TidalSense secures £14.2m for AI breath test

Cambridge-based health tech startup TidalSense has raised $19m (£14.2m) in a funding round to accelerate the commercial expansion of its AI-powered respiratory diagnostic device.

TidalSense has developed N-Tidal Diagnose, a handheld AI diagnostic device for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is among the UK’s leading causes of death.

Unlike traditional spirometry testing, which requires forceful exhalation and specialist administration taking up to an hour per patient, the company said its N-Tidal requires patients to breathe normally into the device for just 75 seconds.

The handheld sensor captures CO₂ waveforms analysed by AI models trained on more than 2.5 million breaths, enabling clinicians to assess 4 to 6 patients an hour.

The device received its CE mark under EU MDR in March 2025 and launched into the NHS later that year, where it is now deployed across primary care and community clinics in England, Wales, and Scotland.

TidalSense will use the fresh capital to accelerate commercialisation across the UK, Ireland, and Europe, prepare for US market entry, expand its pipeline into asthma diagnostics, and scale its commercial operations team.

“Respiratory disease has been neglected by governments and health systems for years, often overshadowed by cancer and cardiovascular disease, even though it affects one in five people,” said chief executive Dr Ameera Patel.

“We’re still diagnosing in the 21st century with a test invented in the 1800s, and one that needs specialist equipment and training most of the world doesn’t have access to. Lower income and minority communities pay the price for that first. That’s the gap we want to close at TidalSense, and the NHS is the first place we’re doing it.”

The investment round included funding from Cross-Border Impact Ventures, a North American health tech impact fund, alongside returning backers BGF, Airstream Capital, and Foresight Group.

“We look for technology that doesn’t just have a compelling story, but a body of clinical evidence behind it. TidalSense has both, with a CEO who has lived the problem she’s solving, and a product that’s already live within the NHS healthcare environment, saving time for patients who have waited years for an answer,” said Donna Parr, managing partner at Cross-Border Impact Ventures.

“It is also technology that can improve access to appropriate treatment for COPD sufferers on a global basis and especially for women who are often misdiagnosed. This is exactly the kind of impact we want to make with our investments.”