$19m · Other round · Healthtech · Cambridge, UK
TidalSense, a Cambridge-based respiratory diagnostics company, has raised $19m in a funding round from new investor Cross-Border Impact Ventures and returning backers BGF, Airstream Capital and Foresight Group. The company says the funding will accelerate commercialisation in the UK, Ireland and Europe, support preparations for US market entry, expand its platform toward conditions including asthma, and grow its commercial and operations teams.
A faster test changes the capacity equation
TidalSense’s N-Tidal Diagnose is designed to identify chronic obstructive pulmonary disease without conventional spirometry. Patients breathe normally into a handheld device for 75 seconds; it records a carbon-dioxide waveform that the company’s AI models analyse for signs of COPD. TidalSense says staff can be trained to use the device in ten minutes and obtain a result in under five minutes.
That workflow targets a practical bottleneck rather than only an accuracy problem. Spirometry requires forced exhalation and trained operators, which limits the number of appointments a clinic can run and excludes some patients who struggle to complete the test. TidalSense says N-Tidal can support four to six patients an hour, compared with roughly one for spirometry. If that performance holds across routine care, the commercial case is tied to expanding diagnostic capacity with existing clinical teams, not simply replacing one piece of equipment.
Regulatory clearance moves the risk to rollout
The company says N-Tidal Diagnose received a Class IIa CE mark under the EU Medical Device Regulation in March 2025 and launched into the NHS that September. It has since been commissioned by Suffolk and North-East Essex Integrated Care Board and used in settings across England, Wales and Scotland. TidalSense also reports that its diagnostic models were trained on more than 2.5 million patient breaths and exceeded 90% across key accuracy measures in a post-market validation presented in 2025.
Those milestones give the new capital a defined job: turn regulatory clearance and early commissioning into repeatable adoption. Expansion into the US will add a separate regulatory and reimbursement challenge, while broader respiratory indications will require their own clinical evidence. The round therefore finances parallel execution across sales, market access and product development. Cross-Border Impact Ventures said its interest rested on both the clinical evidence and the product’s existing use in the NHS, pointing to the combination investors now expect from diagnostic AI: a validated model, a deployable workflow and a credible route into health systems.
Sources checked:
TidalSense funding announcement · MobiHealthNews · Tech.eu Funding Explorer
