CancerAid, the healthtech start-up that is revolutionising the care of cancer patients globally, has closed its Seed B funding round at $1.25 million.
Founded by Dr. Nikhil Pooviah and Dr Raghav Murali‐Ganesh of the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse cancer hospital, the CancerAid app is designed to organise a patient’s cancer journey, while at the same time managing their treatment and expectations.
Last month, CancerAid closed its Seed B funding round of $1.25 million, bringing the total valuation of the company to $4.25 million.
Raghav said closing the round was a great end to the past six months of hard work and also a good validation exercise.
“Having strategic investor validation is invaluable as these investors are approached by several startups on a daily basis” he said.
Why has CancerAid attracted this funding?
Clinton Capital Partners led the funding round, which included funding from a mix of strategic investors.
“From the moment we met the CancerAid team we were impressed. Not only have they identified a real issue for the wellbeing of the broader cancer community, but the solution has been designed by hands on and experienced practitioners from within the industry. This is what differentiates them from many of their peers,” said Randolf Clinton, Principle at Clinton Capital Partners.
One of the world’s first personalised cancer apps, CancerAid has been created to individualise the information provided to patients and to work in conjunction with their clinicians. This means the information a patient receives is specifically tailored to their diagnosis and treatment path.
It will also include a journey organiser, with this feature allowing patients to take control of their medical records, manage symptoms, keep a journal of their events and connect with others who are experiencing their own journey.
CancerAid also features a ‘Champions’ component, which is a unique form of Telemedicine, allowing specialists to monitor progress and provide care to patients once they are nominated as their ‘Medical Champions.’
In six months, CancerAid has been incredibly well received within the Australian medical field with 17 customers signing up, including the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse Hospital, the MetroRehab Hospital, as well as the start-up’s first international customer, the Hong Kong Integrated Oncology Center.
What sets it apart in this niche?
Although other apps exist in the oncology and cancer sector, CancerAid is one of the only apps to be designed by doctors, with input from over 300 cancer specialists.
Something that also sets CancerAid apart from other apps in the medical field is that it will be completely free for patients.
“Our unique revenue model allows us to offer our product free for the end user, making us a socially responsible business which is one of the most appealing aspects of our initiative,” said Raghav.
CancerAid has made significant traction in the start-up community, recently winning the Chengdu Innovate 2016 competition and having the opportunity to represent Australia in China.
Earlier this year, CancerAid expanded its core team, with the addition of two medical doctors, Dr Rahul Gokarn and Dr Martin Seneviratne, who brought experience from previous ventures in finance and technology to support the founders in growing the company.
The first version of CancerAid, developed by leading product development company Papercloud, hit the Apple store last month.
CancerAid’s initial and overarching vision is to offer the first-of‐its‐kind resource for anyone diagnosed with cancer.
“Down the track we will look to cross expand the CancerAid platform onto other chronic diseases because there is certainly a need for it and we have the capabilities to meet these needs,” said Raghav.
