A South African medtech company has received R85m in funding to develop its AI-powered tool to expand access to TB screening.
AI Diagnostics raised funding in a Pre-Series A round to accelerate the deployment of its AI-powered Ostium digital stethoscope, enabling early TB screening without specialist equipment or infrastructure.
The round was led by The Steel Foundation for Hope, with participation from IFSP Group and the Global Innovation Fund, and follow-on funding from leading early angel investors.
Solving problems through technology
Previous rounds included industry leaders, Africa Health Ventures and Savant.
The funding supports clinical research and validation, continued development of products and AI models, and the operational infrastructure needed to scale the medical device business in South Africa and emerging markets in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
“We support the tech entrepreneurs who are closest to the problems they are solving, and AI Diagnostics is a clear example of why this matters,” says Joe Exner, CEO of The Steel Foundation for Hope.
“They have created new hardware: an AI-enabled digital stethoscope that detects TB through lung sound analysis with point-of-care accuracy that was not possible before.
“In communities without X-ray infrastructure or specialist physicians, this puts real diagnostic capability in the hands of nurses and community health workers.”
South Africa has one of the highest rates of TB cases in the world.
According to WHO (World Health Organization) 2025 world TB reportIn 2024, 249,000 people in South Africa became ill with TB and an estimated 54,000 died from the disease.
Three structural failures increase the scale of this crisis:
– Test: Most of the cases are not detected until late. A national TB prevalence survey found that 58% of people who tested positive for TB had no symptoms, meaning symptom-based testing misses the majority of cases.
– access: Clinics in high-burden communities are often understaffed and under-resourced, and patients face long waits and limited diagnostic equipment.
– HIV-TB co-epidemic: In parts of southern Africa, more than 50% of TB cases occur in people living with HIV, increasing the complexity of care.
Together, these conditions create a system in which TB spreads silently before it is detected.
Empowering frontline health workers
AI diagnostics was born out of the need to empower frontline healthcare workers with tools that make healthcare more accessible and affordable for patients and providers by solving problems at the source.
The company designed its flagship Ostium digital stethoscope and its AI.TB software for community health workers, nurses and pharmacists, who are the primary point of care for most patients.
“The AI model flags individuals whose lung sounds have signs associated with TB in real-time so that healthcare providers can immediately refer them for diagnostic testing,” says Braden van Breda, CEO of AI Diagnostics.
“For health systems trying to close the detection gap, this changes the availability and geography of screening.”
AI Diagnostics has approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) and has tested more than 1,000 patients in South Africa.
The company is currently conducting clinical research in more than 10 countries in Africa and Asia.
“AI Diagnostics didn't design their technology remotely. They built it in South Africa, one of the highest burden countries in the world, with clinical partners on the ground and patients in the room,” says Exner.
“That proximity shapes everything: how the equipment is engineered for the harsh clinic conditions, the lung sound database they have spent years collecting, and the trust they have earned in the community they serve.
“Solutions like AI diagnostics are more sustainable, more reliable and more likely to scale.”
Speaking on behalf of IFSP Venture Capital, Jan van Staden says: “Our investment in AI diagnostics is driven by two compelling pillars: transformative social impact and exceptional leadership.
“By using artificial intelligence to bridge the gap between the need for expert clinical insight and its availability in disadvantaged communities, AI Diagnostics exemplifies the Fifth Industrial Revolution businesses we support, building a better world while generating sustainable returns for our customers.”
The increase is supported by investors who see potential in where point-of-care diagnostics is headed.
at the forefront of change
Starting with TB, AI Diagnostics is exploring how its technologies can be used to screen for a range of lung and heart conditions.
“The stethoscope is a universal symbol of medicine. It is in every doctor's office, used for routine checkups to diagnose respiratory, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases.
“But it hasn't changed much in the last 100 years,” says Rowena Look, managing partner of Africa Health Ventures.
“We anticipate this will evolve over the next decade, and this change will impact healthcare markets globally.
“We believe AI diagnostics can be at the forefront of that change.”
Van Breda and the team are optimistic about what this latest investment in AI diagnostics will mean for the future of healthcare.
“This signals that investors are looking at global health not as a matter of philanthropy but as a viable and necessary area of commercial investment,” says Van Breda.
“TB has historically been underfunded relative to its burden because it disproportionately affects low- and middle-income populations.
“When mission-driven investors support companies like AI Diagnostics, they are making an intentional statement: that tools built for the world's most burdensome settings can be both commercially sustainable and truly impactful.”
Sawant's partner Kate Turner Smith agrees with the sentiment.
“Our investment helps accelerate the deployment of faster, more reliable diagnostics in high-burden, underserved areas.
“This supports earlier detection, better treatment outcomes and reduced transmission.”
Meanwhile, the Global Innovation Fund (GIF) sees it as a milestone for South Africa's growing medical technology industry.
“South Africa is home to a sophisticated medtech industry and has become a powerhouse of health innovation,” says Lily Steele, managing director of investments at GIF.
“We have found that solutions developed in this context are often better adapted to real-world constraints such as cost sensitivity, infrastructure limitations and patient behaviour, which positions the South African innovation well for wider deployment in emerging markets and even developed markets.
“AI Diagnostics demonstrates that it is possible to create high-quality, globally relevant solutions from within Africa that are both impact-driven and commercially viable.”
© 2026. Bizcommunity.com Syndigate Media Inc. Provided by (Syndigate.info).