Cobionix Corp.,  a Canada-based medical robotics company, today announced it closed a $3 million funding round led by TitletownTech, a venture capital firm backed by Microsoft Corp. and the Green Bay Packers.

Lions Investment and Dr. Paul McBeth, a prominent medical robotics expert and investor, also participated in the round alongside other undisclosed investors.

The company develops a robotics platform called Codi, which is designed to deliver diagnostic ultrasound procedures using artificial intelligence-driven autonomy to remote locations. The platform itself is multifunctional and can support numerous different applications, but it will start with ultrasound capabilities.

The company describes Codi as a configurable, medical-collaborative robotic platform that can perform a wide range of patient-facing tasks. Unlike traditional robotics systems, which require significant modifications for different clinical applications, Codi has been designed so that it can be adapted rapidly for different performances through simple tool changes and its software can be updated remotely.

In healthcare, ultrasound is a diagnostic technique that uses a diagnostic imaging technique that uses high-frequency sound waves to create images of the inside of the body. It is a painless procedure that is widely used after traumatic injuries, to visualize internal organs before procedures, during pregnancy, to evaluate blood vessels, to identify tumors and for numerous other purposes. It is also a safe an quick test that assists with preparing for other options that may be more invasive, or help avoid them.

Having a robot that can assist a remote technician when none is available to perform an ultrasound task can alleviate the need for trucking a qualified individual out to a hospital or clinic. It also means the patient doesn’t need to be taken to another location for the test, reducing potential strain, further harm or unnecessary wait.

Founded in 2021, Cobionix started by demonstrating an autonomous robot that could perform intramuscular vaccine injections. Since then, the company has expanded its robotics and engineering team to build a robotic platform that can augment a remote diagnostic technician and perform medical tasks “from bench to bedside.”

“With an increasing need for highly skilled medical care in our country, especially in our rural communities, we need to leverage unique technological advances to stretch our highly skilled workforce,” said Dr. Ashok Rai, president and chief executive of Wisconsin-based Prevea Health. “Codi does just that, by allowing ultrasound technologists to perform ultrasounds remotely with the same level of expertise and hands-on care as if the patient were right in front of them.”

Cobionix said the new funding will support pilot programs for Codi this August and help scale its commercial launch in the United States sometime in 2026. The company currently has research and pilot projects taking place in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.

Image: Cobionix