Lucida Medical secures £8.7m to enable same-day prostate diagnosis with AI MRI
This article covers Lucida Medical, a UK healthtech startup, closing a growth funding round of £8.7m to accelerate rollout of its AI-driven prostate cancer diagnostic, pursue US FDA approval and expand the technology to other cancer types. The funding aims to speed deployment across the NHS and enable faster, more consistent diagnosis to support overstretched radiology services and shorten patient pathways.
Lucida Medical, a UK healthtech startup, has closed a growth funding round of £8.7m to accelerate rollout of its AI-driven prostate cancer diagnostic and push towards same-day diagnosis. The raise aims to speed deployment across the NHS, pursue US FDA approval and expand the technology to other cancer types — a development that matters amid growing diagnostic backlogs and rising prostate cancer prevalence.
Why it matters
Radiology capacity in the UK is under strain. The Royal College of Radiologists estimates a current shortfall of around 30% in clinical radiologists, which could reach 40% by 2028, contributing to longer waits for cancer scans and results. Delays can mean later-stage diagnoses, more complex treatment and worse outcomes.
Prostate cancer is common and increasingly prevalent: Macmillan Cancer Support estimates about 610,000 men are living with prostate cancer in the UK, a 20% rise since 2020. In 2024 only 55% of men in England were diagnosed before the cancer had spread beyond the prostate, when treatment outcomes are typically better. Faster, more consistent diagnostics could reduce unnecessary procedures, shorten waiting times and prioritise resources for patients who need them most.
Inside the product
Lucida’s flagship product, Pi™ (Prostate Intelligence), uses machine learning to analyse prostate MRI scans, highlight suspicious lesions and generate risk scores to support radiologists’ assessments. The system is CE certified, has been trained and validated on thousands of patient scans and is deployed across 15 NHS hospitals.
The company says Pi™ is intended to triage scans more quickly, flagging high-risk cases for urgent review and potentially reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies. Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has used Lucida’s software since 2024 to prioritise cases: where the AI flags high risk, radiologists review those scans as a priority and patients are booked for urgent biopsy.
Who are the investors?
The £8.7m round was led by IW Capital, with participation from XTX Ventures and Macmillan Cancer Support. Lucida’s announcement says the funding will support further NHS deployments, pursuit of US FDA approval and expansion of the AI platform to additional cancer types.
IW Capital is a UK investor that backs high-growth SMEs; its portfolio includes other technology companies and it previously invested in Lucida. XTX Ventures is the venture arm of XTX Markets and focuses on early-stage businesses where AI and machine learning are core technologies. Macmillan Cancer Support brings clinical and patient-centred expertise and is participating as a strategic supporter rather than a traditional commercial investor.
David Fisher, Senior Investment Director at IW Capital, said:
Lucida Medical is addressing a critical bottleneck in modern healthcare. As populations age and incidence rates of cancer rise, the ability to diagnose cancer earlier and more efficiently is essential and forms part of a major Government plan. The company combines deep clinical expertise, strong NHS validation and a scalable technology platform, and we are pleased to support its next phase of growth.
Anthony Cunliffe, Lead Medical Advisor at Macmillan Cancer Support, said:
When it comes to prostate cancer, far too many men are still being diagnosed far too late. We need to see better symptoms awareness so men seek help earlier and, if we can combine that with speedier diagnosis, we could help revolutionise care for the tens of thousands of men diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the UK. Lucida Medical’s AI diagnosis platform has the potential to make a very real and immediate improvement for people living with cancer and that is why we are so very pleased to be supporting them.
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Founder perspective
Dr Antony Rix, Co-founder and CEO of Lucida Medical, framed the funding as a practical response to capacity constraints in the NHS and a route to faster patient pathways.
Dr Antony Rix, Co-founder and CEO of Lucida Medical, said:
Cancer imaging volumes are rising rapidly but reporting capacity is not keeping pace. Our goal is to give clinicians faster, more confident decisions while reducing unnecessary interventions for patients. With our deep focus on prostate cancer and strong clinical validation across NHS pathways, we’re showing how AI can deliver earlier and more accurate diagnoses. In the NHS, few Trusts can confirm or rule out cancer within 28 days, and some patients can wait two months or longer. Lucida Medical is ideally placed to reduce this burden, and this funding will allow us to do that faster.
He and the company highlight a dual aim: shorten time-to-diagnosis for patients and provide consistent decision support for overstretched clinical teams.
The bigger picture
Lucida’s raise sits within wider momentum for diagnostic AI in Europe and the UK, where regulators and health systems are beginning to formalise pathways for clinical use of machine learning tools. Pi™ is already CE certified and deployed across multiple Trusts, but US regulatory approval remains a key step for broader international scaling.
The deal also points to the role charities and mission-driven organisations can play in clinical validation and adoption: Macmillan’s involvement signals a patient-centred endorsement that may ease NHS uptake. More generally, the funding reflects investor interest in technology that directly addresses operational bottlenecks in healthcare delivery.
The development will be watched closely by health services and healthtech investors as diagnostic AI moves from pilot projects to tools that must be integrated into care pathways, audited for performance and scaled responsibly.
The outcome of Lucida’s FDA pursuits and its ability to demonstrate consistent improvement in patient outcomes will be important markers for the wider UK and European healthtech ecosystem as it seeks to export clinically validated AI products overseas.
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