OSSTEC, USD 8M round for a cementless partial knee
According to Imperial College London, OSSTEC, a startup from the university, has closed an $8 million (£6 million) investment round. The money is meant to help it complete US regulatory approval and train surgeons to use Ascent, its 3D-printed, cementless, fixed-bearing partial knee system. Imperial College London published the news on 3 November 2026.
The round was led by Embryo Ventures, with Neovate Capital, New Wave Ventures, Oxford Technology Innovation Finance and Empirical Ventures.
The university link is long. OSSTEC was founded in 2021 from Dr Max Munford's PhD research in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. The company developed through the Venture Catalyst Challenge, the MedTech SuperConnector and other support from the university's Enterprise Lab, including Imperial Venture Mentoring. In 2023 it raised £1.2 million in seed funding from investors including the Imperial College Enterprise Fund, followed in 2025 by a £2.5 million round.
The clinical argument, as Imperial College London puts it: around half of knee replacement patients are suitable for a partial knee implant, yet only about 10 per cent receive one. The usual approach cements the implant in place, which adds time and complexity in the operating room. OSSTEC's cementless implants avoid that step. Munford says: "This financing moves our focus from preparation to patients."
The limits: the article presents US approval as still to be completed and gives no clinical outcome data. No valuation is published. Only the Imperial College London article was read directly for the round.
What the money pays for: completing US regulatory approval, training surgeons, the first US surgical cases and the development of new products.