South African med-tech company AI Diagnostics has raised ZAR85 million (US$5.2 million) in funding to advance the use of its proprietary hardware and AI software in combatting the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic.
Founded in 2020, the Cape Town-based AI Diagnostics develops accessible, early screening tools that empower frontline healthcare workers. Its flagship platform, the AI-powered Ostium digital stethoscope and AI.TB AI model, is an affordable solution that makes TB screening easy and accessible for frontline health workers without the need for specialist equipment or infrastructure. The company has now raised ZAR85 million (US$5.2 million) in funding to support clinical research and validation, continued development of the product and AI model, and the operational infrastructure required to scale a medical device business in South Africa, as well as emerging markets across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
The round was led by The Steele Foundation for Hope, with participation from the iFSP Group, and Global Innovation Fund, and follow-on from key early angel investors. Previous rounds included Africa Health Ventures and Savant.“We back technical entrepreneurs who are closest to the problems they’re solving, and AI Diagnostics is a clear example of why that matters,” said Joe Exner, CEO of The Steele Foundation for Hope. “They’ve built novel hardware: an AI-enabled digital stethoscope that detects TB through lung sound analysis with point-of-care accuracy that simply wasn’t possible before. In communities without X-ray infrastructure or specialist clinicians, this puts real diagnostic capability in the hands of nurses and community health workers.”
AI Diagnostics was born out of the need to empower frontline healthcare workers with tools that make healthcare more accessible and affordable for patients and providers alike by addressing problems at the source. “The AI model flags individuals whose lung sounds have signals associated with TB in real time so healthcare providers can refer them for diagnostic testing immediately,” said Braden van Breda, CEO of AI Diagnostics. “For health systems trying to close the detection gap, this changes the availability and the geography of screening.”
AI Diagnostics holds South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) approval and has screened more than 1,000 patients in South Africa. The company is currently conducting clinical research across more than 10 countries in Africa and Asia.