Tartu-based Higher Drugs, a startup creating AI-powered diagnostic instruments for radiology, has raised €1 million in a pre-Seed funding spherical to develop in Europe, put together for U.S. entry, and pursue medical and insurance coverage partnerships.
The spherical was led by Soulmates Ventures, with participation from Specialist VC, UT Ventures, and a number of other angel buyers. The spherical gained momentum after a €2.5 million grant awarded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) originally of 2024. In whole, with further grants, Higher Drugs has now secured €2.25 million in non-public funding and €3.7 million in whole grants, bringing its total funding to almost €6 million.
“Radiologists are underneath immense stress to keep up whole concentrate on extremely repetitive duties that don’t essentially require medical experience however are nonetheless important for analysis,” stated Priit Salumaa, Founder and CEO of Higher Drugs. “Think about a second set of eyes, however multiplied by 1000, all the time alert and by no means drained: we’re making early most cancers detection straightforward and liberating medical doctors to keep away from burnout and concentrate on what actually requires their judgment. The upside is extra human lives saved.”
Based in 2020, Higher Drugs operates with a world staff throughout six nations, bringing experience in medical apply and analysis, laptop science, and startup improvement. The corporate has secured medical collaborations with companions together with Leeds Educating Hospitals NHS Belief, Tartu College Hospital, Tartu College, and Pärnu Hospital, amongst others.
Its BMVision platform integrates instantly into radiologists’ workflows to detect and measure oncological findings, beginning with kidney lesions.
Radiology departments worldwide face mounting stress from a rising quantity of scans and a scarcity of certified professionals. Within the UK, there are simply 10 radiologists per 100,000 individuals, and a current survey experiences that 50% of radiology job postings go unfilled. Demand for imaging is anticipated to develop with an growing older inhabitants, outpacing the expansion in medical doctors.
This imbalance contributes to delays, missed diagnoses, and burnout. Globally, an estimated 12 million hours per yr are spent on handbook lesion measurements and reporting.
Higher Drugs appears to deal with this problem by deploying clinically validated AI fashions that help radiologists with detection, measurement, and reporting of oncological findings in CT scans. The expertise permits automated lesion detection and measurement whereas integrating into commonplace radiology infrastructure, together with PACS and viewers.
The corporate’s flagship product, BMVision Kidney, not too long ago acquired CE certification as a Class IIa medical gadget underneath the EU Medical System Regulation (MDR 2017/745), making it the primary CE-certified, AI-based kidney most cancers detection instrument compliant with the regulation.
In medical evaluations, radiologists utilizing BMVision have reported as much as 52% time financial savings and a 99.2% detection charge.
BMVision Kidney makes use of deep-learning fashions educated on annotated medical datasets to detect malignant kidney lesions. In medical research, the answer achieved 96% standalone accuracy and 99.2% detection charge when mixed with radiologist evaluation.
A companion instrument, BM iMeasure, permits semi-automated lesion measurements and structured reporting.
“Higher Drugs is addressing a transparent and pressing want in oncology diagnostics,” stated Michal Sikyta, Funding Director at Soulmates Ventures. “By supporting radiologists and different specialists with dependable AI instruments, they’re serving to enhance affected person outcomes whereas easing stress on overloaded well being techniques. We’re excited to again an skilled staff as they put together to make a significant impression in trendy medication.”
The brand new funding will help Higher Drugs’s business rollout throughout a number of European nations, growth of its product portfolio to cowl further organs and metastatic websites, and preparation for FDA clearance.
The corporate plans to launch medical pilots within the U.S. tailor-made to FDA research necessities and is participating with medical insurance suppliers in Estonia to display cost-benefit outcomes as a pathway to sustainable market adoption.
