Specialist VC participates in Better Medicine's €1M pre-seed round
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Better Medicine, a startup developing AI-powered diagnostic tools for radiology, has raised €1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Soulmates Ventures, with participation from Specialist VC, UT Ventures, and several angel investors. The round gained momentum after a €2.5 million grant awarded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) at the beginning of 2024, reflecting strong alignment between public support and private investment. In total, with additional grants, Better Medicine has now secured €2.25 million in private funding and €3.7 million in total grants, bringing its overall funding to nearly €6 million.
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 US 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 the US.
"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 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."
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.
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