Bill Gates-Backed Vicarious Surgical Announces SPAC Deal With D8 Holdings: What You Need To Know

Vicarious Surgical Inc. announced a SPAC merger on Thursday that will bring the next-gen robotics company to the public markets.

The SPAC Deal: Vicarious Surgical is going public via a SPAC merger with D8 Holdings Corp DEH. The SPAC deal assigns an enterprise value of $1.1 billion to Vicarious Surgical.

A $115 million PIPE includes investments from new and existing investors including Becton Dickinson and Co BDX, Microsoft Corporation MSFT co-founder Bill Gates, Khosla Venture and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors.

Shares of Vicarious Surgical will trade as "RBOT" on the NYSE after the merger is completed. Current D8 Holdings Corp shareholders will own 22.3% of the company after the merger.

See also: How to Invest in SPACs 

About Vicarious Surgery: Founded in 2014, Vicarious Surgical develops disruptive technology with the goal of increasing the efficiency of surgical procedures, improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.

“We started this company in order to solve the long-standing and persistent issues presented by open surgery, standard minimally invasive surgery and legacy robotic surgery,” Adam Sachs, the CEO and co-founder of Vicarious Surgical, said in a statement.

Legacy robotic platforms have limitations, higher costs of adoption, take up more space and include expensive training, Sachs added.

“Our robotic solution has arms that replicate human motion, offering remarkable mobility with 9 degrees of freedom per arm with 360-degree visualization, all through a 1.5 cm incision.”

The Vicarious Surgical system fits through a standard door, making it more portable than legacy robotic surgery offerings.

The company’s novel approach to surgery uses a combination of proprietary, human-like surgical robots and virtual reality to transport surgeons inside the patient to perform minimally invasive surgery.

Related Link: The SPAC Investment That Bill Gates, Peyton Manning Have In Common

What’s Next: Vicarious Surgical is forecasting revenue to hit $355 million in fiscal 2025.

“With cost of goods that are significantly lower than competing products, we believe our robotic solution will offer a cost-effective path to improving patient outcomes,” Sachs said.

The company’s surgical robot was the first and only to receive breakthrough designation by the FDA, according to the company.

Price Action: Shares of D8 Holdings closed at $9.98 Wednesday and were up 5% to $10.50 in after hours trading.