UK healthtech startup Feebris has announced a successful seed investment raise of £1.1 million.
The funding enables the company to continue its innovation in AI for precision diagnosis of respiratory conditions in elderly patients in the UK and young children in India.
The company founded by Elina Naydenova and Adam Bacon in 2017 has been supported by healthtech accelerator HS., Google for Startups, Social Tech Trust, and White & Case.
Their software platform pairs with existing medical sensors and its machine learning algorithms can be used for precision detection of complex respiratory conditions in the field,
During a study in Mumbai in 2017, the team demonstrated with 1,300 children that their software could be used by community health workers to diagnose pneumonia with accuracy comparable to a hospital diagnosis via blood test and x-ray.
CEO Dr. Elina Naydenova holds a PhD in Machine Learning for Healthcare Innovation from Oxford University and created the concept for Feebris “I was shocked that despite being a treatable condition, pneumonia kills one million children under-five every year – more than HIV, malaria, and TB combined. When I realised these deaths can be avoided through early diagnosis, I became obsessed with finding a way to solve the problem.”
“By putting our technology into the hands of frontline nurses and care workers, we will power the future of remote precision diagnosis, enabling patients to receive care before they are seriously ill, which means that clinicians are able to focus on patients rather than data. We aim to become a world-leader in the development of CE certified AI for respiratory disease diagnosis and monitoring.”
“This investment will support Feebris’ AI-enabled platform to continue bridging the gap between the community and providers across a range of respiratory conditions including pneumonia, COPD and asthma.”
Commenting on the investment, Paul Tselentis, CEO of 24Haymarket, said: “Feebris’s cutting-edge AI-platform has the potential to solve one of the most pressing problems in our healthcare systems and provide immense value to patients and physicians alike. This is an exciting time for Feebris; and 24Haymarket are pleased to be supporting them as they build on their early engagement with healthcare providers.”
Dr James Somauroo Founding Partner of healthtech accelerator HS. said: “Feebris is a great example of how deep technology has been applied to a problem in healthcare by a very talented founding team with an innovative business model and we’re immensely proud to have been a part of their journey so far. This investment will enable the team to make an impact on a global scale and be a part of fundamentally changing the way that healthcare is delivered around the world, for the better.”
Marta Krupinska, Head of Google for Startups UK said “Feebris is an excellent example of a values-led company that uses technology to solve important social problems, and we’re thrilled that this is recognised by the ecosystem and the investors. We’re really excited to work with Feebris and support them on this next step in their journey.”
