Exclusive: Surgical Safety Technologies raises $15M Series A

Surgical Safety Technologies, maker of a "black box" for operating room data, has raised a $15 million Series A, founder Teodor Grantcharov tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: The funding is a promising sign that health systems are spending more on tech solutions to save on costs and make critical parts, such as an operating room, more efficient.

Details: The round was led by U.S. Venture Partners and Santé Ventures.

• Toronto-based SST, which has its tech in 24 hospitals worldwide, will use proceeds for product development and further expansion.
• U.S. hospital clients include Stanford, Duke, UT Southwestern, The Mayo Clinic, Mount Sinai and Northwell.
• The company also serves Toronto-based hospitals and large academic centers in Western Europe.

How it works: Grantcharov likens the company's platform to the black boxes on airplanes, which record detailed flight information.

• SST's platform captures video, audio, patient vital signs and surgical device data from the OR.
• The tech is used to analyze OR practices to reduce future medical errors and make operating rooms safer, more efficient and compliant.
• Along with being used as a training tool, the platform can also help identify what happened if a procedure goes wrong.

What they're saying: "More than two-thirds of the hospitals in the United States now in 2023 are losing money and the only way they can change that is to reduce waste or improve efficiency," Grantcharov says.

• SST is "blending that sweet spot for us, which is having a technology that makes real impact, but also technology that can really help hospitals from a cost perspective as well," said Santé partner Dennis McWilliams.

Be smart: A black box containing a record of surgical missteps would seemingly add to evidence that feeds malpractice lawsuits.

Yes, but: SST's tech blurs faces and bodies of medical personnel and patients, says Grantcharov.

• The data in its original, identifiable form, doesn't exist beyond 30 days, he adds.
• "Our foundational principle is the data and the information that we generate has to be confidential and non-punitive," he says.

The big picture: Players like Medtronic and J&J make digital tools to help operating surgeons be more efficient, focusing primarily on capturing and analyzing video data, says McWilliams.

• Grantcharov cites digital surgery platform Caresyntax, which raised a $131 million Series C in 2021, as a more direct competitor to SST.

What's next: McWilliams says there's opportunity to potentially acquire competitors that may be facing challenges accessing capital, but notes SST is primarily heads-down on in-house efforts.