52North, the med-tech company focused on transforming urgent care pathways in oncology, has announced the close of a major funding round, co-led by KHP Ventures, affiliated with King’s Health Partners in London, and Cedars-Sinai Intellectual Property Co. in California, affiliated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, one of the largest nonprofit academic medical centres in the US, as well as a $1.5 million grant from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The deal marks the first instance of an investment being co-led by leading hospital ventures funds from both the UK and the US, underlining 52North’s positioning as a healthcare innovator for global impact. The company’s low-cost and accessible solutions, co-created with patients and clinicians, aim to improve patient outcomes and health equity, while also alleviating pressures on healthcare systems.
The funding will enable 52North to advance its products towards market, including the flagship Neutrocheck®, which was granted breakthrough status by the UK Government under its pilot Innovative Devices Access Pathway earlier this year. The point-of-care medical device and app is aimed for use by patients with cancer outside of hospital to monitor their risk of neutropenia or neutropenic sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication of chemotherapy. In addition, the funding will enable products to progress through the company’s AsterTM platform, remotely measuring cells at low-cost, including in collaboration with strategic pharmaceutical partners, and will support 52North’s roll out of ACORNTM, supported by NIHR, an AI-driven digital platform designed to enable safer delivery of acute oncology care.
This milestone brings total funding for 52North, the University of Cambridge-linked med-tech company, to $10M.
This round was led by KHP Ventures and Cedars-Sinai Intellectual Property Co., the round includes significant contributions from OKG Capital, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Cancer Research Horizons, Macmillan Cancer Support, and selected high value-add angels including biotech entrepreneur Jonathan Milner and former CEO of Roche Diagnostics Roland Diggelmann.
“This round represents a significant leap forward for 52North. With support from both UK and US healthcare leaders, we can expand our product pipeline working with major strategic partners, and appropriately leverage the latest tools including AI to reshape urgent care pathways for patients worldwide." Umaima AhmadCEO of 52North. “The commitment from both KHP Ventures and Cedars-Sinai exemplifies the belief in our vision and the value of our solutions.”
The collaboration between KHP Ventures and Cedars-Sinai Intellectual Property Co (CSIP) underscores a new era in transatlantic partnerships for med-tech innovation. This cross-border commitment exemplifies the investment ecosystem’s growing alignment with healthcare providers to support technologies that address complex clinical needs.
Tim Irish, Chair of KHP Ventures, added, “Our partnership with Cedars-Sinai reflects our shared mission to invest in and support companies that have the potential to revolutionise healthcare delivery on a global scale. We are proud to continue backing 52North as they continue to develop solutions that empower both patients and clinicians.”
