UK orthopaedic company OSSTEC has raised $8 million to fund the first in-human US surgical cases of its ASCENT fixed-bearing partial knee system. The round was led by EMBRYO Ventures, with participation from Neovate Capital, New Wave Ventures, Oxford Technology Innovation Finance and Empirical Ventures.
The use of funds is specific: taking ASCENT and its CLARITY instrumentation through FDA clearance to first-in-human procedures in the US in the first half of 2027, and training and supporting the company's surgeon faculty at leading partial knee centres. OSSTEC established US operations earlier this year.
ASCENT is built on a 3D printed biomimetic fixation platform grounded in more than a decade of research into implant fixation and osseointegration, designed to achieve biological fixation without bone cement. OSSTEC is expanding a pipeline of cementless applications beyond partial knee replacement and evaluating integration with robotic surgery platforms.
The company cites market context: around half of knee replacement patients are suitable for a partial knee, a bone-preserving procedure with faster recovery, yet only about 10% receive one. Cement adds time and complexity in the operating room, while cementless fixation reduces loosening, a leading cause of revision, which opens the treatment to more active patients.
"This financing moves our focus from preparation to patients," said Max Munford, PhD, founder and CEO of OSSTEC. Dr Arash Moavenian, chief executive of EMBRYO Ventures, said the implant technology is approaching first clinical use, which is why the firm led the round.
Source: reported by TCT Magazine on November 9, 2026; OSSTEC financing announcement.
