Sci‑Tech Daresbury firm Spotlight Pathology raises £1.4m for AI cancer diagnostics

● New funding will propel Sci‑Tech Daresbury’s Spotlight Pathology toward launching its pioneering AI blood cancer test
● The product supports pathologists in making complex blood cancer diagnoses
● Improved access will enable clinicians to manage rising caseloads and accelerate time to treatment for patients with cancer

Spotlight Pathology, a Sci-Tech Daresbury based University of Manchester spin‑out developing AI‑powered tools for blood cancer diagnostics, has secured a new investment of £1.4 million to accelerate the commercial rollout of its flagship lymphoma diagnostic AI device.

The funding round was co-led by Liverpool City Region Seed Fund and UKI2S with continued support from existing investors including Deepbridge, Lyva Labs, EHE Ventures and River Capital. This latest raise will support Spotlight Pathology as it transitions its lymphoma AI technology into clinical use, with first deployments into NHS sites expected in 2026.

Blood cancer pathology departments across the UK are facing sustained workforce pressures with increasing sample volumes, shortages of specialist pathologists and extended diagnostic turnaround times. Spotlight Pathology’s AI device streamlines workflows by consolidating diagnostic steps.
The AI device presents pathologists with all relevant information in a single review session, enabling both efficiency gains and a digital second opinion. Modelling indicates that this approach will reduce diagnostic time by around 30%, enabling clinicians to manage rising caseloads and accelerate the time to treatment for patients with aggressive cancers such as lymphoma.

The new investment will enable Spotlight Pathology to:

● Support commercialisation and deployment of its first AI diagnostic tool for lymphoma, further develop its pipeline of AI pathology products
● Create new technical, scientific and commercial roles over the next 12 months
● Progress regulatory milestones including In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR) certification and CE marking for European market access by 2027.

In 2025 the company successfully achieved ISO 13485 certification (an international quality management standard for the medical device industry) and UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) registration. Each are key steps in ensuring regulatory readiness for diagnostic technologies entering clinical environments.

Sam Perona, CEO at Spotlight Pathology, said: “This investment comes at a critical and exciting time in Spotlight’s development, as we transition our primary focus from tech development to supporting our products in clinical use.”

John Leake, Business Growth Director at Sci-Tech Daresbury, said: “We’re delighted to see this significant and strategic investment into Spotlight Pathology. We’ve worked with the company from their time as one of our Future Club businesses in 2023 and it has been great to see their development and growth.

“Spotlight Pathology bring together two key areas that are important for Sci-Tech Daresbury, the development and application of AI technology, alongside delivering innovation into the healthcare sector. We look forward to seeing further continued success for the business.”

Spotlight Pathology was founded in 2021 by Dr Martin Fergie, an AI specialist, and Prof. Richard Byers, a consultant pathologist. The company is based at Sci-Tech Daresbury, where it benefits from a supportive ecosystem of laboratory and technical facilities, business growth expertise and access to support, funding and networks, including the STFC DeepTech Catalyst programme.