NIRAMAI Health Analytix, a startup that’s building a revolutionary non-invasive, non-touch, non-radiation approach to detect breast cancer has raised seed funding led by pi Ventures with participation from Ankur Capital, Axilor Ventures, 500 Startups and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal. NIRAMAI (Non Invasive Risk Assessment with Machine Learning) is a pioneer of a new patented technology called Thermalytix© that can remove technological, logistical, and cultural barriers that hinder breast cancer screening among women today. The start-up’s solution uses artificial intelligence over thermal images to address the issues of early detection of breast cancer.

NIRAMAI has recently been inducted by Axilor Ventures for its summer 2017 accelerator batch.

NIRAMAI is on a mission to create a universal cancer screening method that can save lives by detecting breast cancer at an early stage. The overall hardware-software solution is portable and uses big data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning for reliable, early and accurate breast cancer screening. Early diagnosis is critical in saving the life of a cancer patient. Their method of screening is based on principles of Thermography that can detect tumors 5 years before mammography or a clinical exam can detect.

NIRAMAI was founded in July 2016 by Dr. Geetha Manjunath who comes with 25 years of research and innovation expertise in areas such as data analytics, machine learning, cloud computing, semantic web and Nidhi Mathur who is a serial intrapreneur with rich experience in business planning, strategy and product management. Both the women cofounders have previously worked with companies like Xerox Research Center and Hewlett Packard Labs.

[caption id="attachment_116078" align="aligncenter" width="700"]NIRAMAI Team NIRAMAI Team[/caption]

Dr. Geetha Manjunath, CEO & Co-founder of NIRAMAI, says, “Mortality rates among breast cancer patients are very high in India. Our solution is portable, low-cost, very safe, privacy-sensitive and can detect cancer at a very early stage making it very suitable for regular preventive health checkup as well as screening camps. This investment will help us strengthen our IP portfolio, expand operations and ensure our cancer screening tool is readily available for commercial use.”

Manish Singhal, Founding Partner, pi Ventures added, “Breast Cancer is a major killer across the world. In India, one out of two women die after getting diagnosed with breast cancer since the detection happens very late. Early detection is key to saving lives and is enabled very well with the innovative and disruptive AI based solution from NIRAMAI. We are excited to partner with them in their journey to solve this important and worldwide problem.”

Co-founder of the Mumbai-based impact investor Ankur Capital, Dr. Ritu Verma said “We are very excited to partner with NIRAMAI. Their early detection solution is low cost, zero radiation and non contact, which very effectively addresses the concerns and limitations for larger adoption of screening for women across all segments. Breast cancer rates are growing in India and having such a solution is imperative for addressing the dismal survival rates we are seeing today.”

Shalini Prakash from 500 Startups, the leading global venture capital seed fund shared "We are always very excited to discover stellar teams and disruptive companies solving big problems, and NIRAMAI is definitely one of them. Breast cancer rate is increasing every year and there is a huge gap in the health industry. NIRAMAI’s technology solves this problem for millions of Indian women by early detection and taking preventive measures for breast cancer ahead of time."

Binny Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart said “The innovation from NIRAMAI is solving a key problem in women’s health today. We are happy to partner with this new startup that is socially relevant, innovative and has good market potential."

[Top Image - NIRAMAI Co-founders Dr. Geetha Manjunath & Nidhi Mathur (L-R)]
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