Investor Eye: Intuitive Surgical Hops, Skips, And Jumps Into VC

When a large medtech company sets up a venture fund, it typically invests in technologies that are adjacent to its pre-existing portfolio. Intuitive Surgical’s approach is different.

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Intuitive Ventures, a fund created with $100m from Intuitive Surgical in October 2020, makes “all bets in early-stage companies that are making headways to improve outcomes and lower costs,” according to managing director Oliver Keown.

When the fund was founded, Intuitive said it would “advance positive outcomes in healthcare” – robotics were not specified as an investment target. Now the fund is focused on digital...

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