AI/Machine Learning

The $15bn National Reconstruction Fund takes $32 million stake in AI medical diagnostics startup Harrison.ai

- January 29, 2025 3 MIN READ
Dr Aengus Tran and Dimitry Tran.
Harrison.ai cofounders Dr Aengus Tran and Dimitry Tran.
A Sydney startup pioneering the use of artificial intelligence to analyse medical scans to rapidly identify potential diseases such as cancer, even before clinicians spot them, has taken on $32 million from the federal government’s signature National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) as part of a planned $100 million+ Series C.

Harrison.ai has trained generative AI on thousands of real life medical imaging to review CT scans and X-rays to detect and diagnose illnesses quickly and accurately, sometimes weeks before they’re normally found.

The proprietary AI can detect up to 124 findings on chest X-rays and up to 130 findings on non-contrast head CTs. The technology gives clinicians a second set of eyes to reviews images and has already significantly increased the number of treatable cases and the survivability of patients.

It’s already being used in more than 1,000 healthcare facilities globally including the UK’s National Health Service, supporting the care of more than 6 million patients annually.

Harrison.ai was founded in 2018 clinician and AI engineer Dr Aengus Tran and his brother Dimitry. Aengus, then aged 24, created the algorithm that used AI to analyse video of IVF embryos to pick which ones were most likely to lead to pregnancy.

The company now has two AI products: Annalise.ai, a radiology solution, and Franklin.ai, a pathology solution.

The healthcare startup went on to raise $29 million in 2019 in its first funding round backed by Horizons Ventures, Skip Capital, the Sydney fund run by investment banker Kim Jackson, and Ramsay Health Care. They last raised US$97 million (A$129 million) in a Series B in 2021 and began the hunt for new funds last year. Blackbird, Sonic Healthcare and I-MED Radiology Network are also investors. Tesla chair Robyn Denholm is a director.

But there was controversy last over Harrison.AI’s use of de-identified patient data from I-MED, Australia’s biggest radiology provider, in an initial joint venture to develop Annalise.ai. The privacy commissioner made preliminary inquiries, but both parties say they comply with the Privacy Act to anonymise the data so it no longer considered personal information.”

“I-MED de-identified data using best practice frameworks developed by the CSIRO and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,” I-MED said in a statement.

Late last year Harrison.ai began gearing up for a US launch after the federal agency running US Medicare approved a US$240 payment per scan to hospitals using the Harrison.ai analysis.

Dimitry Tran relocated to the US to establish their presence in a country that accounts for around half of the global radiology market.

The NRFC’s investment will be used on further development of Harrison.ai’s radiology and pathology diagnostics and to expand into other Australian hospitals and healthcare facilities and internationally

NRFC chair Martijn Wilder said the backing will also help will ensure Harrison.ai continues to base its operations in Australia.

“It will also enable Harrison.ai’s continued growth and global expansion – and provide employment opportunities for Australian engineers, clinical AI experts and research professionals,” he said.

“Through its diagnostic capabilities, Harrison.ai demonstrates the incredible possibilities that AI and other advanced technologies that have been developed in Australia enable for improving health outcomes around the world.”

Dr Aengus Tran, the startup’s CEO, said the funding isas an endorsement of the impact Harrison.ai is having in revolutionising healthcare through AI.

“We believe Australia has the potential to lead in clinical AI globally. This investment empowers Harrison.ai to further our commitment to improving patient outcomes and accelerate adoption of our market-leading solutions in Australia and internationally,” he said.

The remainder of Harrison.ai’s Series C, including its size and the investors, has yet to be announced.

It’s the fifth investment made by the $15 billion NRFC in the past two months. In December, the fund backed data security startup Vault Cloud with $22.5 million, contributed $25m towards a $50 million raise by IoT nanosatellite maker Myriota, and bet $13m on synthetic diamond creator Quantum Brilliance.