LA LETTRE DE L'ÉCO Lebanese Entrepreneur Jean Nehmé sold his startup for USD 500 Million L'ORIENT-LE JOUR

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Lebanese Entrepreneur Jean

Nehmé sold his startup for USD 500
Million
Publié le 15 février 2020 par Nada Maucourant Atallah

This is one of the biggest exits involving a Lebanese

entrepreneur. Digital Surgery, the London-based e-healthcare
startup, has just been acquired by Medtronic, a world leader in
medical technology, for “over half a billion dollars,” according
to Hala Fadel, an early-stage investor. The terms of the
agreement were not disclosed.

Launched by Jean Nehmé, a British-Lebanese, and his partner

Andre Chow, the startup puts technology at the service of
surgeons. In 2013, the two surgeons were fresh graduates from
Imperial College London, and faced a major problem often
experienced by young practitioners: the inability to practice
before operating. They developed Touch Surgery, a surgical
simulation application that allows doctors to practice virtually
before D-Day.

The startup then raised USD 10 million from the venture capital
investment funds Balderton, Redline and Episode 1, and various
angel investors, including Hala Fadel. The co-founder of the
Leap Ventures venture capital investment fund, based in Beirut
and Dubai, immediately be-lieved in the project. “The
healthcare sector is very promising, especially for the Lebanese:
healthcare is an area in which they have an excellent
reputation,” she explains. “We would have liked to invest
À LIRE AUSSI
through Leap Ventures under [the Central Bank’s] Circular 331,
but the cir-cular doesn’t allow funds to be allocated to What Can We Expect
businesses outside Lebanon,” she added. from the Central Bank
Audit?

The Touch Surgery platform is now used by health

professionals in a number of countries, as well as in specialized End-of-Service Benefits
Slashed by Devaluation
training programs.
Dwindling reserves at
But the startup is not confined to this first success. In 2016, it the central bank
developed artificial intelligence software to help medical teams underscores the urgency
of capital controls
in operating rooms make surgeries safer. This project allowed
Digital Surgery to raise new funds in 2018 from the US 8VC. In From the Rhosus'
total, the company has raised more than USD 40 million to Departure to the Port
Explosion, Chronicle of a
date. Disaster Foretold

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With revenues in the tens of millions of dollars in 2019, Digital

Surgery gained the attention of several potential investors and
buyers, including the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical group,
the Japanese SoftBank Group and Intuitive Surgical, a company
that produces medical robots.

But in the end, Medtronic, who's seeking to develop its

expertise in both robotic surgery and artificial intelligence, won
the bet. The startup itself will be able to take advantage of the
multi-national’s vast network of partner hospitals to sell its
software. According to a press release, Digital Surgery’s
headquarters will remain in London and the two co-founders
should keep their current managerial positions.

Digital Surgery is a success story that shows, according to Hala

Fadel, “that we must continue to believe in Lebanese
entrepreneurship and invest in high-value-added export
industries, espe-cially in the current context.”

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