Sovato is a Santa Barbara health-tech company building the first comprehensive, system-agnostic platform for remote robotic surgery and procedures - what the industry calls telesurgery. Co-founded by surgical-robotics pioneer Yulun Wang and healthcare strategist Cynthia Perazzo, Sovato lets a skilled surgeon operate a robotic system from hundreds or thousands of miles away, aiming to extend top surgical care to patients regardless of where they live. The company has raised $41M across its rounds and helped enable the longest-distance telesurgery ever completed.
ZAP Surgical Systems is a San Carlos, California medical device company that designed and manufactures the ZAP-X Gyroscopic Radiosurgery platform - a self-shielded, vault-free system for non-invasive treatment of brain tumors and other intracranial conditions. Founded by Stanford neurosurgeon and CyberKnife inventor John R. Adler, ZAP is on a mission to democratize stereotactic radiosurgery by eliminating the need for radioactive isotopes and concrete bunkers.
Paxton Maeder-York is the founder of Alife Health, an AI platform for IVF clinics that has raised $31.5M and raised the standard for data-driven fertility care. A Harvard-trained biomedical engineer and MBA, he previously helped build surgical robotics at Auris Health (acquired by J&J for $3.4B) and worked in product at Google X. In 2020, driven in part by the fact that his younger brother is an IVF baby, he founded Alife to apply machine learning to embryo selection, hormone dosing, and lab scheduling. By 2024 the company had launched five products, earned recognition from Fast Company and the World Economic Forum, and achieved a leadership transition - Paxton stepping into a board role as Melissa Teran took the CEO seat.