British techbio startup Qureight has secured $8.5 million in an oversubscribed Series A round.
Launched in 2018, Qureight wants to simplify how pharma companies deal with the complex datasets often used during clinical trials.
The Cambridge-based startup has built a platform that curates different types of medical data for analysis, which can be used in the drug discovery process — especially for complex lung and heart disease.
It has also created an AI-enabled 3D image modeling platform. “For example, we can start to structure images of lungs using AI,” said cofounder and CEO Muhunthan Thillai.
In doing so, pharmaceutical companies can use these extensive data points to analyze their clinical trial outcomes better — and “look for drug responses and find new endpoints,” he added. The data can also be used to create virtual patients for clinical trials.
The startup primarily works with pharmaceutical companies, including heavyweights such as AstraZeneca, as well as hospitals and clinical research organizations. It makes its money by charging a licensing fee for its platform and an additional rate for the usage of specific tools.
While the tech market has been sullen since 2022, with layoffs and down rounds being the defining trends of the past year, investor interest in techbio and AI has remained strong.
Still, Thillai said that navigating the round was somewhat difficult. The Series A was led by Hargreave Hale AIM VCT, with participation from XTX Ventures, Guinness Ventures, and existing investors including Playfair Capital, Meltwind, Ascension Life Fund, and Cambridge Angels.
“In the end, it was oversubscribed because of the traction and commercial partnerships we got,” Thillai told Business Insider.
With the fresh funds, Qureight aims to invest in the platform and develop various AI-enabled tools. It will also spend more money on data acquisition.
Check out the 11-slide pitch deck used to secure the fresh funding.
