adsilico, a University of Leeds spinout that uses generative AI to build virtual patients for testing medical devices, has raised £10m (about $13.3m) in a Series A round led by PXN Ventures. The round was announced on 26 October 2026.
Existing investors Northern Gritstone and Parkwalk also took part. Northern Gritstone said it invested £5m of the total. The company did not disclose a valuation.
“We give medical device manufacturers early insight into the impact of anatomical diversity when it can still shape the design and help avoid costly mistakes or harm to patients.”Sheena Macpherson, CEO and Co-founder, adsilico
What adsilico does
Heart valves, stents and other implants usually reach the market after clinical trials of a few hundred patients, and those trials often under-represent some groups. Parkwalk cited a study of 195 trials of high-risk implants in which women made up 33% of participants, falling to 29% in cardiovascular trials.
adsilico's Virtual Chimera technology uses generative AI to create realistic virtual hearts and blood vessels from anonymised clinical scans. It then runs physics-based simulations of how a device behaves in each one, across a virtual population that varies by age, sex, ethnicity, body size and disease.
Device makers can use the results to decide which sizes of a device to make, or to spot patients who may be at higher risk, before committing to further development or clinical trials. The company says the approach can also give human-relevant evidence before animal studies begin, which could reduce reliance on them.
Customers and context
adsilico has already completed projects with makers of heart valves and neurovascular devices, and its cardiac work is due to be presented at TCT, a major meeting for structural heart therapies.
The investors pointed to regulatory change. In the UK, an independent review found evidence that bias in the design and use of medical devices can lead to some groups receiving worse treatment. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration has published guidance on using computer modelling as evidence in device submissions.
The company was founded in 2024 by chief executive Sheena Macpherson, Nishant Ravikumar and Zeike Taylor, and is based at Nexus, the University of Leeds innovation hub.
What the money is for
adsilico will use the funding to extend its heart models and move into devices for the brain, such as flow diverters used to treat brain aneurysms, where trials are smallest. It plans to grow its team from 14 to 34 people.
Elizabeth Young, an investment manager at PXN Ventures, said the company was an example of the work being spun out of universities across the north of the UK. Anne Dobrée, investment director at Parkwalk, said the round gives the team the capital to turn its technology into partnerships at scale, and Northern Gritstone chief executive Duncan Johnson said device makers need to know their products will work for the people who receive them.
Company website: adsilico.uk