Qure.ai Seeks $50-60 Million Funding to Expand AI-Powered Radiology Diagnosis

Qure.ai Eyes Up To $60 Mn Funding To Push Its Radiology Diagnosis Play

Lightspeed is investing around $20-25 Mn and is looking to buy some in secondary shares too With rapid digitalisation and automation pushing the growth of the medtech industry, Qure.ai, Mumbai-based startup in this space is reportedly seeking to raise around $50-60 Mn in a funding exercise to be led by Lightspeed. As per ET's report, the infusion will likely include a secondary deal, along with existing investors who will be putting in primary capital. The investment will close by this month once it is finalised, a source was quoted as saying in the report. Inc42 has reached out to Qure.ai as well as Lightspeed for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on their responses. "Lightspeed is investing around $20-25 Mn and is looking to buy some in secondary shares also. Overall, the round may end up being $50-60 Mn in size depending on the final secondary component," the report added. Founded in 2016 by Pooja Rao and Prashant Warier, Qure.ai uses artificial intelligence assistance for medical imaging diagnostics. Essentially, it uses AI to detect brain trauma, chest diseases, among others. The company claimed that its algorithm can detect clinically relevant abnormal trauma from X-rays, CT Scans and MRIs in a fraction of the time that doctors typically take. The Mumbai-based company is backed by marquee names like Fractal Analytics and Sequoia Capital. The investment comes at a time when investors are pumped by the growing interests of AI adoption in the pharma sector. Joining the trail of raising capital through secondary funding spread across various business sectors, healthtech companies have also been seeing a few investments. For instance, healthtech unicorn Innovaccer was in talks with the US-based health and insurance major Kaiser Permanente to raise a funding in the range of $200 Mn-$250 Mn, in a mix of primary and secondary capital. Previously, Qure.ai raised $40 Mn in a strategic funding round led by Novo Holdings and HealthQuad to expand its global reach, especially across US and Europe, as well as ramp up product development in the domains of critical care and community diagnostics, in March 2022.

Lightspeed may lead $50-60 million round in healthcare company Qure AI

Venture fund Lightspeed, through its growth fund, is set to lead a $50-60 million deal with Qure.ai, which provides artificial intelligence-based decision support tools for diagnostic images, people aware of the matter said. This would be the third major deal from Lightspeed from its growth fund after having invested in quick-commerce firm Zepto and edtech company PhysicsWallah. The PhysicsWallah deal is yet to be formally announced. The funding in Qure.ai is likely to include a secondary share sale as well and is being finalised and will close within this month, people who know about the matter told ET. Qure.ai was a nominee in the Top Innovator category at The ET Startup Awards 2021. "Lightspeed is investing around $20-25 million and is looking to buy some in secondary share also. Overall, the round may end up being $50-60 million in size depending on the final secondary component," a person aware of the matter said. "Existing investors will also put in primary capital." In a secondary share sale, the capital doesn't go to company coffers as it changes hands between two investors. Started in 2016, Qure.ai has undertaken a significant shift in its client focus and most of its revenue now comes from overseas, a person in the know said. Chest X-ray reporting, TB care, lung nodule management and heart failure are some of the core areas where physicians use its AI services to understand and finalise diagnosis and treatment for patients. It works with companies and not consumers directly. Qure.ai chief executive Prashant Warier and Lightspeed declined to comment on the deal. Fractal Analytics-backed Qure.ai, since inception, has raised around $60 million and was last valued at around $233 million, per Tracxn that tracks startup funding data. It counts Peak XV Partners, Healthquad, Novo Holdings and MassMutual Ventures among its investors. "The deal also marks growing activity from Lightspeed, especially in growth stages. It has been competing aggressively for many deals this year," another person aware of the matter said. Lightspeed has backed startups like Razorpay, Udaan, Acko and Darwinbox. The fund invested in Sarvam AI in one of the largest early-stage rounds in December last year. Based in Mumbai, Qure.AI reported revenue of Rs 91.3 crore in fiscal 2023 along with a loss of close to Rs 78 crore, as against Rs 39.3 crore and Rs 24 crore, respectively, the previous fiscal year. Last month, Qure.ai said it secured its 12th patent in India from the Indian Patent Office for "a system and method for detecting lung abnormalities in a medical image". Globally, it has 29 patents, the company said at the time.