Traditional surgical drills, while fast and powerful, can pose serious risks when operating near vital structures like nerves and blood vessels. Accidental soft tissue damage leads to serious complications—and costs the global healthcare system over €4 billion annually. Surgify Medical, a Finnish medtech startup, is changing that with its breakthrough tissue-protective surgical drill. Designed to make bone surgery safer for both patients and surgeons.
Today, Surgify announced a €7 million Series A round led by ZEISS Ventures, the venture arm of Carl Zeiss Group, with participation from the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund). Existing backers, Lednil and Cascara Ventures, also joined in. This brings the company’s total funding to €14 million, powering a new phase of international growth, product expansion, and regulatory momentum.
The round follows major progress for the company, including FDA 510(k) clearances in November 2023 and March 2025. Validating the safety and effectiveness of its unique drill technology in the U.S. market.
Tackling One of Surgery’s Most Critical Risks
Surgify’s flagship innovation, the Halo™ drill, has now been used in over 1,000 spinal and cranial procedures across Europe and the U.S. It’s designed for precision and protection—using a proprietary HaloSense mechanism that adapts in real time to the tissue being drilled. The drill’s safety ring retracts when it touches bone, but automatically extends to shield soft tissues when necessary.
This revolutionary functionality is already making a measurable impact. In pre-clinical studies across 77 surgeries, Surgify Halo™ resulted in zero soft tissue injuries, compared to a 29% injury rate using traditional drills. More recently, clinical trials in Finland involving 20 patients confirmed these findings—no soft tissue damage occurred in any case.
These results mark a paradigm shift in surgical safety. Beyond improved outcomes, the tech could help hospitals save up to €3 million per year by reducing complications, recovery times, and repeat interventions.
A Team Merging Surgical Insight with Engineering Precision
Surgify was co-founded in 2017 by a trio of innovators from Aalto University: neurosurgery researcher Dr. Visa Sippola (CEO), mechanical engineer Shahab Haeri (CTO), and health informatics specialist Jukka Kreander. Together, they created a tool that combines high-speed drilling with intelligent tissue protection. A crucial upgrade for bone surgeries that often carry high risk.
Dr. Sippola was named one of MIT Technology Review’s European Innovators Under 35 in 2017. And Surgify quickly rose to prominence, ranking in the top 24 startups out of 2,400 at the European Venture Contest the following year.
In 2024, the Surgify Halo™ won a Red Dot Award for Innovative Product Design, validating not just its function, but its thoughtful design and usability. This year, the team introduced a smaller 4.0 mm Halo version, perfect for spine, ENT, and neurosurgery. Areas where space is tight and precision is paramount.
A new randomized clinical trial is also underway, focused on evaluating Surgify Halo’s performance in revision spine surgeries, with 30 participants set for enrollment.
With FDA clearance and strong traction in the Nordics, Surgify is now scaling fast. Hospitals across Germany, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and the U.S. have already adopted the Halo system, signaling readiness for broader clinical use.
The company’s global opportunity is significant. 770,000 skull opening surgeries occur annually worldwide, with 30% resulting in soft tissue damage. In the U.S. alone, the Small Bone and Joint Devices Market is projected to grow from $2.6 billion in 2025 to $3.36 billion by 2030. Giving Surgify a major runway for expansion.
ZEISS Ventures brings both capital and strategic muscle to the table. “Surgify’s Halo burrs deliver cutting rates comparable to traditional tools—while protecting critical tissues. For surgeons, that makes it an obvious choice,” said Dr. Boris Hofmann, Head of ZEISS Ventures.
EIC’s renewed support further underscores confidence in Surgify’s innovation and its place in the future of surgical tools.
Safer Surgeries, Smarter Tools
Surgify’s tissue-protective surgical drill is reshaping what safety and precision look like in bone surgery. By actively responding to tissue type in real time, Halo adds a much-needed layer of control in procedures where millimeters can mean life-altering outcomes.
As Chairman Alan Raffensperger put it, “Surgify has already left a meaningful mark on the field. Its impact will only grow as robotic surgery and digital tools become more prominent.”
CEO Visa Sippola agrees: “With ZEISS, the EIC, and our partners, we’re building a safer surgical future—one drill, one patient, and one hospital at a time.”
