Vitestro Raises $70M to Advance Robotic Phlebotomy as Labs Confront Workforce Pressures
New funding will help Vitestro expand clinical validation, scale manufacturing, and prepare its autonomous blood-draw technology for broader hospital and laboratory adoption.
Vitestro has secured $70 million in oversubscribed Series B financing to accelerate development and commercialization of its Aletta Autonomous Robotic Phlebotomy Device (ARPD), a platform designed to automate routine blood collection in clinical settings.
In March 2025, The Dark Report reported on Vitestro’s development of the ARPD—one of the last manual steps in the laboratory testing workflow. The company had recently received CE mark approval in Europe and reported clinical trial results showing a 95% first-stick success rate and strong patient acceptance, positioning the technology as a potential solution to phlebotomy staffing shortages and pre-analytical variability in clinical laboratories.
According to a new press release published on March 10, 2026, this funding round drew strategic backing from several prominent healthcare organizations, including Labcorp Venture Fund, Mayo Clinic, and Sutter Health. Financial investors InterVest, MGFO, PGGM, Puma Venture Capital, and ROM Utrecht also participated, alongside existing investors such as Invest-NL, the EIC Fund, Fred Moll, NYBC Ventures, and Sonder Capital.
For clinical laboratory leaders facing persistent staffing shortages and rising specimen volumes, the investment highlights growing industry interest in automating one of healthcare’s most common clinical procedures.
“Closing our Series B financing reflects strong conviction in our mission to establish a new standard in autonomous robotic venous access and diagnostic blood collection,” said Toon Overbeeke, chief executive officer and co-founder of Vitestro. “Diagnostic blood collection remains the highest-volume invasive medical procedure globally, with billions of procedures performed annually.” (Photo credit: Vitestro)
Automation Targets High-Volume Phlebotomy Workflows
Vitestro plans to use the capital to advance the next generation of its Aletta platform, conduct additional clinical studies, and scale manufacturing as the company prepares for broader commercial rollout in Europe and eventual entry into the United States through the FDA’s de novo regulatory pathway.
The Aletta system combines multimodal imaging, robotics, and artificial intelligence to autonomously identify veins, guide needle insertion, and collect blood samples with high precision. The platform is designed to perform routine diagnostic blood draws, potentially helping laboratories standardize collection quality while reducing human-dependent variability.
For laboratory executives, the technology could offer a new strategy to stabilize phlebotomy operations as workforce shortages persist. By automating routine blood draws, robotic platforms like Aletta may allow organizations to improve workflow predictability, support existing staff, and maintain patient throughput in high-volume outpatient settings.
A forthcoming issue of The Dark Report will feature interviews with Vitestro executives and provide deeper analysis of what autonomous robotic phlebotomy could mean for clinical laboratories, including its potential impact on staffing, workflow efficiency, and specimen quality.
—Janette Wider
