TLT advises Open Bionics on £4.65m Series A fundraising

TLT's venture capital team has advised Open Bionics, the pioneer of low-cost prosthetics using 3-D printing, on a significant Series A investment.

The investment was led by Williams Foresight and Ananda Ventures, alongside existing investors Downing Ventures and Rathbone Nominees.

The investment will be used to scale-up the business as it builds and develops the next generation of bionic limbs, including the Hero Arm – the world's first clinically tested, medically certified and FDA registered 3D-printed bionic arm.

TLT has been advising Open Bionics since 2014 through the firm's dedicated fast growth team, which draws together specialists from across TLT to provide scale-up businesses with the support and advice they need to succeed.

The TLT team was jointly led by associate Nina Searle and partner Jon Gill, together with support from associate James Webb, solicitor Matthew Howells and legal assistant Rachel Kelly (corporate). The investment involved participation from VCT and EIS funds and benefited from support from TLT's dedicated tax team, led by legal director Mark Braude with trainee solicitor Emily Broderick.

Sammy Payne, co-founder of Open Bionics, says: “We're exceptionally excited to receive this support from such high calibre investors who offer not only financial backing but incredible experience in commercialisation, measuring impact and engineering high performance hardware. This funding enables us to serve multiple international markets and we're thrilled to be heading to the US later this year.

"Our future lies in driving a new technological revolution, ‘tech for good’, which focuses on artificial intelligence, automation and robotics prosthetics to make them available at a much lower cost. TLT has been an absolute pleasure to work with, supporting us on our investment journey and helping to bring our ideas to life. They acted as a sounding board for early stage ideas and continued that support by accessing finance for our products and services to be developed.”

Nina Searle, associate at TLT, says: “We were delighted to support Sammy, Joel and the Open Bionics team on this significant milestone. They are a great example of the innovative technology being developed in Bristol that is attracting investment from both UK institutions and international investors: a combination that we anticipate will create some of the leading companies of tomorrow."

TLT’s dedicated venture capital team advises ambitious entrepreneurs and businesses looking to scale-up and achieve rapid growth. It forms part of the award-winning corporate team at TLT, which was named Corporate Law Firm of the Year at the South West Dealmakers Awards in 2018.