The final close was led by a strategic investor: the Corporate Venture Capital arm of Topcon Healthcare, Inc. The first close in 2023 added Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) as a new investor alongside existing Seed and Series A venture firms, the btov Industrial Technologies fund, managed by Matterwave Ventures, Verve Ventures, and private investors.
As part of the financing, and to facilitate its evolution and growth, the company has concluded its corporate restructuring commenced in 2023, to spearhead development beyond ophthalmology with RetinAI Medical AG rebranded as Ikerian AG, and wholly owned subsidiary RetinAI U.S. Inc. focused on the ophthalmology market.
Dr. Carlos Ciller, Chairman and CEO of Ikerian, and RetinAI said: “The successful closing of this financing confirms the importance of our AI technology to re-invent workflows for clinical and pharmaceutical research to support more efficient and effective patient care. These funds will allow us to expedite development efforts of our RetinAI Discovery platform and our pipeline of AI technologies, and to collaborate with Topcon Healthcare and the industry to advance AI in ophthalmology and beyond.”
A commercial stage ophthalmology company, with growing revenues, RetinAI continues to advance its product offerings for pharma, life sciences companies, and ophthalmology and optometry clinics. The company is expanding its Real-World Evidence (RWE) database across eye diseases, including Geographic Atrophy (GA), Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration (nAMD) and Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), where eye biomarkers play a role in diagnosis and disease monitoring. The company helps customers evaluate real world outcomes in diverse patient populations driven by AI insights on these biomarkers.
Dr. Sandro De Zanet, Chief Scientific Officer at Ikerian and RetinAI said: “Having a portfolio of RWE insights allows RetinAI to deliver even greater value to pharma by accelerating clinical studies and enriching AI-based data analysis to support future treatments. In addition, generative AI technology is helping us revolutionize analysis and patient screening for clinical studies. The Discovery tool and AI biomarkers that we have developed will simplify analysis across vast imaging datasets needed to successfully complete a clinical trial.”
Funding Ikerian development and expansion
This Series A Extension brings to USD 11.66M (CHF 10.66M) the total equity raised including the Seed and Series A rounds. The company has initiated its Series B financing to fund further growth and development, including new opportunities to expand beyond ophthalmology. Funds will support continued development and commercial roll out of RetinAI Discovery in ophthalmology and optometry and for Ikerian's expansion into new therapeutic areas prioritizing neurodegenerative disorders, vascular conditions, and rare diseases.
Dr. Carlos Ciller added: “I am proud of the achievements RetinAI has made and look forward to this next stage of growth. Ikerian will use the ‘eye as a window to the body’ to advance healthcare in systemic and chronic diseases, such as neurological and cardiovascular conditions, generating new knowledge and playing an instrumental role in improving healthcare for individuals worldwide.”
(PR - ES)
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