Breast cancer screening startup Niramai Health Analytix has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from a clutch of investors, including early-stage venture funds pi Ventures and Axilor Ventures, impact investor Ankur Capital, Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator 500 Startups and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, a company statement said.
Data released by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) show that pi Ventures has invested Rs 3.25 crore in the startup. Niramai will use the funds to strengthen its intellectual property portfolio, expand operations and make its cancer screening tool available for commercial use, Geetha Manjunath, co-founder and chief executive of the firm said in the statement.
Founded by former employees of Xerox Research Center and Hewlett-Packard Labs, Manjunath and Nidhi Mathur in July 2016, Nirmai, which stands for non-invasive risk assessment with machine learning, uses big data analytics and artificial intelligence over thermal images for the early detection of breast cancer. The firm’s method of screening is based on the principles of thermography that can detect tumours five years before a mammography or a clinical exam can do so.
Co-founded by the founder of online funding platform LetsVenture Manish Singhal and…