Pontiro secures £360k pre-seed to automate NHS imaging anonymisation within hospital systems
This article covers Pontiro, a healthtech startup, which has raised £360,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by SFC Capital to automate the anonymisation and management of NHS medical imaging data. It aims to make imaging records more accessible for research and clinical AI while keeping patient data protected, supporting NHS trusts and researchers with automated anonymisation and workflow validation.
Pontiro, a healthtech startup, has raised £360,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by SFC Capital to automate the anonymisation and management of NHS medical imaging data — a move that aims to make imaging records more accessible for research and clinical AI while keeping patient data protected.
Why it matters
Accessing and preparing NHS imaging data has long been a bottleneck for clinical research and AI development. Manual anonymisation and ad hoc validation processes slow projects and increase compliance risk. Pontiro’s platform seeks to replace those tasks with automated infrastructure embedded in hospital systems, which could reduce time to project start and lower barriers for trusts wanting to participate in research or AI evaluation.
Pontiro says its platform has already processed more than two million medical images across NHS Wales, which demonstrates operational traction in live NHS environments rather than in isolated pilot projects.
Inside the product
Pontiro’s software automates anonymisation, validation and workflow orchestration inside hospital systems so that data stays within the clinical environment while being prepared for research and model testing. The platform supports teaching workflows and AI validation processes, and was developed alongside NHS teams to fit real-world clinical practice.
The company plans to launch an AI evaluation and return-on-investment measurement tool in 2026. That product was developed with a £50,000 Innovate UK Growth Catalyst grant and is intended to help trusts assess the performance and financial case for deploying clinical AI tools. The newly raised capital will fund expansion into NHS England trusts and efforts to gain inclusion on national procurement frameworks.
Who are the investors?
The round was led by SFC Capital. Plug and Play Ventures and the British Business Bank also participated.
SFC Capital led the investment in a deal that takes a live NHS-facing product beyond Wales. The participation of the British Business Bank signals continued public-sector support for early-stage healthtech infrastructure, while Plug and Play brings a corporate innovation network that can help with scaling and partner introductions.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Lewis Bowen, Co-founder & CEO at Pontiro, said:
Pontiro was built inside the NHS, alongside the teams who use it every day. That matters. With this investment, we're taking infrastructure that already works at scale in Wales and making it available to trusts across the country who are navigating the same challenges.
The bigger picture
The funding highlights a recurring theme in UK healthtech: investors and public funders are prioritising tools that make NHS data usable and compliant for research and AI, rather than standalone model makers. For AI to move from pilots to clinical deployment, infrastructure that handles governance, anonymisation and evaluation is a necessary layer.
This deal also underlines the importance of procurement routes and NHS trust buy-in. Gaining places on national procurement frameworks will be a key test of whether Pontiro can scale from regional deployments in Wales to wider adoption across NHS England and beyond.
Across the UK and Europe, the debate over safe data access for clinical AI continues to shape where capital flows; companies that can prove compliant, hospital-integrated tooling are likely to attract further investor attention.
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