Tartu-based startup Better Medicine has secured €1 million in pre-seed investment from Soulmates Ventures, with Specialist VC, UT Ventures and several angel investors also participating. The round takes the company’s total funding to almost €6 million, including European Innovation Council grants. Better Medicine develops artificial intelligence tools to assist radiologists, with its CE-certified BMVision Kidney product able to identify kidney cancer from CT scans and automate parts of the reporting process. The company’s technology can help address staff shortages and growing workloads in radiology departments. The latest funding will go towards rolling out the software in European hospitals, pursuing U.S. regulatory approval, and broadening its cancer detection capabilities.
Radiology departments worldwide face mounting pressure from a growing volume of scans and a shortage of qualified professionals. In the UK, there are just 10 radiologists per 100,000 people, and a recent survey reports that 50% of radiology job postings go unfilled. Demand for imaging is expected to grow with an aging population, outpacing the growth in doctors. This imbalance contributes to delays, missed diagnoses, and burnout. Globally, an estimated 12 million hours per year are spent on manual lesion measurements and reporting.
Better Medicine addresses this challenge by deploying clinically validated AI models that assist radiologists with detection, measurement, and reporting of oncological findings in CT scans. The technology enables automated lesion detection and measurement while integrating seamlessly into standard radiology infrastructure, including PACS and viewers.
The company’s flagship product, BMVision Kidney, recently received CE certification as a Class IIa medical device under the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR 2017/745), making it the first CE-certified, AI-based kidney cancer detection tool compliant with the regulation. In clinical evaluations, radiologists using BMVision have reported up to 52% time savings and a 99.2% detection rate.
“Radiologists are under immense pressure to maintain total focus on highly repetitive tasks that don’t necessarily require medical expertise but are still critical for diagnosis,” said Priit Salumaa, Founder and CEO of Better Medicine. “Imagine a second set of eyes, but multiplied by 1000, always alert and never tired: we are making early cancer detection easy and freeing doctors to avoid burnout and focus on what truly requires their judgment. The upside is more human lives saved.”
BMVision Kidney uses deep-learning models trained on annotated clinical datasets to detect malignant kidney lesions. In clinical studies, the solution achieved 96% standalone accuracy and 99.2% detection rate when combined with radiologist assessment. A companion tool, BM iMeasure, enables semi-automated lesion measurements and structured reporting.
Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Tartu, Estonia, Better Medicine operates with a global team across six countries, bringing expertise in medical practice and research, computer science, and startup development. The company has secured clinical collaborations with partners including Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu University, and Pärnu Hospital, amongst others.
“Better Medicine is addressing a clear and urgent need in oncology diagnostics,” said Michal Sikyta, Investment Director at Soulmates Ventures. “By supporting radiologists and other specialists with reliable AI tools, they are helping improve patient outcomes while easing pressure on overloaded health systems. We’re excited to back an experienced team as they prepare to make a major impact in modern medicine.”
The new funding will support Better Medicine’s commercial rollout across multiple European countries, expansion of its product portfolio to cover additional organs and metastatic sites, and preparation for FDA clearance. The company plans to launch clinical pilots in the U.S. tailored to FDA study requirements and is engaging with health insurance providers in Estonia to demonstrate cost-benefit outcomes as a pathway to sustainable market adoption. Better Medicine is actively exploring new clinical partnerships throughout the EU and US.
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Read the orginal article: https://arcticstartup.com/better-medicine-raises-e1-million-pre-seed/
