They Worked Without Salaries for 3 Years. Now AI Diagnostics Raised R115 Million to Fight Africa's Deadliest Disease.
- Mandilakhe Somdle
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
In many parts of Africa, the biggest challenge in healthcare isn't treatment, it's detection.
By the time a patient reaches a specialist, it's often too late. The system is overloaded, resources are stretched, and the people best positioned to catch diseases early, nurses and community health workers, are left without the tools they need.
That's the gap AI Diagnostics set out to close.
From Farm Roots to Frontline Healthcare
Braden van Breda grew up between Kirkwood and Addo Elephant Park in the Eastern Cape. Far from Cape Town's startup scene. Close to the realities of rural African life.
Before AI Diagnostics, he was building cardiothoracic devices for specialists. Important work, but the further he went, the more he felt the pull of a different question.
What if the greatest impact didn't come from building for specialists at all?
"I realised that the greatest impact on the healthcare system would come from building products for nurses and community health workers, the most abundant healthcare resource in Sub-Saharan Africa. Identifying patients early reduces suffering and can eliminate the need for specialist intervention entirely."
That insight became the founding thesis: give generalists specialist-level capabilities through AI-powered early detection tools. Their solution turns a basic stethoscope exam into a high-impact TB screening tool that any nurse can use, reducing unnecessary lab referrals, cutting costs, and catching cases before they become crises.
When the WHO issued calls for scalable, low-cost TB screening solutions, the validation was clear. The world needed exactly what AI Diagnostics was building.
Building Against the Odds
AI Diagnostics launched in 2020, at the peak of COVID-19. Clinics were overwhelmed. TB funding had pivoted to pandemic response. Research access was locked down.
The team adapted. They rented a ventilated building in Mitchells Plain and brought patients to them. They worked without salaries for three years. One co-founder kept his full-time job to maintain cash flow. Another put in R740,000 of personal capital to fund the initial lung sound data study.
When the funding winter hit and institutional investors pulled back, they didn't pivot. They kept overheads low, built clinical evidence, and created a feeder fund to pool angel investors, keeping the cap table clean while maintaining momentum.
"We didn't pivot from our core focus. The market clearly needed our solution. We simply kept going until we had enough evidence to raise a large round."
That discipline paid off. To date, AI Diagnostics has raised R101 million in equity and R14 million in grant funding. In a market where deep-tech pre-revenue funding is rare, this wasn't just a raise, it was proof. Proof that the problem is real, the solution works, and the opportunity is global.
The Moment That Mattered Most
Ask Braden about his proudest moment and he doesn't mention the fundraise.
He mentions a nurse.
"My proudest moment was our commercial launch. Seeing the product used in an actual clinic setting, empowering a nurse and actively helping patients, was the true culmination of all our hard work."
From the farm in the Eastern Cape to the clinic in Mitchells Plain, it was always about the person on the frontline, and the patient in front of them.
The AfricArena Effect
Before regulatory approval. Before commercial traction. Before the large round, AI Diagnostics pitched on the AfricArena stage and won a Startup Award.
"It gave us crucial external credibility when we didn't yet have a regulatory-approved product or active customers. This helped us build momentum toward our seed funding round."
In the early years of a deep-tech startup, credibility is currency. Being seen by the right people at the right stage is often the difference between staying stuck, and scaling.
What's Next
AI Diagnostics isn't raising in 2026, they're deploying R85 million toward regulatory expansion, commercial rollout across South Africa, and building the next product vertical.
The five-year vision is bigger: WHO endorsement, Global Fund listing, and rollout across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. A Gates Foundation feasibility study is underway to expand detection to asthma, COPD, pneumonia and silicosis, so that one stethoscope exam screens for multiple diseases simultaneously.
One exam. Multiple diseases. Deployed by nurses, at community level. The original insight, scaled.
Advice for Founders
Engage stakeholders early. Don't wait for perfect evidence, relationships and credibility compound over time.
Pitch your global ambition. Don't limit your pitch to what's locally tangible. Show investors the full opportunity.
Zone in. "Don't claim your startup can do 17 different things. Zone in on one specific solution, if it's valuable enough to society, it's valuable enough to raise funds on."
"In a maturing startup, there are always too many balls to juggle. The trick is knowing which balls can safely bounce, and which ones will shatter."
Want to Be Part of the Next Big Thing?
Whether you’re a startup founder looking to raise capital, a corporate ready to collaborate, or just someone who loves being in the room where Africa’s future happens, we’ve got a seat for you.
Apply to the AfricArise Program: pitch at one of our regional summits and get access to investors, partners, and accelerators across the continent.
Because in the AfricArena network, one connection can change everything.
Explore African startup stories at africarena.comAI Diagnostics is based in Cape Town, South Africa. Learn more at aidiagnostics.health
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