excited to support them in bringing this technology to operating rooms worldwide.”

Dr. Jan Engels, Investment Manager at HTGF said: “With its surgical tool, Symphera addresses the entire spectrum of laparoscopy, from improving the standard workflow to robot-assisted applications, making Symphera a strong venture case in a highly interesting field.”

Monika Steger, Managing Director at Bayern Kapital added: “With its all-in-one instrument, the Symphera team has developed a way to make shorter operations possible. Symphera’s existing prototype has convinced us and makes Symphera an exciting investment case for us in the medtech sector.”

Christian Leikert, Managing Partner at CARMA FUND added: “We are intrigued by the company’s founders and its potential to revolutionise laparoscopic surgery with a straight-forward technology. Its potential future application in robotic and robotic-assisted surgery provides significant further upside potential to Symphera.”

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