NEW YORK – French cancer diagnostics startup MSInsight said Wednesday that it has completed a €1.6 million ($1.7 million) seed funding round to help advance the development of its software for microsatellite instability (MSI) cancer detection and diagnosis.
The round was led by Calyseed, with additional contributions from Plateau de Saclay Business Angels, Yes Invest, Capital Cell, and banking partners such as Bpifrance.
With the money raised, MSInsight said it plans to finish developing its MSIcare software, demonstrate its performance in various types of cancer, and initiate its clinical validation to obtain CE-IVD marking as an in vitro diagnostic medical device.
MSIcare interprets next-generation sequencing data using "advanced" bioinformatics and AI algorithms to help improve the diagnosis of MSI cancers, according to the firm.
Founded in 2022, MSInsight is based on work by the Microsatellite Instability and Cancer team at the Saint-Antoine Research Center in Paris, led by Alex Duval, who currently serves as the firm's scientific director.
MSInsight said it is collaborating with Duval's academic research team to continue to innovate the company's technology. A prototype of its MSIcare software is already being tested at medical laboratories in major university hospitals in France and abroad.
"This fundraising marks a key milestone for MSInsight. It gives us the means to accelerate the deployment of our technology and strengthen our clinical partnerships," Arnaud Cutivet, MSInsight's president and cofounder, said in a statement. "The company's ambition is to position its MSIcare solution as the future gold standard for assessing microsatellite instability and the first regulatory-validated bioinformatics solution."