Participated · Equity · Aug 2020

NextStep Robotics is a three-year-old company born out of a decade of research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Motor Performance Laboratory. Its core product, AMBLE, is a wearable robotic device paired with software that uses AI to assign training and support patients with foot drop during therapy. The company raised $500,000 in a bridge round to help progress toward a product launch. The round included returning investors Maryland Momentum Fund and the Abell Foundation, plus new investor University of Maryland Global Campus. Maryland Momentum Fund previously invested $25,000 in 2018 when NextStep was the fund’s second investment; the Abell Foundation invests early with an emphasis on creating jobs in Baltimore. The raise is positioned to advance commercialization and clinical deployment steps toward launch. NextStep Robotics builds a robotic device intended for use in physical therapy clinics to treat foot drop, a common impairment after stroke. Its device was developed from a decade of research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Baltimore VA Motor Performance Laboratory, and technology was licensed from the University of Maryland Baltimore. The device uses software with an "assist as needed" approach and can be operated by trained clinic staff, freeing therapists for hands-on care; a single device can serve about 100 patients per year. The company is planning a clinical trial with over 120 stroke survivors at the Rehabilitation and Orthopaedic Institute in Forest Park as part of a planned Phase II effort. NextStep is based in Baltimore, was founded in 2017, and is led by CEO Brad Hennessie. Recent financing activity and the NIH agreement are intended to help finalize the device design and move the product toward market. NextStep Robotics has developed a wearable, clinic‑based personalized robotic therapy that treats foot drop using an adaptive, assist‑as‑needed software protocol. The device is positioned as a training device (not an assistive device) that promotes motor learning in a few weeks and can be operated by trained clinical staff. One robot placed in a clinic can provide training to as many as 100 patients per year, and the company says the protocol can elicit neuromotor reeducation with higher reimbursement than typical gait training or therapeutic exercise. The technology is based on more than a decade of research and on intellectual property licensed from the University of Maryland. The company plans to use the proceeds from its second funding round to transition from prototyping and development to manufacturing and sales. Since spring 2017 NextStep has been housed in the Maryland Development Center to commercialize technologies emerging from Baltimore‑area universities and hospitals. NextStep Robotics develops a robotic device to treat foot drop syndrome. The device targets patients who cannot lift a toe while walking, a condition common after stroke and in people with diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. The company is Baltimore-based and led by CEO Brad Hennessie. It recently closed on $750,000 in new funding. The Maryland Momentum Fund invested $250,000 in the round and a group affiliated with Vancouver-based Ford Capital co-invested. The Maryland Momentum Fund was created by the University System of Maryland to back startups based on technology developed at state schools; NextStep is the second company to receive its investment.