Key Takeaways

  • Cascader completed a seed financing round led by Topcon Healthcare to advance its first ophthalmic AI products toward market launch and expand its team
  • The company's initial focus is on macular diseases, including AMD, with longer-term plans for AI tools spanning eye care and oculomics
  • Cascader builds on AI research from Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, including work applying deep learning to OCT imaging

Cascader has completed a seed funding round led by Topcon Healthcare, with proceeds earmarked for advancing the company’s artificial intelligence technologies for eye disease and oculomics toward clinical use.

The medical technology company said the financing will support the progression of its initial products toward market launch, expansion of its team, and continued development and delivery of healthcare AI. Financial terms of the seed round were not disclosed.

Cascader was formed as a spinout through a partnership involving Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Topcon Healthcare, and UCL Ventures, formerly UCL Business. The company was established to translate AI research into clinical applications spanning eye care, medical imaging, and data science.

Its initial development efforts are focused on macular diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Over time, Cascader plans to build a broader portfolio of AI tools designed for use across the eye care pathway, including community optometry, high-street settings, and hospital-based specialist clinics.

The company said the technologies are intended to support earlier and more accurate detection and management of eye disease. Cascader also plans to pursue applications in oculomics, which uses ocular imaging and associated data to investigate systemic health and diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative conditions.

Cascader's technology platform builds on more than a decade of AI research conducted at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital.

That work includes a research collaboration with Google DeepMind that began in 2016 and applied deep learning to optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans. Research published in Nature Medicine in 2018 demonstrated an AI system capable of making referral recommendations for more than 50 sight-threatening retinal diseases at a performance level comparable with expert clinicians, according to Cascadar. The system also provided information designed to help clinicians understand the basis for its recommendations.

The INSIGHT Eye and Oculomics Health Data Research Hub at Moorfields Eye Hospital is expected to support Cascader's AI development through secure access to curated datasets and computing infrastructure.

Cascader also said the funding will help it align its development efforts with international oculomics programs, including Topcon Healthcare's Healthcare from the Eye initiative. The Topcon program is focused on using ocular data, AI, and connected technologies to identify insights relevant to ocular and systemic health.

“After more than a decade of developing pioneering AI and advancing the field of oculomics, we are fully focused on moving these technologies from research into real-world clinical care,” said Pearse Keane, chief scientific advisor and co-founder of Cascader, professor of artificial medical intelligence at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, and consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital. “Our AI will lead to earlier diagnosis and earlier treatment, saving people’s sight, both in the UK and around the world.”

Ali Tafreshi, CEO of Topcon Healthcare, said the company has supported Cascader since its inception and sees the spinout as aligned with Topcon's strategy for using ocular data and AI in healthcare.

“Cascader is strongly aligned with our Healthcare from the Eye strategy and our belief that ocular data, AI, and connected care can transform how disease is detected and managed,” Tafreshi said. “We are pleased to lead this seed round and support Cascader as it moves from pioneering research toward scalable clinical application.”