TidalSense raises £14m led by Cross-Border Impact Ventures and BGF
This article covers TidalSense, a healthtech startup, raising £14m in a growth funding round to commercialise N‑Tidal Diagnose, a bedside device and AI software that launched into the NHS in September 2025. The funding aims to accelerate commercial rollout of a quick bedside COPD test designed to shorten spirometry waiting lists and broaden access in primary and community care.
TidalSense, a healthtech startup based in Cambridge, has raised £14 million in a growth funding round to commercialise N-Tidal Diagnose, a bedside device and AI software that detects chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from about 75 seconds of normal breathing. The funding is notable because the company says the test can be delivered by any healthcare professional after a 10-minute training session, potentially easing long waits for spirometry and widening access to COPD diagnosis.
Why it matters
COPD is the United Kingdom's third biggest cause of death, responsible for around 30,000 deaths a year and costing the NHS about £1.9 billion annually. An estimated 1.9 million people live with the condition, diagnosed or not, and at least 600,000 people in the UK are waiting for a formal COPD diagnosis. Traditional spirometry requires forceful exhalation, specialist training and lengthy appointment slots; that creates bottlenecks for primary care and community clinics. A quicker, easier diagnostic that retains high accuracy could shorten waiting lists and broaden diagnostic reach, particularly for patients unable to perform spirometry.
Inside the product
N-Tidal Diagnose records a capnogram, a CO₂ waveform typically used in critical care, and applies AI models to detect COPD from relaxed, normal breathing. The company says the underlying models were trained on more than 2.5 million patient breaths and that the device can produce a diagnostic signal in about 75 seconds. In post-market validation presented at the European Respiratory Society congress in 2025, the device reportedly achieved above 90% performance across key diagnostic metrics on an unseen cohort, compared with roughly 71% precision for spirometry in primary care.
The CE mark under EU MDR (Class IIa) was granted in March 2025 and the product launched into the NHS in September 2025. Early deployments include work commissioned by Suffolk and North-East Essex Integrated Care Board, roll-out into NHS Wales, community lung screening clinics in the south of England and Glasgow, with inbound enquiries from over 60 countries. TidalSense says clinicians can see four to six patients an hour with the device, compared with roughly one an hour when using spirometry.
In the announcement, Claire Greason, Chief Nursing Officer at GP Primary Choice, said:
GPPC deployed N-Tidal Diagnose last year, and the test has proven to be a simple, effective, and accessible diagnostic tool for patients. Unlike traditional spirometry, N-Tidal Diagnose requires only relaxed, normal breathing rather than forced exhalation, making it suitable for a wider range of patients, including those who may previously have been unable to undertake spirometry due to contraindications or practical challenges. N-Tidal Diagnose has enabled us to offer an alternative diagnostic assessment, supporting earlier and more inclusive access to COPD diagnosis and care. Feedback from patients has been overwhelmingly positive, with many valuing the simplicity of the test and the significantly shorter appointment times compared with traditional spirometry.
Who are the investors?
The £14 million round was raised from Cross-Border Impact Ventures, BGF, Airstream Capital and Foresight Group. TidalSense says the new capital takes total funding to around £30 million, which includes about $11 million of prior grant funding. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate commercialisation across the UK, Ireland and Europe, support market-entry work in the United States, extend the diagnostic platform to new indications such as asthma, and grow its commercial and operations teams.
In the announcement, Donna Parr, Managing Partner at Cross-Border Impact Ventures, said:
We look for technology that doesn't just have a compelling story, but a body of clinical evidence behind it. TidalSense has both, with a CEO who has lived the problem she's solving, and a product that's already live within the NHS healthcare environment, saving time for patients who have waited years for an answer. It is also technology that can improve access to appropriate treatment for COPD sufferers on a global basis and especially for women who are often misdiagnosed. This is exactly the kind of impact we want to make with our investments.
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Founder perspective
TidalSense’s leadership is expanding ahead of US work and broader roll-out. Co-founder and Chief Engineering Officer Julian Carter has led development of the CE-marked hardware since founding. New senior hires include Andrew Wheeler as Director of Market Access and Public Policy, joining from NICE, and Eric Mayes as a non-executive director; Mayes was founding CEO of Endomagnetics, a UCL spinout acquired by Hologic for $310 million in 2024. The company says it will continue hiring across commercial and operations roles as it scales.
In the announcement, Ameera Patel, CEO at TidalSense, said:
Respiratory disease has been neglected by governments and health systems for years, often overshadowed by cancer and cardiovascular disease, even though it affects one in five people. That's finally starting to change. The World Health Organization now recognises COPD as a global health priority, and it's about time. Part of the problem has always been how we talk about it: COPD is widely seen as a smoker's disease, but a quarter of cases come from air pollution and the biomass fuel millions still cook with every day. We're still diagnosing in the 21st century with a test invented in the 1800s, and one that needs specialist equipment and training most of the world doesn't have access to. Lower income and minority communities pay the price for that first. That's the gap we want to close at TidalSense, and the NHS is the first place we're doing it.
The bigger picture
The announcement arrives as diagnostic AI and portable monitoring technologies attract renewed interest across the health sector. COPD’s burden on health systems and the long waits for spirometry create a clear addressable problem for the NHS and other public health services. If independent validations continue to support the company’s performance claims, a simpler test that requires less training could change diagnostic pathways in primary and community care, and improve access in lower-resource settings.
The deal also underlines rising interest from healthtech investors in AI-driven diagnostics that combine clinical evidence with regulatory clearance. For the UK and European ecosystems, the test will be watched as an example of how domestic innovation can move from clinical trials and regulation into routine NHS use and potentially into international markets.
They've invested in TidalSense
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