Lapovations closes oversubscribed Series A funding round

Fayetteville medical device company Lapovations has closed an oversubscribed Series A funding round led by investments from multiple angel investors and groups.

According to a Tuesday (Jan. 3) news release, the company initially planned to raise $1 million, but overwhelming investor interest resulted in an oversubscription to $1.25 million.

The company will use the investment to fund the national launch of Lapovations’ signature product, AbGrab.

“We are thrilled with the enthusiastic support received from Series A investors,” Lapovations founder and CEO Jared Greer said in a statement. “Despite the difficult economic environment, the traction we’ve generated in a short period of time was compelling and drove investment interest beyond our original funding goal.

“We’re grateful to the angel investors and member managed angel groups who have put their trust in our strategic vision, and we look forward to executing that vision and seeing AbGrab become the gold standard for laparoscopic abdominal lifting.”

AbGrab is a surgical assist device that allows surgeons to lift the abdominal wall more reliably and less invasively at the start of laparoscopy or minimally invasive abdomen surgery. While it’s often the shortest part of a laparoscopic procedure, laparoscopic abdominal entry accounts for about half of the serious laparoscopic complications and litigations related to laparoscopy.

AbGrab has been registered with the FDA and became available for sale in the United States in January 2021. Since the product’s national launch in October 2022, Lapovations has grown to 50 independent sales representatives across 18 states.

“Being able to show potential investors that our sales and distribution strategy was bearing fruit and driving growth was a big factor in getting the last wave of commitments over the finish line,” said CTO and vice president of sales Spencer Jones. “We’ve onboarded multiple new surgeons every month since launch, and I expect this traction to increase as we use the new funding to add more sales reps and expand coverage.”

Jones said the company plans to add at least 75 new sales representatives in 2023.

In 2016, Lapovations was formed in the graduate-level New Venture Development course co-taught by Carol Reeves and Sarah Goforth with the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Arkansas. According to the company’s website, Lapovations became the most successful startup competition team in UA history, winning seven state, regional and national business plan competitions, placing second in two others and earning more than $305,000 in cash and investment prizes.

Greer said Lapovations’ total funding to date (including non-dilutive grant funding) is $3.1 million.