By
With the Invictus Games just around the corner in Vancouver, Sydney Robinson, CEO and co-founder of Vessl Prosthetics, can’t help but feel her startup’s work is more timely than ever. The event, which celebrates the strength and resilience of veterans and active service members, will feature athletes who face the daily challenges of living with amputations. Robinson sees it as a reminder of Vessl’s mission to help people with amputations live empowered lives. With Vessl’s recent announcement of securing oversubscribed pre-seed funding, the startup is turning that mission into action.
“We built the car and now we actually have to drive it,” said Robinson. “This fundraise lets us ramp up our scale and move onto things like hiring, buying, expanding operations and marketing. The fundraise ultimately brings us to market to expand our manufacturing team, sales team and everything we need to do for that.”
Co-founded by Robinson and Oleksiy Zaika in 2022, Vessl Prosthetics is a medtech startup focused on solving the issue of poor prosthetic socket fit. The startup has worked closely with amputees and prosthetists to identify gaps in the market.
This investment, though the exact amount hasn’t been disclosed, will help Vessl scale production, bring its Isoform™ prosthetic system to market, and expand its reach to more amputees and prosthetists across the U.S.
Vessl’s prosthetic system automatically adjusts to changes in a user’s limb size throughout the day. It solves the problem of discomfort and instability caused by shifting limb volume. Whether from exercise, diet, or even seasonal weather changes, Robinson says many people with amputations struggle with poor-fitting sockets. She says Vessl’s technology uses the kinetic energy from walking to adjust the fit to provide steady support and comfort.
Robinson says a big part of her journey as a co-founder has been the support and guidance from business accelerators and organizations like Communitech that provide resources and connections to help founders with the challenges of startup growth. Robinson and Vessl Prosthetics were awarded a $7,000 grand prize for best pitch at Techtoberfest presents Investorhaus on Oct. 11, 2024.
"Communitech was one of the first accelerator groups I was ever a part of and it really set the foundation of the company," she says. "We joined the MedTech Accelerator Program that Communitech ran, and that was invaluable. We were able to meet with advisors, and that was super helpful for financial projections and to better understand how that works. We gained more advice on the fundraising journey itself and were opened up to the local founder network and broader tech community."
This support in managing the challenges of fundraising played a role in helping Vessl work toward securing the capital needed to bring its technology to market and advance to the next stage of growth.
“Our mission is to make a fulfilling life more comfortable, for us that means empowering people with leg amputations,” said Robinson. “We want to deliver the solutions to the people who need it.”
