IW Capital has led a £7m investment into Alesi Surgical, a Cardiff-based surgical technology company tackling one of operating theatres’ most overlooked hazards.

Surgical smoke is produced in around 90% of all procedures globally but existing methods of clearing it are cumbersome, distracting and even harmful to the patient. While 95% is water vapour, the remaining 5% can contain harmful bacteria and chemicals, posing both infection and long-term toxicity risks for theatre staff.

Alesi’s Ultravision platform removes smoke 225x faster than competing technologies and has already been used in over 50,000 procedures worldwide.

This matters because regulation is shifting fast, particularly in the US, where 20 states have now mandated smoke management and the standard of care is moving toward smoke-free theatres worldwide.