Allan May, a highly regarded veteran of Silicon Valley, is the new Chairman of London, UK-based FundamentalVR. May will spearhead the company’s continued U.S. growth and further its surgical education and data insight platform, Fundamental Surgery. May will also establish a West Coast office for the company.
May brings decades of experience in funding, leading, and co-founding companies across biotech, medtech, and diagnostics. “He is the founder of Life Science Angels, a Bay Area early-stage investment group that has invested over $70 million in more than 70 biotech, medical device, diagnostics, and mobile health companies. He is also a Venture Partner at Medtech Convergence Fund, a $90 million seed, and early- stage venture capital fund. May will continue his work with Life Science Angels and Medtech Convergence Fund while serving as Chairman at FundamentalVR,” says FundamentalVR.
“In 2007, May co-founded Emergent Medical Partners, a venture fund focused on early-stage medical device companies that have invested $70 million in more than 30 startups. For the last 25 years, May has served as founder, Chairman, or CEO at ten startup medical device and diagnostic companies. He has also been an investor in over 65 Medtech, biotech, and diagnostic startups. Recent companies he has co-founded include Nanostim, a developer of the first Leadless Cardiac Pacemaker, and Hyalex Surgical, a company that creates synthetic cartilage for total joints.”
FundamentalVR, a company bringing together immersive technology, haptics, and machine learning, develops training simulations for medical device and pharmaceutical companies and serves medical institutions and teaching hospitals. In 2019, the company completed a series A funding round, which included participation from Mayo Clinic and Sana Kliniken, the third-largest hospital organization in Germany.
“We are thrilled to have Allan join FundamentalVR as Chairman and look forward to working with him during this time where we have seen interest and adoption of immersive medical technology skyrocketing during COVID,’’ said Richard Vincent, co-founder and CEO of FundamentalVR. “Allan has the experience to help us scale quickly and ensure that all surgeons, residents, and trainees around the world have access to safe and affordable training methods.”
May explained his near-term objectives for FundamentalVR to OTW, “My priority as Chairman at FundamentalVR is to help the company accelerate its strategic growth across the globe and particularly in the U.S. I’m looking forward to getting involved with how our platform accelerates adoption of new products and procedures developed by medical device and pharmaceutical companies. In addition to Fundamental Surgery’s work in orthopedics, I’m particularly excited about its potential to change practice in the cell and gene therapy space.”
Regarding their West Coast office, May noted, “We already have a significant presence and customer base on the West Coast, and an office on the East Coast, so our new office will enable us to amplify our customer response and support, and anchor our rapidly expanding U.S. footprint.”
