Lumiares, a Belgium-based healthtech venture capital fund, announces an investment in Histofy, a University of Warwick spin-out dedicated to the creation of transparent AI solutions for cellular pathology.
Ghent, Belgium and Coventry, UK (10th July 2024) – Lumiares takes great pride in announcing its investment in Histofy, a spin-out from the distinguished Tissue Image Analytics (TIA) Centre at the University of Warwick. Histofy excels in crafting AI technologies that enhance the accuracy of diagnostics and treatment planning for intricate diseases like cancer, while expediting biomarker discovery for the pharmaceutical sector.
Histofy is led by a top team, including CEO & CSO Nasir Rajpoot, an internationally recognised expert in AI-based pathology research. Professor Rajpoot remarks: “I am thrilled to announce our partnership with Lumiares, a Belgian investment firm with profound expertise in pathology, oncology and the medtech industry. The wealth of experience that Lumiares’ partners and co-investors bring to Histofy is invaluable. This partnership not only underscores our commitment to pioneering advancements in AI for cellular pathology but also significantly enhances our capacity to innovate and expand.”
Joining Lumiares in this investment are three experienced clinicians, including Dr. Romaric Croes, pathologist and co-investor in Histofy. Croes shares, “We, as pathologists, are convinced of Histofy’s profound potential to integrate explainable and transparent AI into anatomical pathology practices cost-effectively. This pioneering technology extends beyond mere screening to encompass predicting responses to targeted therapies using standard stainings, thus eliminating the necessity for expensive supplementary tests.”
"We, as pathologists, are convinced of Histofy’s profound potential to integrate explainable and transparent AI into anatomical pathology"
Filip Vandamme, managing partner of Lumiares, echoes this sentiment, highlighting the alignment between Histofy and the fund’s strategic vision: “At Lumiares, we actively seek out promising startup teams across Europe that blend unique clinical benefits, innovative technology, and a scalable business model. Following the advancements in radiology, pathology stands as the next frontier for AI’s transformative impact. Histofy has already demonstrated very promising results in the UK. Together with our co-investors, we eagerly anticipate facilitating their expansion across Europe.”
Histofy CMO David Snead, a leader in digital pathology, states: “We are delighted to have received this investment into Histofy. Lumiares are an extremely knowledgeable investment team, who understand the enormous potential for computational pathology to improve outcomes and services for patients, particularly in oncology. We look forward to working with the team at Lumiares and building on the experience and expertise they have to realise this potential across Europe and globally.”
About Histofy
Histofy develops transparent AI solutions for computational pathology to improve the treatment of various diseases, such as cancer. With a focus on tissue-based diagnostics and prognostics, our technology complements pathologists to help deliver better patient care. With leading research spanning over two decades, our team thoroughly understands the process of technology development, from concept to validation, placing us in prime position to bring cutting-edge AI to clinical and pharmaceutical settings.
About Lumiares
Lumiares is a pre-seed/seed venture capital fund focused on digital health. Lumiares has made investments in AI startups in domains such as Parkinson’s and nuclear medical imaging. The fund is based in Belgium and has a European focus. Lumiares leverages its network of shareholders (of which more than 50% are clinicians) and experts to accelerate the time-to-market of its portfolio companies and scale them internationally.
