A Baltimore-based company that lets medical device makers test surgical tools on thousands of virtual patients has closed an $11.5 million seed round, the latest sign that computational simulation is moving from the margins to the mainstream of medical device development.
Inner Logic, which recently rebranded from its earlier name Semaphor, announced Tuesday that General Catalyst and Bison Ventures co-led the financing. The round drew an unusually broad syndicate for a seed deal: J2 Ventures, Defined, PTX Capital, Valia Ventures, Page One Ventures, Alumni Ventures and Flare Capital Partners all participated.
The company's pitch is straightforward, if technically ambitious. Instead of relying on cadaver studies and animal testing to validate orthopedic implants, heart valves or surgical robots, manufacturers can run those devices through Inner Logic's simulation platform. The infrastructure is designed to produce what the company calls "regulatory-ready evidence," documentation traced through the development cycle that can support FDA submissions.
It's a bet that regulators will increasingly accept computational proxies for physical testing. That bet looks less speculative than it once did. The FDA formalized pathways for simulation-based evidence through guidance issued on computational modeling and simulation, aligning its standards with an industry benchmark known as ASME V&V 40-2018. The shift gives device makers a new set of tools to build their case before human trials begin.
Inner Logic's work extends beyond passive simulation. According to the company, its platform has been used to train artificial intelligence systems in simulated orthopedic trauma scenarios, with those AI models then deployed successfully on actual hardware and patient anatomy. In one project detailed in the funding announcement, the startup's technology helped complete critical steps of a gallbladder removal in a live animal model without direct surgeon control—a milestone in the long march toward autonomous surgical systems.
The founding team brings unusual depth. Tito Porras, the CEO, walked away from a neurosurgery residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital to build the company. Before that, he was a medical research fellow supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine. His co-founder and chief technology officer, Mathias Unberath, holds an associate professorship in computer science at Johns Hopkins, where he runs the ARCADE Lab. Unberath has collected federal and industry recognition along the way, including awards from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, the National Science Foundation and Google.
The third co-founder, Axel Krieger, serves as chief robotics officer. Also an associate professor at Johns Hopkins, this time in mechanical engineering, Krieger was senior author on research published in Science Robotics that described the first autonomous laparoscopic surgery performed in a living animal. That work, which appeared a few years ago, helped establish the technical credibility the startup now leverages with device manufacturers.
Inner Logic's LinkedIn profile shows 16 employee profiles within a stated range of 11-50 employees, a modest headcount for a company chasing a market this complex. The startup has been tight-lipped about its customer roster. While investor materials reference usage by medical device original equipment manufacturers, no names have been disclosed.
"Procedural autonomy isn't a distant vision—it's nearly here," said Reva Nohria, a partner at General Catalyst, in a statement accompanying the announcement. Caleb Appleton, a partner at Bison Ventures, highlighted what he called "the rare combination of world leading robotics and physical AI models, and deep surgical knowledge."
Porras framed the mission in terms borrowed from another industry wrestling with autonomy. "Surgery is on the same path as autonomous driving," he said. "We are building that layer for all of procedural medicine."
The company plans to deploy the capital toward expanding its computational infrastructure and scaling both platform capabilities and engineering capacity to support device-maker clients. A senior full-stack developer position appeared on LinkedIn in recent months, a small signal of hiring ambitions.
One detail hints at earlier financial backing. Flare Capital's portfolio page lists Inner Logic as "backed since 2025," suggesting the firm may have participated in a prior pre-seed or angel round. No amounts from earlier financing have been made public.
The round positions Inner Logic at the intersection of several converging trends: the FDA's growing comfort with computational evidence, the medical device industry's appetite for faster and cheaper validation pathways, and the broader push toward surgical automation. Whether simulation infrastructure can deliver on its promise to reshape device development—and whether regulators will fully embrace it—remains an open question. But with more than $11 million in the bank and a team steeped in both academic research and clinical reality, Inner Logic has runway to make its case.
