SensAble Technologies' digital dentistry product line receives $8M infusion

SensAble Technologies, Inc®, a leading provider of 3D modeling software, haptic devices and dental restoration design and fabrication solutions, announced that it has received an $8 million investment to propel sales, marketing and engineering efforts for its digital dentistry product line. Existing investor HLM Venture Partners led the round and was joined by North Bridge Venture Partners, both of whom are headquartered in the Boston area, and have extensive expertise with medical device company funding.

“It’s an enormous market with multiple opportunities to improve dental lab productivity and quality of output with solutions that integrate a wide range of newly advanced technologies. We’re pleased to have the support of two high-caliber venture capital firms who share our vision and will help us achieve these goals.”

SensAble will use the new capital to better compete in the $3 billion worldwide market for dental restoration equipment and supplies. In 2008 SensAble introduced the SensAble Dental Lab System, an award-winning solution that helps dental labs of all sizes migrate to the use of digital tools in scanning, designing, and fabricating dental prosthetics and oral devices. Since then, SensAble more than doubled its dental business revenues and won key strategic customers worldwide. The additional funding will allow SensAble to build upon its initial success in a sizable and growing market.

“As dentistry goes digital, the dental lab business is in the early stage of a massive transformation – with less than 20% of all dental labs currently leveraging digital technology – while demand is on the rise as aging baby boomers need more and better dental restorations,” said Curt Rawley, chairman and CEO of SensAble. “It’s an enormous market with multiple opportunities to improve dental lab productivity and quality of output with solutions that integrate a wide range of newly advanced technologies. We’re pleased to have the support of two high-caliber venture capital firms who share our vision and will help us achieve these goals.”

As part of the funding, Carmichael Roberts of North Bridge and Ed Cahill and Enrico Picozza of HLM have been named to SensAble’s board of directors.

“SensAble has taken a very unique approach to the dental restorations market – a huge market that is still dominated largely by artisans designing by hand in wax and porcelain. The company applied extensive expertise in haptics and voxel modeling to create a system that is not only intuitive for technicians to learn, but creates interesting possibilities for future fabrication technologies and advanced materials,” said Carmichael Roberts, a general partner at North Bridge Venture Partners. “We see this market as a huge and untapped opportunity, just waiting for real innovation from a company like SensAble.”

“For several years, we’ve watched SensAble develop and pursue this market and have been very impressed by the management team’s dedication, tenacity, vision and success,” said Ed Cahill, a managing partner of HLM Venture Partners. “We have spoken or met with most of SensAble’s dental laboratory customers, and have found that the company has earned an exceptional reputation for performance, and service and support, as well. We believe the additional resources of this financing will position SensAble to be a leader in the most exciting and fast-growing segment of the dental restorations market.”

The SensAble Dental Lab System is the only solution on the market to support the design and fabrication of both partials and crown and bridge in a single integrated solution. The system also uniquely incorporates a 3D “virtual touch” stylus that allows technicians to work by holding a haptic (touch-enabled) device instead of a computer mouse, and use virtual wax-up tools to literally feel the onscreen model as they apply, smooth and carve digital wax. This touch-enabled approach mimics the traditional method of hand-modeling dental restorations, allowing technicians to keep the artistry and manual dexterity they have spent years perfecting.