Advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have been reshaping the healthcare landscape in recent years. Many companies have introduced new processes in fields like medical imaging, disease screening and diagnosis, drug discovery and development, therapeutics, and medical research.
Even tech giants like Google and IBM are focusing on making breakthroughs in oncology, using advanced AI algorithms for early detection and personalised treatment of cancer. Some of the initiatives by these companies include Google Deepmind, which uses machine learning to reduce the time it takes to plan radiotherapy treatment for hard-to-treat cancers.
In recent years, VC investment in AI for healthcare has soared, surpassing over $500 million of investments in the last quarter of 2021. Recently, Hong Kong-based Insilico Medicine scooped $60 million in funding to launch an AI-powered drug discovery robotics lab.
Having said that, we at TFN have curated a list of global startups that are combating cancer and its detection process with AI.
Xilis (US)
Founder/s: Xiling Shen, Dr. David Hsu, Dr. Hans Clevers
Founded year: 2019
Total funding: $70M
Xilis, a biotech startup based in Durham, North Carolina is developing a precision oncology platform, which guides treatment decisions for oncologists to improve cancer care outcomes for patients. Also, it supports drug discovery and development for pharmaceutical companies.
Last year, Xilis picked up $70 million in Series A funding from Mubadala Capital and a slew of new investors to expand its AI-driven capabilities, fund clinical studies for diagnostic development, and validate the use of MOS technology with biopharma partners.
Kheiron (UK)
Founder/s: Peter Kecskemethy, Tobias Rijken
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: $34.8M
London-headquartered Kheiron works with the mission to help breast cancer patients live longer and better lives through earlier detection. The startup combines new deep learning methods, data science and radiology insights to help doctors find malignancies in mammograms in the early stages.
The Tech Nation-backed startup raised $22 million in 2019 to scale its machine learning platform dubbed Mia. Mia analyses standard mammography images to help radiologists.
SkinVision (Netherlands)
Founder/s: Mircea Popa, Victor Anastasiu
Founded year: 2011
Total funding: $11
While being one of the most prevalent types of cancer, if diagnosed in time, skin cancer has the highest success rate in treatment and recovery. Understanding this, SkinVision from Amsterdam uses a highly accurate AI-based algorithm. The company creates the highest patient-doctor value and eradicates skin cancer mortality worldwide.
Imagene AI (Israel)
Founder/s: Dean Bitan, Jonathan Zalach, Shahar Porat
Founded year: 2020
Total funding: $21.5M
Imagene AI is one of the notable companies in the field of AI-based precision medicine for cancer. The precision oncology diagnosis company from Tel Aviv uses proprietary deep learning algorithms to reduce the time required for biomarkers detection from several weeks to two minutes. Eventually, it pets more cancer patients to receive the most effective treatment possible.
Earlier this year, Imagene AI raised $21.5 million funding from Blumberg Capital and renowned technology-driven cancer medicine investors Larry Ellison, Dr. David Agus, and AI imaging space pioneer Eyal Gura.
Oncora Medical (US)
Founder/s: David Lindsay, Chris Berlind
Founded year: 2014
Total funding: $1.2M
Oncora Medical uses machine learning and workflow software to help doctors, patients, and scientists personalise treatments for cancer. The adaptive data capture technology collects the most important oncology data elements for each patient and automatically generates clinical notes in the physician’s workflow.
Niramai (India)
Founder/s: Geetha Manjunath, Nidhi Mathur
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: $6.1M
Bangalore-based female-led Niramai Health Analytix uses a high-resolution thermal sensing device and cloud-based analytics where algorithms can detect tumours five times smaller than what a clinical exam can detect. It has proven to have higher accuracy than mammography, especially to detect cancers in dense breast tissue.
In 2019, the company that is known for its breast cancer detection tech nabbed $6 million in Series A funding.
Enlitic (US)
Founder/s: Jeremy Howard, Kevin Lyman
Founded year: 2014
Total funding: $60M
Enlitic is a medical intelligence company based in California. It has developed technologies that improve the way intelligence is used by eliminating inefficiencies in every stage of the clinical workflow. It leverages proprietary algorithms to quickly and accurately improve healthcare diagnosis.
Maxwell Plus (Australia)
Founder/s: Elliot Smith
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: NA
Headquartered in Brisbane, Maxwell Plus is an AI platform for data-driven clinical diagnostics. It gives clinicians, researchers, and companies the tools they need to accelerate the design, development, the delivery of clinical diagnostics built upon medical imaging, pathology and other data. Notably, the first diagnostic model available on Maxwell is for prostate cancer.
Therapixel (France)
Founder/s: Olivier Clatz, Pierre Fillard
Founded year: 2013
Total funding: $22.7M
Therapixel is the designer and supplier of MammoScreen, an Artificial Intelligence software reading aid for mammography. MammoScreen uses a unique score to signal the level of suspicion of a mammogram. This makes it possible to confirm the lesions that are certain and to save precious time with a faster reading of benign cases.
Last month, the AI-powered medical imaging startup nabbed €15 million in Series B funding led by Crédit Mutuel Innovation and CapHorn joined by others to fuel its US expansion.
Ibex Medical Analytics (Israel)
Founder/s: Chaim Linhart, Joseph Mossel
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: $52M
Ibex is another Israeli startup combines accumulated knowledge of AI, data science, image analysis, and machine learning, and applies it to cancer diagnostics in digital pathology. Its AI-based cancer diagnostic software that helps pathologists better detect and grade different cancers.
The pioneer in AI-powered cancer diagnostics secured $38 million in Series B funding last year.
