Aiforia has secured €20m in venture debt to develop its AI cancer diagnostics platform and support its commercial operations.
The Helsinki-based life-science company secured the financing from the European Investment Bank through the European Commission’s InvestEU programme.
The funding will support product development and commercial growth. It is divided into three tranches, beginning with €5m.
Aiforia must meet revenue and other interim targets set out in the financing agreement before drawing each tranche.
The company and the European Investment Bank have also agreed a synthetic warrant arrangement that will not immediately dilute the stakes of existing shareholders.
Jukka Tapaninen, chief executive of Aiforia, said: “We are pleased that the negotiations have led to the signing of a binding financing agreement.
“The EIB venture debt financing strengthens Aiforia’s financial position and supports the implementation of our strategy.
“With this financing, we can accelerate product development, expand our commercial operations internationally, and advance our goal of improving patient care through AI-powered image analysis solutions.”
Founded in 2013 as a spin-off from the University of Helsinki, Aiforia is a publicly traded company with thousands of platform users worldwide.
The company provides deep-learning AI software that helps pathologists and scientists in preclinical and clinical laboratories analyse images and support discoveries, decisions and diagnoses.
Aiforia claims more than 1m images have been analysed and thousands of AI models developed on its platform for research. Several diagnostic products have also been deployed.
Selected Aiforia Clinical AI models and the Aiforia Clinical Suite Viewer have CE-IVD marking for diagnostic use in EU and European Economic Area countries.
Aiforia is headquartered in Helsinki and has subsidiaries in the US and France, as well as local representatives across Europe and North America.
Its team includes AI and software developers, pathologists, medical scientists and commercial staff.
European Investment Bank vice-president Karl Nehammer said: “Our continent is working to remain competitive, and we need to support the companies that make that possible.
“From healthcare to digital life sciences, Europe must have the best technologies developed in-house to protect and care for its citizens.
“The solutions developed by Aiforia strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, while giving an innovative EU company the opportunity to succeed on the global stage.”
The funding will support further development of Aiforia’s AI platform, which helps pathologists analyse digital tissue samples, including detecting tumours, and expand its commercial operations.
