Cerca Magnetics raises seed to push wearable quantum sensors into hospitals
This article covers Cerca Magnetics, a healthtech startup, which has raised £3.8m in a seed funding round to advance a wearable brain scanner built on quantum sensors toward clinical approval and wider hospital use. The funding aims to support regulatory approvals, manufacturing scale-up and international rollout to make brain imaging more portable and accessible for clinicians, including scans of infants and patients who cannot remain still in conventional scanners.
Cerca Magnetics has raised £3.8 million in a seed funding round to push a wearable brain scanner built on quantum sensors toward clinical approval and wider hospital use. The funding will be used for regulatory approvals, manufacturing scale-up and international expansion for a device that aims to make brain imaging more portable and accessible — notably enabling scans of infants and patients who cannot stay still in conventional scanners.
Why it matters
Conventional brain imaging relies on bulky, fixed systems that require patients to stay still. Cerca’s approach uses lightweight, wearable quantum sensors that measure neural activity with high precision while allowing natural movement, which could transform how clinicians study conditions such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and dementia.
Early commercial traction strengthens the case for clinical adoption: Cerca has sold 19 systems to neuroscience centres across 12 countries and reports more than 100 per cent annual sales growth over the last three years. Use cases include research at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, where the system is being used to study autism, and a £2.8 million UK Ministry of Defence project to assess blast exposure effects on military personnel — evidence of both clinical and applied research demand.
Inside the product
Cerca Magnetics is a healthtech startup spun out of the University of Nottingham School of Physics and Astronomy. Its hardware replaces fixed scanners with arrays of compact quantum sensors that sit on the head, removing the need for immobilisation and enabling imaging in populations previously difficult to scan, such as infants.
The company says the funding will accelerate clinical approval pathways in the UK and the United States, scale manufacturing capacity and support broader roll-out into hospital settings. The announcement highlights an emphasis on moving from research-grade deployments toward devices designed for routine clinical workflows.
Who are the investors?
The round was led by Guinness Ventures. The release does not list other named participants.
In the announcement, Ashley Abrahams, Head of Origination at Guinness Ventures, said:
Cerca is addressing a clear unmet need in brain imaging with a technology that combines scientific depth with affordable real-world usability. We believe the company is well positioned to become a global leader in next-generation neuroimaging and are pleased to back David and the team on the next stage of Cerca’s already impressive journey.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, David Woolger, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder at Cerca Magnetics, said:
This investment enables us to move decisively into clinical applications, scaling our technology for routine use in hospitals in the UK and internationally. Our goal is to make advanced brain imaging more accessible, supporting earlier diagnosis and better treatment of neurological conditions.
The bigger picture
Cerca’s fundraising and commercial wins sit at the intersection of medtech engineering and clinical neuroscience. The device addresses persistent barriers in neuroimaging — mobility, patient comfort and applicability to young children — that have limited wider clinical adoption of advanced imaging techniques.
The deal also reflects continued momentum among UK healthtech startups attracting investment to take university spinouts into clinical markets. Bringing a medical device from lab prototype to regulated product requires capital for trials, quality systems and manufacturing; the next 18 months will be telling for Cerca as it pursues approvals in the UK and US.
If successful, wider adoption of wearable quantum-based imaging could broaden neurodiagnostic capabilities across Europe and beyond, creating export opportunities for UK medtech and drawing further attention from healthtech investors focused on next-generation diagnostic tools.
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