Cascader completes seed funding round

Medical technology company, Cascader, has completed a seed funding round led by Topcon Healthcare.

Cascader is a spin-out company formed through a partnership of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Topcon Healthcare and UCL Ventures.

The company is focused on applying artificial intelligence (AI) to the detection and management of eye disease, with the aim of accelerating the translation of research to clinical application.

The seed funding will be used to advance Cascader’s initial products towards market launch, expand the company’s team, and accelerate the development and delivery of its healthcare AI.

Another core focus for the Cascader team is in advancing the field of oculomics – the use of ocular imaging and data to generate insights into systemic conditions, such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease.

The company also plans to use the new funding to align with global oculomics programmes, including Topcon Healthcare’s Healthcare from the Eye Initiative, which aims to use ocular data as a gateway to more “proactive, connected, and equitable healthcare.”

Topcon has supported Cascader from its inception, with Ali Tafreshi, CEO of Topcon Healthcare, commenting: “We are pleased to lead this seed round and support Cascader as it moves from pioneering research toward scalable clinical application.”

“Cascader is strongly aligned with our Healthcare from the Eye strategy and our belief that ocular data, AI, and connected care can transform how disease is detected and managed,” he added.

Cascader has an initial focus on macular diseases, but over time, the company plans to develop a broader portfolio of AI tools for healthcare professionals across eye care – from community to hospital clinics.

The tools will be intended to support earlier and more accurate detection and management of eye disease.

Cascader builds on more than a decade of AI research at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital.

Professor Pearse Keane, chief scientific adviser and co-founder of Cascader, professor of artificial medical intelligence at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, highlighted that the company is “fully focused on moving these technologies from research into real-world clinical care.”

“Our AI will lead to earlier diagnosis and earlier treatment, saving people’s sight, both in the UK and around the world,” he said.

The Insight Eye and Oculomics Health Data Research Hub at Moorfields Eye Hospital will support AI development at Cascader through safe and secure access to curated datasets and computing infrastructure.

Peter Ridley, chief executive of Moorfields Eye Hospital, spoke of supporting translating research into technologies that have a “real impact on clinical care.”

He explained: “This benefits not only Moorfields’ patients but patients nationally and internationally and supports the long-term sustainability of healthcare services.”

In supporting Cascader, Dr Mark Fisher, associate director, Biopharm, at UCL Ventures, said the commercialisation partner was helping to “bridge the gap between discovery and use in everyday care.”