South Africa carries one of the highest TB burdens in the world. (Image source: 123RF)
South African medtech company AI Diagnostics has raised R85 million in a pre-Series A funding round to accelerate deployment of its AI-powered Ostium digital stethoscope.
The device enables early tuberculosis (TB) screening without specialist equipment or infrastructure.
In a statement, the company says the round was led by The Steele Foundation for Hope, with participation from the iFSP Group, and Global Innovation Fund, and follow-on from key early angel investors.
It notes that previous rounds included Africa Health Ventures and Savant. According to the company, funding supports clinical research and validation, continued development of the product and AI model, and the operational infrastructure required to scale a medical device business in South Africa, as well as emerging markets across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
“We back technical entrepreneurs who are closest to the problems they’re solving, and AI Diagnostics is a clear example of why that matters,” says Joe Exner, CEO of The Steele Foundation for Hope.
“They’ve built novel hardware: an AI-enabled digital stethoscope that detects TB through lung sound analysis with point-of-care accuracy that simply wasn’t possible before. In communities without X-ray infrastructure or specialist clinicians, this puts real diagnostic capability in the hands of nurses and community health workers.”
AI Diagnostics points out that South Africa carries one of the highest TB burdens in the world. According to the World Health Organisation 2025 World TB Report, 249 000 people fell ill with TB in South Africa in 2024, and an estimated 54 000 died from the disease.
According to AI Diagnostics, the severity of the crisis is driven by three major structural failures.
Firstly, detection remains a critical gap, with most cases identified only at a late stage. It says a national TB prevalence survey found that 58% of individuals who tested positive showed no symptoms, indicating that symptom-based screening misses the majority of infections.
Secondly, access to care is constrained. Clinics in high-burden areas are often understaffed and under-resourced, leaving patients to contend with long waiting times and limited diagnostic capacity.
Thirdly, the HIV-TB co-epidemic continues to intensify the challenge. In parts of Southern Africa, more than half of TB cases are found among people living with HIV, complicating both diagnosis and treatment.
AI Diagnostics notes that, taken together, these factors enable TB to spread largely undetected before it is diagnosed.
Together, it says, these conditions create a system in which TB spreads silently before it’s detected.
AI Diagnostics notes it was born out of the need to empower frontline healthcare workers with tools that make healthcare more accessible and affordable, for patients and providers alike, by addressing problems at the source.
The company’s flagship Ostium digital stethoscope, paired with its AI.TB software, is designed to be used by community health workers, nurses and pharmacists, who are the primary point of care for the majority of patients.
“The AI model flags individuals whose lung sounds have signals associated with TB in real-time so healthcare providers can refer them for diagnostic testing immediately,” says Braden van Breda, CEO of AI Diagnostics.
“For health systems trying to close the detection gap, this changes the availability and the geography of screening.”
AI Diagnostics holds South African Health Products Regulatory Authority approval and has screened more than 1 000 patients in South Africa. The company is currently conducting clinical research across more than 10 countries in Africa and Asia.
“AI Diagnostics didn’t design its technology from a distance. They built it in South Africa, one of the world’s highest-burden countries, with clinical partners on the ground and patients in the room,” says Exner.
“That proximity shapes everything: how the device is engineered for harsh clinic conditions, the lung sound database they’ve spent years assembling, and the trust they’ve earned in the communities they serve. Solutions like AI Diagnostics are more durable, more trusted and more likely to scale.”
Jan van Staden, speaking on behalf of iFSP Venture Capital, says: “Our investment in AI Diagnostics is driven by two compelling pillars: transformative social impact and exceptional leadership.
“By harnessing artificial intelligence to close the gap between the need for expert clinical insight and its availability in underserved communities, AI Diagnostics exemplifies the fifth industrial revolution businesses we back, those that build a better world while generating sustainable returns for our clients.”
Evolution of the stethoscope
The raise draws backing from investors who see the potential of where point-of-care diagnostics is heading. While starting with TB, AI Diagnostics is exploring how its technologies can be used for screening across multiple lung and heart conditions.
“The stethoscope is a universal symbol of medicine. It’s in every doctor’s office, used for routine check-ups to diagnose respiratory, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases. But it hasn’t changed significantly in over a hundred years,” says Rowena Luk, managing partner at Africa Health Ventures.
“We anticipate it will evolve in the next decade, and that this change will affect healthcare markets globally. We believe AI Diagnostics could be at the forefront of that change.”
