PathPresenter, a Montville, NJ-based pathology and artificial intelligence (AI) startup led by a Canadian CEO, is planning to establish a physical presence in Canada following a $7.5-million USD Series A round of funding.
The startup offers a platform designed to help hospitals, labs, and pharmaceutical companies streamline pathology workflows, share images, and improve diagnostic accuracy using AI tools. PathPresenter’s Series A round was led by life science investor Avant Bio, with participation from Belgian technology company Barco NV and early-stage venture firm Modi Ventures.
“Canada can benefit greatly from the adoption of digital pathology workflows.”
Patrick Myles, PathPresenter
PathPresenter said its current customers include large academic medical centres in the United States. The company hopes that a Canadian presence will open up opportunities for its products north of the border. “Canada can benefit greatly from the adoption of digital pathology workflows,” PathPresenter CEO Patrick Myles told BetaKit.
PathPresenter told BetaKit it is in the process of setting up a Canadian subsidiary in the Waterloo Region. Myles will lead the new subsidiary, which he said will be focused on a combination of commercial activities, such as sales, marketing, regulatory and account, and research and development.
Although based in the US, PathPresenter’s leadership team already includes a strong Canadian presence.
One Canadian on the team is Myles, who previously led Huron Digital Pathology, a digital pathology scanner company based in St. Jacobs, Ontario. Before that, he served as vice president of business development and corporate communications at Teledyne DALSA in Kitchener-Waterloo.
Also on PathPresenter’s leadership team is co-founder and senior vice president of operations, Cory Batenchuk, based in Val-des-Monts, Québec, near Ottawa. Before joining PathPresenter in 2021, Batenchuk worked as a diagnostic specialist in oncology at Google-affiliated research arm Verily and Bristol-Myers Squibb in the US.
Finally, Rahul Garg, PathPresenter’s chief growth officer, is based in Burlington, Ontario. He joined the company in 2023, after serving as chief strategy officer at Qritive, another digital pathology AI company. Prior to that, he was the innovation lead at Reinsurance Group of America and a strategy and technical advisor for KPMG in Toronto.
RELATED: Canadian AppDirect co-founder launches Landbase with Inovia, Desmarais family backing
“Waterloo has a long history in medical imaging, software in particular,” Myles told BetaKit, pointing to his previous employers Teladyne and Huron Digital Pathology, as well as Agfa Healthcare, Canon Medical Informatics, and KA Imaging as examples.
The CEO said the idea for the Canadian subsidiary came about last year. Myles, who has been a resident of the Waterloo Region for over three decades and has held senior positions at local healthtech companies, said he also has a strong talent network in the region.
Four employees are currently working for the subsidiary, a number PathPresenter plans to grow to six by the end of the year.
“With the closing of the funding round, we are now hiring employees in the region and setting up our subsidiary and facilities. We are currently evaluating several office locations in Kitchener-Waterloo,” Myles added.
Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by Trnava University.