Organ preservation specialist Bridge to Life on 12 August 2026 closed a $110 million Series C and debt financing led by Soleus Capital, arming the Illinois-based company for a nationwide rollout of VitaSmart, the first hypothermic oxygenated perfusion (HOPE) system authorised by the US FDA for donor liver transplantation.
The financing
Soleus Capital led the equity, joined by Lauxera Capital Partners and participation from company directors, officers and employees. The Soleus Capital Credit Opportunities Fund provided the debt. Bridge to Life said proceeds will fund a national field team, working capital to reach every US transplant centre and pipeline expansion around a proprietary organ viability assessment tool.
Why VitaSmart matters
Roughly 105,000 patients sit on the US National Organ Transplant list, according to the company's April 2026 tally, with more than 9,000 specifically waiting for a liver. VitaSmart delivers cold, oxygenated preservation of donor livers ex vivo, extending viable ischaemic windows and improving recipient outcomes. It earned FDA De Novo clearance in January 2026 after data from the pivotal Bridge to HOPE clinical trial, and holds CE marking with commercial availability across Europe, Saudi Arabia and India.
Category context
Bridge to Life joins a busy month for organ care and surgical robotics financings. Distalmotion's DEXTER also crossed an FDA milestone this week, adding ventral hernia repair to its indication list, while device-side capital keeps flowing into biotech AI. The through-line: US FDA authorisations are unlocking growth-stage capital for once-niche transplant technologies as payers and health systems chase transplant capacity.
What comes next
Bridge to Life plans to extend the platform beyond livers into kidney, heart and lung workflows and to layer AI-enabled viability scoring into the assessment tool it is developing. Its scientific advisory board and Bridge to HOPE trial network give it clinical reach that few venture-backed medtechs can match. With Aidoc's Diagnostic AI Consortium of 12 health systems now formalising cross-hospital AI validation, the environment for a nationwide sales push has arguably never been more welcoming.
Reporting based on coverage from PRNewswire, StreetInsider, Medical Device Network and Investors in Healthcare.