Endimension, a health AI startup from India, has raised 23 million rupees (over $300,000) in seed funding from one of the country's largest angel investors, Inflection Point Ventures.

WHAT IT DOES

The startup was incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 2018. It develops AI algorithms to automatically detect abnormalities and diseases from medical scans. Its AI platform called ENDIM-AI-CXR is a clinical support tool that spots COVID-19 patterns from chest radiographs, reducing instances of misdiagnoses and increasing radiologists' efficiency.

Endimension, a part of the NVIDIA AI Inception Program and the Microsoft for Startups Community, says its technology is now being used at around 100 hospitals and radiology labs across India.

WHY IT MATTERS

According to a press release, the seed funding will be used to employ new talent for its upcoming product development. The new funds will also be deployed for research and boosting sales. 

The World Health Organization recognises that occupational burnout intensifies the growing shortage of healthcare workers globally. As there are fewer radiologists against the volume of medical images being generated during the pandemic, Endimension says it intends to bridge that demand-supply gap through its AI technology. 

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Endimension is entering a market where its fellow Indian startup Qure.ai has already made its splash. It recently secured a partnership with Fujifilm Corporation to equip the brand's smart x-ray system with its AI software called qXR. The same AI diagnostic tool was also deployed by AstraZeneca Malaysia in some primary care clinics for the early detection of lung cancer. Moreover, Qure.ai received a US FDA 510(k) clearance for qER-Quant, a brain CT quantification tool, that is used to rapidly assess the severity of a patient's brain injury.

According to research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global market for AI in medical diagnostics is expected to reach $3.9 billion in value by 2025 from $505 million last year, growing at a 50.2% CAGR.

ON THE RECORD

"There is a global shortage of radiologists leading to radiologist burnout and patient misdiagnosis. The number of medical images is increasing exponentially whereas radiologists are only growing linearly. We wanted to bridge this demand-supply gap using our Radiology AI Platform. Our AI platform improves radiologist efficiency and reduces patient misdiagnosis," Endimension Founder and CEO Bharadwaj Kss said.