Inveox Secures €17M Series A Funding to Scale AI-Powered Cancer Diagnostics Platform and Files for IPO

On August 8, 2019, VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned that Inveox, a Munich-based developer of digital pathology laboratory systems, had completed a €17 million Series A financing round. The names of the investors and participating investment institutions have not been disclosed.

This financing will enable Inveox to commence production of its AI-powered cancer diagnostics product suite and expand into new markets, making cancer diagnosis faster and more reliable.

It is reported that since its inception, Inveox has secured €23 million in financing, including a €1 million angel round in 2017 and an additional €5 million from the same investor in 2018.

Inveox was founded in 2017 with the mission of helping people by significantly enhancing the reliability of cancer diagnostics. The company is dedicated to developing systems that digitize, automate, and connect pathology laboratories. Through its innovative automated system for histopathology sample preparation, Inveox improves the efficiency and safety of pathology laboratories. Consequently, the risks associated with non-standardized operations and potential misdiagnosis are substantially reduced, greatly improving patient safety in cancer diagnosis.

Inveox’s product portfolio includes a digital platform, smart containers, and automated equipment. The digital platform enables the sharing of images, videos, diagrams, preliminary diagnoses, and initial results with pathologists to ensure optimal diagnostic accuracy. The smart containers integrate filtration functionality and can be automatically loaded into biopsy cassettes. Each container is assigned a unique ID to facilitate data transmission, tracking, and process control. The automated equipment can simultaneously load and process dozens of sample containers. The system identifies samples, captures images of tissues for further documentation, and removes formalin while transferring specimens into biopsy cassettes. Subsequently, the device encodes each biopsy cassette with the same identification number as its corresponding sample container, unloads the cassettes from the machine, and prepares them for subsequent processing.

Inveox has won multiple awards. In 2017, Inveox was named “Startup of the Year” by Für-Gründer magazine and was included in Forbes’ list of “100 Most Promising Startups of 2018.” At the end of 2018, Inveox established a subsidiary in Krakow, Poland, and became a member of the World Economic Forum in 2019.

Managing Partner Dominik Sievert stated, “Investors have placed their trust in us because Inveox has achieved unprecedented, robust growth in a short period. They believe in our products and our leadership; more importantly, they have provided us with valuable assets beyond capital—business guidance.”

“We are working together toward a common goal: leveraging our innovative capabilities to develop technologies that serve people. We aim to support laboratory technicians, who strive their hardest in the lab every day. We are committed to ensuring patient safety as well as the speed and reliability of the entire diagnostic process. We will allocate this investment to our upcoming product series and expand into new markets,” said Managing Partner Maria Sievert.

(Compiled by Tan Jiulin)