AI healthtech firm Qure.ai bags $16m in Sequoia-led round

Indian healthtech startup Qure.ai has raised US$16 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital India to expand into new markets.

MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia also participated in the round, according to a statement.

Qure.ai co-founder and CEO Prashant Warier / Photo credit: Qure.ai

Headquartered in Mumbia, the startup aims to make healthcare more accessible and affordable through the use of AI, with a focus on radiology. It uses AI to enhance imaging accuracy and provide automated interpretations of exams, such as X-rays and CT and MRI scans.

“This funding round will allow us to further invest in research and development and to expand the reach of our solutions, accelerating our mission of delivering accessible and affordable health care to every human being,” said co-founder and CEO Prashant Warier.

The company also said it plans to use the new funds to expand its product portfolio and support regulatory clearances.

According to Inc42, there were a total of 4,892 startups in the Indian healthtech space in 2018. These startups fall under categories like home healthcare, diagnostics, biotech, and biopharma. Overall, the companies in these segments raised a total of US$504 million in funding from 2014 through 2018, according to the report.

Anjana Sasidharan, principal at Sequoia Capital India, said that Qure.ai sets itself apart in the industry with its ability to deploy commercially at scale across a number of markets, “something many others have failed to do, as strong algorithms [don’t] always translate to robust commercial products.”

All of Qure.ai’s solutions are CE-certified, the startup claims. Its head CT product remains as the only solution in the industry to detect every critical brain abnormality, including five types of intracranial hemorrhages, cranial fractures, infarcts, midline shift, and mass effect, according to the statement.

Qure.ai, founded in 2016, was incubated by AI and analytics leader Fractal. It currently has a presence in over 20 countries and has developed a database of over 7 million scans.