PomegraPhantom GI raised a $5M seed round led by Pitango HealthTech to build PercStoma, a needle-based ostomy for inoperable bowel-obstruction patients in the US.
Key Takeaways
- Phantom GI closed a $5M seed round on October 8, 2026, led by Pitango HealthTech.
- RAD Biomed and RUNI Ventures also joined; valuation was not disclosed.
- PercStoma has no regulatory approval yet; US Phase 1 clinical studies come next.
Lead
Phantom GI, a Tel Aviv medtech startup founded in 2025, announced a $5M seed round on October 8, 2026. Pitango HealthTech led the financing, with RAD Biomed and RUNI Ventures participating. The company is developing PercStoma, a device that creates an ostomy through a single needle puncture instead of an open surgical procedure. The money will fund device development and the start of its first US clinical studies.
What Does Phantom GI's PercStoma Actually Do?
PercStoma creates an ostomy, an artificial opening between the bowel and the skin surface, using a needle puncture, X-ray guidance and local anesthesia. A proprietary stent holds the channel open between the bowel and the skin. The company says the procedure takes about 20 minutes.
Conventional ostomy surgery requires an incision and general anesthesia. For patients whose bowel is blocked by advanced cancer, that route is often closed because they are too frail to tolerate it. Phantom GI is aiming at that group, which is described as malignant bowel obstruction patients considered inoperable.
The device displaces open and laparoscopic ostomy surgery in a narrow slice of cases. It does not compete with the surgery in patients who can undergo it.
Who Is Behind the Company?
Ido Sadan serves as CEO. The co-founders are Dr. Eran Shlomovitz, a surgeon and interventional radiologist who is chief medical officer, and Dr. Eliahu Bekhor, the chief scientific officer. The company has not disclosed headcount.
Sadan described the clinical gap in the announcement: "There is a group of patients today for whom the standard surgical option is simply too invasive." The framing is aimed at a specific, underserved population rather than at the broader ostomy market.
What Does a $5M Seed Round Buy in Medtech?
A $5M seed buys a first-in-human program and little else. Device development, a US Phase 1 study and the regulatory groundwork leave limited room before a Series A becomes necessary. Medtech rounds of this size usually carry a company to a clinical readout, not to a commercial launch.
The company disclosed no prior funding, so the round does not imply a step-up from an earlier valuation. With the valuation undisclosed, the price Pitango paid for its stake is unknown. The presence of RAD Biomed, a vehicle tied to the Israeli RAD group, and RUNI Ventures, linked to Reichman University, points to a syndicate built from Israel's medtech and academic networks rather than from large US funds.
PercStoma has not received regulatory approval. The path to the market runs through US trials and an FDA review, and the company has not published a timeline for either.
Why Does the Market Matter Despite the Small Round?
The company points to roughly 55,000 US deaths per year from malignant bowel obstruction and says more than 100,000 US bowel-obstruction patients a year could benefit from a minimally invasive approach. It also puts the cost of a surgical ostomy at about $70,000 per procedure. These are the company's own figures and have not been independently verified.
The numbers explain the investor interest, but they also invite caution. Palliative devices for late-stage cancer patients face short patient survival windows, which complicates trial design and enrollment. Reimbursement for a new palliative procedure is another open question, and no payer decisions have been announced.
What Comes Next for Phantom GI?
The next milestone is the start of Phase 1 clinical studies in the US. A successful early study would give the company safety data on the stent and the puncture technique, which is the evidence a Series A investor would want. A stalled or delayed study would push the company back to its existing backers for bridge funding.
Two scenarios are plausible. In the first, early data shows reliable ostomy creation in about 20 minutes with few complications, and the company moves to a larger pivotal study. In the second, enrollment proves slow because eligible patients are very sick, and the timeline stretches beyond what the seed round covers.
Outlook
Phantom GI has $5M, a lead investor from Israel's established healthcare fund ecosystem and a defined clinical target in inoperable bowel-obstruction patients. It has no approval, no disclosed valuation and no published trial timeline. The next 12 to 18 months of clinical progress, not the size of the addressable market, will decide whether the company raises a follow-on round on better terms.