Hike Medical has raised $22.5 million in Seed and Series A financing, marking an important milestone for a company whose ambitions are rooted in three generations of prosthetic and orthotic experience—and a family story that began in India.
The San Francisco-based medical technology company was founded by Chief Executive Officer Aadi Bhanti and Chief Business Officer Steven Chacko. Its leadership team also includes Aadi’s father, Indian-trained prosthetist-orthotist Amit Bhanti, as Chief Clinical Officer, and Jerry Tang as Chief Operating Officer.
The financing was led by Max Altman of Saga Ventures, with participation from Indicator Ventures, Fifth Down Capital, RiverPark Ventures, Orthofeet and angel investors Sam Blond and Jerod Mayo.
While the investment represents a significant achievement for an American health technology business, the story behind Hike Medical reaches back much further—to the traditional craft of orthotics in India.
Three Generations Connected by O&P
In a personal account of Hike Medical’s long-term vision, Aadi Bhanti describes a family history spanning three generations of orthotic and prosthetic care.
His grandfather handcrafted orthoses in India, working in an era when devices were shaped largely through manual skill, observation and the practitioner’s understanding of the individual patient. Aadi describes this first generation as representing the art of fitting devices through experience, touch and intuition.
The second generation is represented by Amit Bhanti, who earned his qualification in prosthetics and orthotics in India before continuing his graduate education at Northwestern University in the United States.
According to the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association, Amit co-founded Comprehensive Prosthetics & Orthotics in Peoria, Illinois, in 2005. He subsequently developed the organisation into a multi-state clinical network with more than 30 facilities.
His career brought an Indian prosthetic and orthotic education into the American clinical environment, combining hands-on professional knowledge with the development of a larger, technology-enabled care network.
Aadi represents the family’s third generation. Instead of leaving the traditions of the first two generations behind, he is seeking to translate their knowledge into digital systems capable of operating at a much greater scale.
In his essay, “Insoles Are the Wedge. DME Is the Bridge. Bionics Is the Destination”, Aadi presents the family journey as a progression from handcrafted orthotics in India, through his father’s clinical network, to Hike Medical’s use of artificial intelligence, digital scanning and additive manufacturing.
It is a powerful example of how Indian O&P knowledge can travel across generations, countries and technologies while retaining its connection to patient care.
Building a Digital Infrastructure for Device-Based Care
Hike Medical provides an integrated platform for managing the durable medical equipment process from referral and insurance documentation through clinical assessment, manufacturing and delivery.
The company combines AI-powered administrative automation, digital clinical tools and in-house 3D printing. Its technology is intended to reduce the paperwork and delays associated with device provision while helping clinicians deliver customised products more efficiently.
For podiatry practices, for example, the platform supports referral management, documentation checks, guided foot examinations, smartphone-based scanning and the ordering of diabetic shoes and customised inserts. Hike says its scanning process can operate through an ordinary smartphone without specialised scanning hardware.
Manufacturing is undertaken through the company’s facility in Peoria, Illinois. Hike describes this operation as a 65,000-square-foot production centre containing more than 500 3D printers.
The company’s initial focus has been custom foot orthoses and diabetic inserts, but its stated ambitions extend considerably further. Its longer-term plans include applying the same digital infrastructure to ankle-foot orthoses, spinal braces, cranial devices and other customised areas of prosthetic, orthotic and durable medical equipment provision.
These remain company ambitions rather than guaranteed outcomes, but the new investment gives Hike additional resources as it works to expand its technology and manufacturing platform.
Investment in an O&P-Informed Technology Company
The $22.5 million financing is notable because Hike is not approaching the sector purely as an external software company. Its strategy has emerged from direct family experience of orthotic manufacturing, clinical practice and the operational challenges of running O&P facilities.
That background matters. Digital systems for prosthetics and orthotics need to reflect the realities of prescription, clinical assessment, documentation, device design, manufacturing, fitting and reimbursement. Technology may accelerate these processes, but it must still account for the professional judgement required when a device interacts directly with a person’s body.
The participation of Orthofeet, alongside venture-capital investors, also provides the funding group with a connection to the footwear and diabetic foot-care market.
Axios reported the $22.5 million funding milestone as Hike looks to establish a wider role within the American durable medical equipment industry.
An Indian Story with Global Reach
For Bharat CPO, the Bhanti family’s story deserves particular recognition.
It begins with an Indian practitioner making orthoses by hand. It continues through an Indian-trained prosthetist-orthotist who built a major clinical organisation in the United States. It now enters a third generation through a technology company seeking to combine clinical knowledge, artificial intelligence and industrial-scale 3D printing.
The progression reflects changes taking place across the international O&P profession. Manual knowledge remains essential, but new generations are finding ways to preserve, digitise and scale that expertise.
Hike Medical’s funding milestone is therefore more than another health technology investment announcement. It celebrates the enduring influence of Indian O&P education and craftsmanship—and the ability of an Indian-origin family to carry that legacy onto an international stage.
From a grandfather’s hands in India to a large digital manufacturing operation in the United States, the Bhanti family’s journey demonstrates how professional knowledge can pass between generations while continuing to evolve.
- Hike Medical Official Website
- Hike Medical on LinkedIn
- Aadi Bhanti’s Three-Generation Vision for Hike Medical
- American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association Profile of Amit Bhanti
- Axios Report on Hike Medical’s $22.5 Million Financing
- Comprehensive Prosthetics & Orthotics
- Saga Ventures
- Indicator Ventures
- Fifth Down Capital
- RiverPark Ventures