Ibex Medical Analytics Secures $11M to Advance AI-Powered Cancer Diagnostics and Files for IPO

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that on March 26, Ibex Medical Analytics, headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, completed a $11 million financing round, the specific stage of which was not disclosed. The round was led by aMoon Fund, with participation from Kamet Ventures, 83North, and Dell Technologies Capital. The proceeds will be used to continue the development of Ibex’s AI-based cancer diagnosis system.

Ibex Medical Analytics is a pioneer in computational pathology, having developed an AI-driven diagnostic system that delivers effective and accurate cancer diagnoses from tissue biopsies. By integrating artificial intelligence, data science, image analysis, and deep learning into digital pathology for cancer diagnosis, Ibex has created the first AI-based cancer diagnostic system.

Ibex was co-founded in 2016 by Joseph Mossel and Dr. Chaim Linhart. Joseph Mossel, who also serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer, holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Tel Aviv University and has held key positions at various organizations, including the venture capital firm Kamet Ventures and the renewable energy company Comet-ME. Dr. Chaim Linhart, who also serves as the company’s Chief Technology Officer, is a distinguished Ph.D. holder in Computer Science from Tel Aviv University; he previously worked as a Senior Researcher at TaKaDu and as a Software Engineer at nLayers. Leveraging their expertise in computer science, they have sought to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to the medical field, particularly in cancer diagnosis, with a commitment to improving treatment outcomes for cancer patients.

AI-based cancer detection is more objective and accurate, while also reducing the time and financial costs associated with manual screening. Ibex’s AI-powered detection system frees pathologists from tedious case-by-case analysis, enabling them to devote more time and energy to complex research.

AI-Powered Cancer Detection Workflow (Image Source: Official Website)

Ibex’s flagship product is the Second Read system, designed for diagnostic core needle biopsy of the prostate. This system automatically identifies prostatic glands indicative of cancer and marks specific regions, achieving cancer detection performance on par with computational pathologists. Currently, the system has been clinically deployed at Maccabi Healthcare Services and will soon be commercially deployed in international pathology laboratories, positioning Ibex as a pioneer in the emerging field of computational pathology.

Maccabi Healthcare Services is a partner of Ibex, granting it access to a unique dataset comprising millions of pathology slides and electronic medical records for 2.5 million patients. This enables Ibex to develop breakthrough algorithms with ultra-high precision. Additionally, Ibex’s partners include UPMC, a world-renowned healthcare provider, and MediPath, the largest private pathology laboratory in France.

“Many cancer cases are diagnosed too late or misdiagnosed due to human error,” said Joseph Mossel. “With this funding, our team can accelerate the expansion of our product to other cancer types. Ibex’s AI-based detection approach can significantly improve the efficiency of cancer diagnosis, thereby saving more patients’ lives.”

aMoon Managing Director Roy Wiesner said, “Computational pathology is growing at an exponential rate and transforming the world of medicine. We believe Ibex will emerge as an early leader in this field.”

aMoon Fund is a venture capital fund founded by Marius Nacht and Dr. Yair Schindel in 2016, headquartered in HaMerkaz, Israel. The fund primarily invests in early-stage startups in the biopharmaceutical and digital health sectors.

Kamet Ventures is the investment arm of AXA Insurance, a globally renowned health insurance provider. Established in 2016 and headquartered in Paris, France, the firm has completed 15 investments to date.

83North is a global venture capital firm founded in 2006 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. The firm manages over $550 million in assets and primarily invests in entrepreneurs across Europe and Israel. 83North was formerly known as Greylock IL.

Dell Technologies Capital is the venture capital arm of Dell Technologies, established in 2012 and headquartered in California, United States. The firm focuses on investments in storage, software, networking, artificial intelligence, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT). To date, Dell Technologies Capital has completed 126 investments.

(Compiled by Wang Chan)