PARIS, Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- AI-Stroke, a MedTech startup developing an "AI neurologist" to accelerate pre-hospital stroke triage, today announced the completion of a $4.6 million seed round led by Heka, the BrainTech-focused vehicle of Newfund VC, with participation from prominent angel investors and Bpifrance.
The funds will advance AI-Stroke's clinical validation in Europe and the United States, including multi-centre studies and its FDA approval pathway.
Founded in 2022 by a team of engineers, clinicians, and former investors, AI-Stroke enables ambulance crews and A&E teams to screen for stroke using only a smartphone. The AI analyses facial symmetry, arm movement, and speech in a 30-second video, detecting stroke signs within seconds - well before CT or MRI scans.
Built on the world's largest clinically annotated stroke-video dataset - 20,000 videos and 6 million images - AI-Stroke's system detects 2 times more true stroke cases in a study with 2,000 paramedic staff. It aligns with existing U.K. and international protocols such as FAST and CPSS, ensuring effortless adoption by emergency services.
AI-Stroke also welcomed 4 world-renowned stroke experts to its Medical Advisory Board:
- Prof. Gary Ford, Oxford University Hospitals & NICE (UK), co-developer of the FAST test
- Dr. Gregory W. Albers, Director of the Stanford Stroke Center & Co-founder of RapidAI
- Dr. Sean Savitz, Director, Institute for Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease, UTHealth Houston (Texas Medical Center)
- Dr. Pankajavalli Ramakrishnan, neurointervention specialist, Westchester Medical Center Health Network (New York)
"This round strengthens our mission to equip every ambulance and emergency department with AI-driven neurological support," said Cédric Javault, CEO of AI-Stroke. "By shortening the time to treatment, we can save more lives and improve outcomes worldwide." Simon Jiafeng Li, Chief Business Officer, added: "With new funds and this distinguished advisory team on board, we're ready to make AI-powered stroke detection a new standard of care." Constant Beroulle, Investor at Newfund Heka, commented: "AI-Stroke delivers a smart, easy-to-adopt solution to a critical, yet underserved medical need - the pre-hospital triaging of stroke. We're proud to back the team as they scale internationally and bring their technology to the market."
About AI-Stroke:
AI-Stroke SAS develops the world's first AI neurologist for pre-hospital stroke diagnostics and triage.
Contact Details:
Simon Jiafeng LI, Chief Business Officer, inquiries@ai-stroke.com.
www.ai-stroke.com
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