Qure.ai, a health tech firm using artificial intelligence (AI) for medical imaging diagnostics, on Tuesday said it has raised $40 million (Rs 304.5 crore) in fresh capital led by Novo Holdings and HealthQuad.
Existing investor MassMutual Ventures participated in the funding round, said Qure.ai in a statement. Prior to this funding round, Qure.ai raised $16 million (Rs 115 crore) led by Sequoia Capital in early 2020.
Prashant Warier, CEO and Founder, Qure.ai, told VCCircle in an interaction that the fresh capital will be used to expand globally with the US being the key market and Europe. Part of the funds will be deployed towards inorganic growth in the near future as the company seeks to expand its product portfolio, he added.
Qure.ai was launched in 2016 by Warier and Pooja Rao. It has been incubated by Fractal Analytics. In 2020, VCCircle reported about Fractal Analytics' strategy about raising venture money for its businesses.
Qure.ai's technology helps reads and interprets medical images like X-rays, computed tomography (CTs), and ultrasounds in less than a minute. One of its products, evaluated by the World Health Organization (WHO), helps detect tuberculosis with its AI solution. The company also has a partnership with multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company AstraZeneca for early-stage detection of lung cancer.
Amit Kakar, Senior Partner, Head of Novo Holdings Equity Asia, told VCCircle that the investment in Qure.ai is synergistic with its approach of investing in innovation and tech led companies that are disrupting the healthtech space.
Novo Holdings is the holding company of the Novo Group, comprising Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S, and is responsible for managing the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s assets.
Kakar said that this is Novo Holdings Equity Asia's first investment in India. It has already made five investments in Southeast Asia and China. The company intends to make more investments in India, he added. He also said that the company is a long-term patient investor and may pitch in with capital for Qure.ai's potential acquisitions if required.
Ajay Mahipal, Director, HealthQuad, said that accessibility, quality of care and affordability is of paramount importance to the venture capital firm and its investment in Qure.ai was driven by these theses.
He noted that Qure.ai is revolutionizing how public health is delivered globally especially around tuberculosis. The fresh capital will help Qure.ai accelerate commercial adoption of its products globally and develop new products, he added.
HealthQuad, floated by the founders of healthcare focused private equity firm Quadria Capital, marked the final close of its second fund at $150 million last year. The second fund is much higher than its debut fund of just over $11 million. The new fund has made seven bets so far including in emergency medical response startup StanPlus and AI-based health benefits startup ekincare.
