category archives: artas

restoration robotics, artas

restoration robotics (“hair”) ipo

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2019 update: restoration robotics has merged with canada based venus concept (vero).

restoration robotics is a privately held company that manufactures the world leading artas robotic hair transplantation system that i have discussed on this blog several times in the past. this robot has revolutionized follicular unit extraction from the back of patient scalps during an fue hair transplantation procedure. in future, artas may also become an expert at hair placement in the front and crown of patient scalps.

i just found out that restoration robotics will undertake an initial public offering (ipo) on the nasdaq stock exchange tomorrow october 12th, 2017. the company’s stock ticker will be “hair”, which was surprisingly not already taken. they aim to price shares at between $7 and $9 and will issue 3.1 million of them. restoration robotics had $20 million in revenue last year, but was not yet profitable.

i have done limited basic stock trading in my life, but will be keen to follow this ipo tomorrow even though i do not intend to buy. i do want to learn how an ipo works at the get go and follow real-time trends. for any financial experts who care to comment:

  • how easy is it for the common man to purchase stocks during an ipo? any website recommendations?
  • will “hair” start trading as soon as the nasdaq market opens at 9:30 am or will it be later in the day?
  • did restoration robotics have to make public significant financial details regarding its past few years of operations/performance before being allowed to proceed with the ipo?

— artas twitter account.

artas, hasson & wong

100th artas robot sold by restoration robotics

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in my post about the end of strip hair transplants, i discussed the sudden departure of jotronic from the hasson & wong (h&w) clinic after many years of working for them. despite their stellar results and unmatched online reputation, h&w only offered strip procedures and never seemed to consider fue as a serious alternative. despite the fact that the whole hair transplant industry was moving towards fue. however, it looks like this thinking may be changing very soon.

100th artas robotic system just sold

apparently, hassson & wong just purchased the 100th ever artas robotic fue extraction system. it seems like the clinic will now be offering fue, unless this is just an experimental expensive venture. artas (from restoration robotics) only became commercially available in 2011. however, it seems to have taken the industry by storm. this groundbreaking 100th sale to a renowned previously strip only clinic will only add to the popularity of robotic fue hair transplant surgery.

i would guess that hair transplant prices will come down in the next several years due to this increasing automation necessitating less staff. perhaps restoration robotics will then be able to reduce the price of its artas system, as it sells more of them and achieves economies of scale.

before artas, strip hair transplant surgeons wishing to start practicing fue had to sometimes guess the best graft extraction methodology. often via some improvisation and invention of proprietary tools. the time consuming nature of fue extractions and inconsistent graft survival rates probably prevented many strip only practitioners from shifting to fue. artas has changed the game completely. no more human fatigue and inconsistency related problems during fue extraction.

even more exciting, artas will be able to create recipient sites and place grafts in the future too.