The Brazilian dental company SouSmile was lucky enough to secure $10 M in series A funding before Covid-19 became a global pandemic.
With the goal of growing its invisible aligner brand, the new funding brings its total funding to $11.4M.
Leveraging 3D Scanning technology in production
SouSmile leverages 3D scanning technology to personalize each aligner it produces.
The two-year old startup is opening new doors to the orthodontics field in Brazil. Put simply, their method implies an evaluation by a licensed dentist that utilizes a panoramic X-ray, 3D scan and a clinical exam. Only after this stage, they can approve customers for treatment.
While 3D scanning is being utilized to design aligners, it should be noted that other companies such as Bellevue Orthodontics, Align or Smile Direct Club, directly leverage 3D printing in the manufacturing process.
With bimonthly appointments, a treatment can take three to nine months and costs approximately $1,000, which is cheaper than comparable treatments, according to co-founder Michael Ruah.
The co-founder predicts the negative impact of the pandemic on the company’s short-term revenue. They anticipate less foot traffic in their 5 retail stores across São Paulo and Rio over the coming weeks, possibly months.
Ruah hopes that because the business is still young, macro indicators won’t have a huge impact on the bottom line in the medium-to-long term. However, for the co-founder, the most important is that their employees and customers are safe and healthy at this point.
We highlight SouSmile today, but this situation is also the case of most AM companies, that did not did not record huge sales in this quarter. At present, it is too soon to say or even predict how the market will evolve in the second quarter. Hopefully, governmental measures implemented at a local level will help the industry. That’s definitely something we will keep an eye on.
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