Phantom GI, an Israeli medical device startup headquartered in Tel Aviv, has raised $5 million in seed funding led by Pitango HealthTech, with participation from RAD Biomed and RUNI Ventures. The funding will support further development of its PercStoma device and preparations for initial clinical studies in the United States.
Founded in 2025 by CEO Ido Sadan, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Eran Shlomovitz, and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Eliahu Bekhor, Phantom GI is developing minimally invasive technology for creating an ostomy without conventional abdominal surgery. Its initial focus is on patients with severe bowel obstruction who are considered unsuitable for standard surgical procedures.
The company’s investigational device, PercStoma, is designed to create an opening between the bowel and the skin through a single needle puncture under local anesthesia and X-ray guidance. The procedure uses a proprietary stent to establish a passage for bowel contents to enter a standard ostomy bag.
Phantom GI is targeting a procedure time of approximately 20 minutes. The company is also designing the system to allow ostomy reversal through an office-based procedure, potentially avoiding the need for another major operation. These capabilities remain subject to clinical evaluation.
The technology originated from a clinical procedure performed in 2023 by Dr. Shlomovitz, who treated a patient with malignant bowel obstruction using existing interventional medical equipment and image guidance. That experience informed the development of PercStoma as a dedicated medical device.
PercStoma remains an investigational device and has not received regulatory clearance. Phantom GI plans to advance its development and undertake initial US clinical studies to evaluate the technology.
