Qure.ai Secures Gates Foundation Grant to Advance AI-Powered Point-of-Care Ultrasound
Qure.ai has announced that it has secured a multimillion-dollar grant from the Gates Foundation to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence-enabled point-of-care ultrasound tools and expand access to advanced diagnostics in low-resource settings. The funding is expected to support both product innovation and the creation of a large open-source multimodal database intended to advance global research in lung health.
The grant marks a significant milestone for the company’s global health strategy, which has focused on deploying AI-driven imaging technologies in regions with limited access to trained clinicians and diagnostic infrastructure. Qure.ai Co-Founder and CEO Prashant Warier described the funding as a validation of the company’s mission and long-term efforts to reach underserved populations. “In a bid to reach the unreachable we have innovated our way around the world over the last 10 years, taking AI-enabled X-ray to some of the remotest regions of sub-Saharan Africa, to the heights of Everest and depths of rural Southeast Asia, tackling the detection and diagnosis of TB. This is powerful progress that has reduced diagnosis rates from 14 days to 1–2 days, without even a clinician present. Now, with this grant from the Gates Foundation, we are excited to leverage this expertise further to scale and reach more people,” he said.
A central component of the initiative is the development of an open-source multimodal database aligned with World Health Organization lung-health diagnostic pathways. The database is expected to include non-identifiable clinical histories, chest X-rays, thoracic ultrasound images, high-resolution CT scans, cough and lung sound recordings, and laboratory or biological markers. The aim is to enable researchers globally to develop, validate, and refine new AI models for disease detection and prevention.
The grant places particular emphasis on early detection of tuberculosis and pneumonia, two curable conditions that continue to cause significant mortality when diagnosis is delayed. Tuberculosis is responsible for approximately 1.23 million deaths annually, while pneumonia accounts for nearly 2 million deaths each year, including about 700,000 children under five. “With the very latest developments in digital health and artificial intelligence, Qure.ai can help reach healthcare’s blind spots, bringing high-quality diagnostics within reach of every clinic, health worker, and child, no matter where they live,” said Dr. Shibu Vijayan, Chief Medical Officer – Global Health at Qure.ai.
Dr. Justy Antony Chiramal, Project Lead and Clinical Director, Global Health Innovation at Qure.ai, added, “This grant will allow us to build on the years of continuous innovation we have spearheaded in public health and our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what AI can do for global health. It brings together pneumonia, tuberculosis, and broader lung health priorities, with a focus on children in low and middle-income countries. A child dies of pneumonia every 43 seconds which is an unacceptable and an avoidable loss. It underscores the urgent need for better diagnostics and equitable access to care.”
Qure.ai currently supports clinical programs across more than 105 countries and 4,800 sites, spanning tuberculosis, lung cancer, and neurocritical care use cases, including stroke.
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