ExplORer Surgical, Workflow Management Software for Surgery, Announces $1M Seed Round

CHICAGO, Sept. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ExplORer Surgical, a leading developer of an intraoperative workflow management tool for surgery, announced today the closing of $1 million in seed round funding. Investors include CJM Ventures, M25 Group, SymphonyAlpha Ventures, The University of Chicago Innovation Fund, Wasson Enterprise, as well as prominent healthcare and technology angel investors.

ExplORer prevents delays & disruptions that arise due to missing or incorrect instruments, reduces instances of opened-but-unused disposable items, and captures granular intraoperative data in real-time.  Developed by surgeons at the University of Chicago, the ExplORer software as a service tool is an interactive surgical playbook that promotes optimal teamwork in the operating room. Clinical best practices are built into ExplORer Surgical's customized workflows for use on any tablet or web-enabled device. Personalized step-by-step instructions help each member of the surgical team: setting up the operating room and positioning the patient, readying the necessary instruments for each individual step of the case, or keeping aligned with technical progression of the case.

CEO and co-founder Jennifer Fried is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is formerly a healthcare venture capitalist and management consultant at Bain. Ms. Fried co-founded the company with accomplished intraoperative efficiency researcher and ENT surgeon Dr. Alex Langerman (Chief Medical Officer), as well as University of Chicago General Surgery resident Dr. Marko Rojnica.

Technological development is led by CTO Eugene Fine, a seasoned technology executive and an expert in agile and lean start­up methodologies. Recently joining the team as COO is Tom Knight, former CEO of Codify Health, a SaaS-based care coordination solution for clinicians.

"The operating room is the last large black box in the hospital, and we are ready to bring surgery information and analytics into the 21st century," said CEO Jennifer Fried. "We are excited to have support from institutional and angel investors knowledgeable in both healthcare and technology as we scale our company."

"ExplORer Surgical has developed real-time, role-based mobile technology to bring greater efficiency and predictability to the operating room," added SymphonyAlpha Ventures Managing Director Tom Carmona. "During due diligence, we confirmed that ExplORer provided a valuable tool for hospitals that clinicians actually enjoy using. We are pleased to partner with ExplORer and to support the team in its efforts to eliminate wasted time and materials in surgery departments across the country."

About CJM Ventures

CJM Ventures ("CJMV") is a Chicago-based private equity investment firm focused on supporting management teams with capital to achieve their growth and recapitalization objectives.  CJMV focuses on small to middle market companies in a variety of sectors including health care, manufacturing/distribution, business services, and financial services. 

About M25 Group

M25 Group is an early stage micro-VC fund based in Chicago, investing solely in companies headquartered in the Midwest. Their approach to venture investing aims to reduce the risk, while maintaining the high returns typically associated with this stage of investing. Led by two of the youngest fund managers in the business, they are building a portfolio that in many ways resembles an 'index' of early stage startups in the Midwest.

About SymphonyAlpha Ventures

SymphonyAlpha Ventures supports its portfolio of companies by offering healthcare domain knowledge, sharing product development and commercialization capabilities, and collaborating with nationally recognized healthcare innovation partners. Its current portfolio includes companies addressing healthcare quality and costs needs through medication management, telemedicine, emergency triage, and supply chain management.

About The University of Chicago Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund awards grants and invests in promising technologies and start-ups created by current faculty, students, and staff of the University and its affiliates. The Fund supports projects with high potential for societal and commercial impact, helping to bridge the gap between basic research funding and commercial investment.

About Wasson Enterprise

Wasson Enterprise is a family business led by Greg Wasson, former CEO Walgreens Boots Alliance. Our goal is to connect, mentor, market, and commercialize dreams into sustainable businesses – we do this through angel investing, operating businesses and strategic consulting.

SOURCE ExplORer Surgical