Vara, an AI-enabled early breast cancer detection platform, has raised $8.9 million in funding led by European family offices Smart Family Office (Austria) and FJH (Germany), as well as Berlin-based healthcare investor IBB Ventures.
The funds will be used to fuel its expansion in India. The company began a partnership with NM Medical, an imaging service provider in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Pune, in 2023 to elevate the standard of preventive care and early breast cancer detection, with a focus on mammography as a cornerstone of women’s health programs.
Jonas Muff, CEO of Vara, said, “This raise, which is particularly significant in today’s economic climate, not only validates our technology but enables us to accelerate Vara’s expansion for global impact. We’re extremely pleased with the outcomes we’re already seeing with our partners in healthcare, and we look forward to sharing more progress soon.”
“By combining an AI-driven screening approach with proven medical evidence and commercialization in emerging markets, Vara is an excellent fit for the goals of our impact fund. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. We hope that by bringing this innovative screening to market in India, Vara will be able to increase survival rates and improve the quality of life of women,” said Ute Mercker, Investment Director at IBB Ventures.
Vara is a healthcare technology company revolutionizing breast cancer screening with AI, founded in 2018 by Jonas Muff, CEO and Stefan Bunk, CTO.
Since its initial deployment in 2019, Vara has demonstrated remarkable success within the German National Breast Cancer Screening Program. Today, nearly 40% of breast cancer screening in Germany is managed on Vara’s AI platform, the only AI system deployed at scale in the program.
Headquartered in Berlin, Germany with offices in India, Vara’s AI-powered software enhances accuracy and efficiency in breast cancer detection, identifying 43% more cancers that radiologists might miss while reducing their workload by up to 73%.
Vara is backed by investors including Merantix, EQTFoundation, and VI Partners.
