After processing more than 2 million medical images across NHS Wales, Pontiro has secured just over £357,500 in new funding to scale its secure AI infrastructure nationwide.
The round is led by SFC Capital, British Business Bank, with participation from US based VC Plug and Play Ventures. The investment will accelerate Pontiro’s commercial growth and support the market launch of its AI evaluation platform in 2026. The platform builds on earlier support from Innovate UK through a Growth Catalyst Grant of approximately £46,500, which enabled the initial development of Pontiro’s AI evaluation platform.
Pontiro develops secure infrastructure for medical imaging anonymisation, enabling compliant and privacy-preserving use of imaging data across healthcare and AI applications. Working closely with healthcare providers, researchers, and AI developers, the company ensures that sensitive data can be used safely, responsibly and at scale.
“Pontiro started as a response to a real bottleneck in NHS data access, but our vision has always been bigger,” says Lewis Bowen, Co-Founder. “With this backing, we’re on track to become the trust layer for safe, compliant AI in healthcare.”
Founded in Newport south Wales, Pontiro has already processed over 2 million medical images across NHS Wales through its live anonymisation platform at National Imaging Academy Wales. The company has enabled:
“This raise is a major step forward for Pontiro and for proving that healthtech can scale from Wales into the wider NHS and beyond,” says Evan Jenkins, Co-Founder. “We’ve built something the system actually uses, and now we’re backed to take it further. I’m incredibly proud of the team and what we’ve delivered to get here.”
This funding enables Pontiro to scale its AI evaluation platform nationally and internationally.
The new funding will support the launch of Pontiro’s AI evaluation tooling, developed through a £50,000 Innovate UK Growth Catalyst grant, bringing it to market in 2026.
This next phase will:
By building on strong early traction in anonymisation and evaluation, Pontiro is transitioning from regional infrastructure provider to nationally recognised digital health partner.
Adam Shannon, Co-Founder, adds:
“Building for healthcare is one of the most challenging and rewarding things you can do. I’m incredibly proud of what the team has achieved and grateful for the support we’ve had to get here. This raise gives us the fuel to keep pushing, and I can’t wait to kick on."
Pontiro’s journey demonstrates that globally relevant digital health infrastructure can be built from Wales. This fundraise marks a significant milestone in turning local traction into national commercial momentum and international opportunity.
Alacrity Foundation is proud to support Pontiro through its commercialisation programme in partnership with The Cyber Innovation Hub, helping the company scale and innovate at the intersection of healthcare and AI.
We look forward to continuing to support Pontiro as it scales secure, compliant AI infrastructure for healthcare systems across the UK and beyond.
