Sycai Medical has announced having successfully closed a €3 Million investment round from a pan-European consortium of LUMO Labs, Ship2B Ventures, Athos Capital and Namarel Ventures for the further development and roll-out of their AI-driven digital medical device that detects early cancer and pre-malignant lesions in the abdomen from medical imaging without any invasive test. Cancers of the pancreas, kidneys and liver are currently amongst the deadliest diseases because of the relatively late state from which detection is possible.
Where most other medical imaging applications are developed to be used by radiologists to confirm a specific diagnosis when they are looking for it, Sycai Medical is the only platform that looks for the lesions/pathologies even when no one is looking for it. It analyses every medical imaging test, even if it is performed for a completely different reason.
Sycai Medical software characterizes lesions which enables early diagnosis and automates patient monitoring. For oncologic patients under treatment, it helps healthcare professionals to better understand and quantify patient’s response to treatment. The software also allows for more accurate definition of benign lesions that will never develop cancer.
Sara Toledano, Sycai CEO & cofounder, “Successfully completing this investment round marks a significant milestone for us at a very strategic moment in the company’s evolution. We are currently undergoing a transformation from a product-driven to a business-driven organization, due to the MDR approval and initiation of commercial activities. We are confident that our new investors will play a pivotal role in fostering a refreshed mindset to support this transition.”
Sycai Medical operates from Barcelona and is already active in Spain and Italy. Its’ first clinical trial was successfully completed in 2023 and it obtained the CE mark under MDR in the summer of 2024 for the pancreas application.
The funds raised in this new investment round will be used to launch the already approved digital medical device in Europe, expand the scope of the current certified product from detection of early cancer and pre-malignant pancreatic lesions, to include hepatic and renal lesions, and to validate the product in the US and obtain FDA approval.
“Eary diagnosis and targeted cures are key for the quality of life of a patient but also improve the circumstances for caregivers and even the efficiency of how our healthcare system is organised.” Says Sven Bakkes, Founding Partner LUMO Labs. “We have looked at similar research and technologies across Europe and concluded that the accuracy, hardware agnostic approach, and scalability of Sycai Medical is unmatched.”
Jorge Blasco, Partner LUMO Labs for Spain and Portugal, adds: “Also the commitment and drive of the team is exceptional. From the very start of the development of the product they were present directly in hospitals and listening to doctors and patients non-stop to make sure they were building something that really helps people. I am very much looking forward to working with them on behalf of LUMO here in Barcelona.”
Investment Director at Ship2B Ventures Jordi Ferrer adds: "We are thrilled to keep supporting Sycai in its incredible journey to anticipate and enlighten abdominal cancer diagnosis through imaging. The founding team has proven to perform above expectations. The addition of international investors also brings the project to the next level. It's a pleasure to be part of it and we look forward to achieving new milestones as the company grows."
About Sycai Medical
Sycai Medical is focused on helping radiologists and healthcare professionals in the early diagnosis of cancer in the abdomen. With their unique approach they have created a product that detects and characterizes pre-malignant lesions when they are still benign, automating further patient monitoring. The company based in Barcelona and incubated at Barcelona Activa, was created by Sara Toledano, Javier García and Júlia Rodríguez in 2020 during the pandemic with the aim of using cutting-edge technologies to empower doctors and improve quality of life of patients
About LUMO Labs
LUMO Rise Fund is a MEUR 100 multi-stage (Pre-Seed to Series A) impact-driven venture capital fund, with a proprietary startup coaching program for purpose-driven founders, who seek to bring technological innovations to the market to help solve social and environmental challenges. LUMO Rise Fund invests in scalable and financially sustainable operating systems, infrastructures, and platforms based on and/or related to emerging and potentially disruptive technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence & Data, Blockchain, Internet of Things, Digital Security, and Extended Realities (AR/VR). The fund’s impact focus is best identified as the bottom-up cross-roads between the following UN SDGs: Health & Wellbeing, Quality Education, Sustainable Cities & Communities, and Climate Action. The primary investment region is Benelux and Germany, and secondary Nordics, Baltics and the Iberian Peninsula. LUMO Rise Fund is the successor fund of LUMO Fund II managed by LUMO Labs, founded in 2016 by former tech entrepreneurs Andy Lürling and Sven Bakkes.
About Ship2B Ventures
Ship2B Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in the most impactful startups. As impact investors, the Barcelona-based venture capital firm aims to provide solutions to improve the quality of life of vulnerable groups, and climate change. Currently, the Ship2B Ventures team has managed close to 60 million euros and has participated in more than 50 operations. Ship2B Ventures manages BSocial Impact Fund, the largest impact fund for startups in Spain with 55 million euros. The fund, which has the support of the EIF, Banco Sabadell and AXIS (venture capital subsidiary of the ICO Group), has in its portfolio startups such as Qida, Dcycle, ViViRa, and Hoop Carpool.
https://www.ship2bventures.com
About Athos Capital
Athos Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in early stage ventures with global ambitions. Athos Capital has an agnostic approach but with a strong preference for capital efficient business models. Athos Capital has over 50 million euros in assets under management across three funds, being one of the most active investors in Spain since 2016. The Athos Capital team has invested in over 60 companies including Genially, Lingokids, Electronic Identification, Unnax or Kaleidos (penpot).
About Namarel Ventures
Namarel Ventures is a Barcelona-based investment firm specialized in the healthcare sector. Namarel invests in medtech and digital health early-stage companies developing disruptive solutions with the ambition to transform the global healthcare market.
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