London-based Bitfount has completed an $8 million Series A funding round to expand its federated AI platform that enables clinical research organizations to analyze sensitive patient data without compromising privacy or security protocols.
The funding addresses a fundamental challenge in pharmaceutical research, where valuable insights require combining datasets across multiple institutions. Traditional approaches face barriers from privacy regulations and competitive concerns, limiting researchers to incomplete information that delays drug development timelines.
Federated AI Approach
Bitfount’s platform circumvents data-sharing obstacles by deploying algorithms directly to data storage locations, enabling secure analysis whilst maintaining patient information sovereignty. This methodology allows healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies to collaborate on research projects without transferring raw patient records.
The platform processes both electronic health records and medical imaging data, distinguishing it from text-only solutions currently available in the market. Dr Blaise Thomson, CEO and co-founder, brings extensive experience from his previous roles as Chief Architect for Siri Understanding at Apple and head of Apple’s Cambridge office.
“Clinical research is broken by data silos. We’ve built the missing infrastructure that lets organisations collaborate securely without the impossible choice between innovation and privacy,”
Thomson stated.
Clinical Validation Results
Early implementation demonstrates significant impact across therapeutic areas. A validation study conducted with Moorfields Eye Hospital for Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration trials revealed substantial improvements in patient recruitment efficiency.
The research showed screen failure rates decreased from 60 per cent using traditional electronic health record searches to 14 per cent when incorporating AI-based optical coherence tomography image analysis. The enhanced approach successfully identified over 600 eligible patients at a single site whilst maintaining data security protocols.
Professor Pearse Keane from Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London highlighted the platform’s potential:
“Federated data science and AI offer a transformative solution by enabling insights to be discovered and shared across institutions without the need for sharing any raw data.”
Market Timing and Government Support
The funding coincides with the UK government’s 10-Year Health Plan announced in June 2025, which targets reducing commercial trial setup times from 250 days to 150 days or fewer by March 2026. This initiative aims to establish the UK as a global clinical trials hub, creating favourable conditions for platforms like Bitfount.
Neil Cameron, Investment Director at Parkwalk Advisors, expressed confidence in the leadership team:
“We are excited to back Blaise Thomson, who previously successfully sold a Parkwalk portfolio company to Apple, and the rest of the formidable Bitfount team.”
Platform Deployment and Expansion
Co-founded with Dr Naaman Tammuz, Bitfount offers a no-code desktop application suitable for deployment across diverse healthcare environments, from major hospital systems to community clinics. This creates a distributed network that preserves local data control whilst enabling global research collaboration.
The Series A round included participation from Parkwalk Advisors, Ahren Innovation Capital, Pace Ventures, Foresight Group, and Portfolio Ventures. The company plans to utilize the funding to accelerate product development and expand partnerships with commercial and academic AI model developers.
Future development focuses on extending the platform to support the complete clinical research lifecycle, spanning protocol design through regulatory approval processes. The approach targets pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations seeking to overcome traditional data-sharing barriers that have historically constrained AI adoption in healthcare settings.