Xenex Disinfection Services just raised $25 million in financing to help it address the persistent issue of hospital-acquired infections, which costs the healthcare system some $30 billion a year.
The San Antonio, TX-based company develops robots that use ultraviolet lights to combat bacteria, viruses, mold and spores. Financing was led by new investors Brandon Point Industries Limited and existing investors Battery Ventures, Targeted Technology Fund II and RK Ventures.
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With hospitals facing decreased reimbursements and increased public scrutiny, more are looking to new technologies for room disinfection to eliminate or at least contain potentially deadly pathogens. Xenex said it’s poised for growth in lieu of that demand with the Germ-Zapping Robot.
“We are positioned for growth in 2015 and beyond because we have a unique opportunity to do a service for humanity while having a dramatic impact on a hospital’s bottom line,” Morris Miller, CEO of Xene, said in a statement.
A total of 724 U.S. hospitals were recently fined under Medicare’s Value Based Purchasing for causing infections, Morris noted.
The robot doesn’t use expensive chemicals, instead using UV lights. It can disinfect 30 to 62 hospital rooms per day, including ORs, ERs, ICUs, public spaces and patient rooms. More than 250 hospitals, Veterans Affairs and DoD facilities in the U.S. are using Xenex robots.
