TLDR:
– Nucleai, a spatial AI biomarker startup, raised $14 million led by Merck’s VC arm, M Ventures.
– The funding will be used to deploy AI algorithms for patient enrollment in clinical trials.
Spatial AI Biomarker Startup Nucleai Raises $14 Million
Nucleai, a spatial AI biomarker company that analyzes pathology images and spatial data at the cellular and tissue levels, secured a $14 million investment led by M Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA. This round of funding brings the total funding for Nucleai to $60 million, with support from existing investors such as Section 32, Sanofi Ventures, Debiopharm, and others.
The Israeli startup, founded in 2018 by a team with experience in AI computer vision in the Israeli military’s Intelligence Corps, plans to use the funding to advance its AI algorithms for patient enrollment in clinical trials. Nucleai’s spatial analysis technology provides insights into the tumor microenvironment, cellular morphology, and spatial relationships between different cell types, which can enhance drug development and personalized treatment options for patients. The company has collaborations with over 60% of the top 20 biopharma companies.
Avi Veidman, CEO and Co-Founder of Nucleai, stated, “M Ventures’ investment boosts our ability to scale and deploy our spatial AI technology for patient enrollment in clinical trials and supports our work in the rapidly emerging areas of immunotherapies, antibody-drug conjugates, and bi-specifics. Our vision is that every next-generation therapeutic is accompanied with an AI-enabled companion diagnostic, ensuring that each patient’s treatment pathway is informed and efficacious.”
