INSIGHTS / News

Former SETsquared Scale-Up Programme member, iFAST Diagnostics, has announced the closure of its successful $6.5m (£5m) seed round.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an escalating global health crisis, with bacterial infections resistant to current antibiotics now estimated to cause 1.27 million deaths annually. Over the past two decades, resistance levels have surged, and projections from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicate that resistance to third-line antibiotics – often the final treatment option – could more than double by 2035 compared to 2005.

With bacteria growing more resistant each day, swift and precise treatment decisions are critical to improving patient outcomes. iFAST Diagnostics aims to accelerate the antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) process, which identifies the most effective antibiotic for each case. While traditional AST methods require 48 to 72 hours, the iFAST system reduces this testing time to under three hours. By leveraging a microchip that electrically analyses thousands of bacteria, iFAST is able to provide rapid, accurate results that allow patients to receive targeted treatment much sooner.

To support this mission, iFAST Diagnostics has seen significant investment through its recent oversubscribed round, led by KHP Ventures, the first NHS-anchored venture fund, alongside existing investors QantX, UKI2S (Managed by Future Planet Capital, Kadmos, and a number of angel investors. New investors, EInk, RAW Ventures, and OKG Capital also contributed to the £5m round.

The closure of this round means that iFAST will be able to bring its AST platform to market as soon as early 2025 in the UK, with launches across Europe and the US following suit.

Toby King, CEO, iFAST Diagnostics said, “We are incredibly excited to receive the investment we need to bring our technology to market just a couple of years after founding the company. The thought of saving patients’ lives through them having the correct antibiotic at the right time is hugely motivating for the whole team.”

Tim Irish, Partner, KHP Ventures added, “iFAST is ideally placed to tackle the ever-increasing global threat of antimicrobial resistance. This technology is 10x faster than the current gold standard for AST while maintaining the same levels of accuracy, throughput, and cost. We are excited to partner with iFAST and concurrently help the NHS achieve its five-year plan to combat antimicrobial resistance.”

Richard Haycock, CEO, QantX added, “We are proud to continue our support for iFAST Diagnostics as they build technology to transform the way clinicians identify and treat antibiotic-resistant infections. The amazing progress the team has made in the last 18 months is a testament to their hard work, and we’re excited to see their solution be made available to hospitals in the UK, Europe and the US with this investment.