Elbit spin-off Beyeonics Surgical seeks insolvency after raising tens of millions of dollars
The Israeli medical device company has accumulated $5.5 million in debt, most of it owed to shareholders who provided loans to finance its operations. Its remaining cash balance is approximately $50,000.
Medical device company Beyeonics Surgical has asked the Haifa District Court to initiate insolvency proceedings and appoint a temporary trustee, after accumulating approximately NIS 17.5 million ($5.47 million) in debt. Most of the debt is owed to shareholders who provided loans to finance its operations. In its filing, the company stated that it is insolvent.
The Tirat Carmel-based company, represented by attorneys Shmuel Galinka and Omer Bar Ilan of Shibolet & Co., said its remaining cash balance is approximately NIS 164,700 ($51,500), alongside laboratory equipment and patents. It said it had been unable to find an investor or acquirer and had therefore decided to cease operations.
Beyeonics was established as a spin-off of technology developed at Elbit Systems and initially operated from the defense company's offices. The company had been operating as an Elbit division since 2012 before being spun off in February 2018. In June of that year, Beyeonics Surgical raised $11.5 million in its first funding round as an independent company. The investment was intended to support commercialization of its surgical visualization technology and development of additional applications.
Beyeonics developed a head-mounted visor designed to replace surgical microscopes and monitors, transmitting high-resolution images of the surgical area directly to surgeons' eyes. The system used virtual and augmented reality technologies to provide additional visualization tools and information, including patient vital signs.The application, filed by attorney Shay Bar-Nir of Piron & Co., states that since its founding the company has accumulated losses of more than NIS 19 million ($6.3M). As of the end of 2024, its current liabilities totaled approximately NIS 379,000.
The filing also notes a contingent liability to the Israel Innovation Authority of approximately $1.89 million related to grants the company received. In recent months, CardioKoll has financed its remaining operations through loans provided by several of its founders, primarily its largest shareholder, French healthcare investment fund Kamet Ventures, which extended financing to help preserve the company's assets.
In October 2021, Beyeonics Surgical and its sister company, Beyeonics Vision, announced a combined financing round of $36 million. The announcement included $26 million in investments across the two companies, led by Italian investment fund TechWald Holding and Israeli fund Alive Israel HealthTech, with participation from existing shareholders LR Group, XT Hi-Tech, Aurum Ventures and Mivtach Shamir. The remaining $10 million was a convertible loan to Beyeonics Vision from surgical ophthalmology company BVI Medical. The full $36 million was therefore not raised by Beyeonics Surgical alone.
At the time, CTech reported that Beyeonics Surgical was focused on neurosurgery and orthopedics, while Beyeonics Vision was developing ophthalmology products. Both companies leveraged imaging and head-mounted display technologies originally developed by Elbit for aerospace applications.
According to the insolvency filing, Beyeonics Surgical developed and sold a visualization system for ophthalmic surgeries between 2018 and 2021 before shifting its focus to navigation systems for spinal surgery. The filing states that the company did not reach the marketing and sales stage with the latter technology and ultimately failed to secure the investment or acquisition needed to continue operating.
The company attributed its financial difficulties, in part, to the challenges of raising capital in the startup sector.
