Diligent Robotics yesterday announced $25 million in new financing that it plans to use to expand its network of Moxi robots in hospitals across the U.S., further develop the product, and triple its market reach.
“The incredible demand we've seen for Moxi is [not only] a testament to the clear value of using robotic automation to augment and support frontline hospital care teams, but also our highly customer-centric approach to bringing new technology and operational change into healthcare,” said Andrea Thomaz, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Diligent Robotics, in a release.
“We approach our work with deep empathy for the people who care for patients every day, and it has been incredible to witness the difference Moxi makes in supporting nursing, pharmacy, lab, and entire clinical care teams,” she said. “This funding round will enable us to scale fleets and accelerate product development while remaining true to our vision of creating robots that function as core team members and elevate the standards of healthcare through robotics.”
Diligent Robotics works to augment staffers
Thomaz and Dr. Vivian Chu founded Diligent Robotics in 2017. The Austin, Texas-based company said Moxi includes “social intelligence” to collaborate within and adapt to human environments. Its goal is to improve operational efficiency of healthcare teams so they have more time to care for patients.
Moxi can help hospital staffers by taking on deliveries of supplies, equipment, medication, and laboratory samples, said Diligent Robotics. The company added that it has enabled high-value programs to efficiently scale, such as “Meds to Beds” programs, just-in-time logistics, and virtual nursing.
More than 22 health systems representing more than 200 hospitals nationwide are using the mobile robot, Diligent Robotics said. They include NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst Health, MultiCare Health System, The University of Texas affiliated network of health systems, Northwestern Medicine, and many others.
“As an organization driven by our 'Patients First' mission, we continue to explore ways innovation and technology can support our clinicians and staff to enhance their ability to care for our patients,” said Doug King, senior vice president and chief information officer at Northwestern Medicine.
“Led by our team at the Northwestern Medicine Mansueto Innovation Institute, we deployed Moxi in targeted areas throughout Northwestern Memorial Hospital to support clinical staff by automating and scheduling pickups of non-tubable lab specimens and medications,” he said. “Introducing this technology had a positive impact on staff and workflow. We are looking forward to deploying Moxi throughout our health system in the near future.”
Diligent Robotics said it expects to triple its market footprint over the next 24 months, including expansion within the majority of the health systems across the U.S.
Moxi Surpasses Manufacturing, Autonomy Metrics
Diligent Robotics said that it has continued to make significant progress across product development, customer implementation strategy, and manufacturing capacity. The company said it has formed new strategic partnerships and collaborations with leading healthcare institutions, as well as scaled manufacturing.
Diligent has also refined a quality assurance process that enables it to build multiple robots in various stages of production, increasing manufacturing capacity and reducing the deployment window for Moxi. On average, services are live in less than 30 days from robot arrival, said the company.
Diligent Robotics also touted its completion of more than 400,000 total deliveries, giving more than 200,000 hours back to staffers to spend with patients. Its mobile manipulator has autonomously opened hundreds of thousands of doors over the past year.
In the past month alone, Moxi has autonomously navigated elevators tens of thousands of times, said Diligent.
For instance, Children's Hospital Los Angeles was the first children's hospital to implement Moxi. Two Moxi robots deliver medications and pharmaceutical items 24/7 along various routes throughout the hospital.
In just over four months, Moxi has made more than 2,500 deliveries, traveled 132 miles, and saved staffers more than 383,000 steps and 1,620 hours of work time. Diligent Robotics has signed with several more children's hospitals in recent months and said expects to increase its market share even further among children's hospitals in 2024.
Investors push for new hospital efficiencies
Canaan led Diligent Robotics' latest fundraising, with True Ventures, DNX Ventures, and Next Coast Ventures among the return investors. Northwestern Medicine Innovation joined as a new strategic investor, and Rich Boyle, a general partner at Canaan, will join Diligent's board of directors.
“With healthcare staffing needs continuing to exceed the labor available, hospitals must make the best use of their constrained workforces to meet demand,” said Boyle. “That means finding new efficiencies in previously unaddressable areas and offering staff members a return to their most fulfilling work.”
“Moxi has already been eagerly adopted by many of the nation's top healthcare systems, and the positive impact on productivity, patient outcomes, and team morale is evident,” he noted. “Both are reasons we believe Diligent Robotics has a big future and are thrilled to be leading this newest round of financing.”
Diligent Robotics raised more than $30 million in Series B funding in April 2022.
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