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Histopathology software company PictorLabs raised a $30 million Series B led by Insight Partners, CEO Yair Rivenson tells Axios exclusively. 

Why it matters: Traditional histological staining methods — which are used to make tissue sample structures visible — are resource- and labor-intensive.

How it works: The LA-based company spun out from the UCLA Colleges of Engineering and Medicine.

PictorLabs digitizes histological staining, which plays a key role in researching and diagnosing cancer, infectious diseases and other pathological conditions.

Traditional staining methods rely on toxic reagents and can take hours or days to produce results. 

PictorLabs' software produces virtual staining and can deliver digitally stained slides in just minutes, allowing physicians to run a unlimited number of tests from a single specimen.

Zoom in: M Ventures, the venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, also participated in the fundraise.

PictorLabs is generating revenue and is working with eight of the top 20 pharma companies and two of the largest CROs globally.

What's next: The fresh funds will be used to further advance the technology and expand market reach.

"We want to continue making inroads with Big Pharma, CROs and also regulatory clearance," Rivenson says. 

"Pharma understands the value of this tech, as it cuts down the time of the process, and that is where we are getting the early adopters," he adds, noting the round gives PictorLabs two to three years of runway.

What they're saying: "There are several macro-level and industry-specific tailwinds driving this investment—the most important is AI's impact on healthcare and pathology," says Scott Barclay, managing director at Insight.

"There is a clear shift towards digitization of the pathology sector. While we are still in the early innings, we believe Pictor's AI-driven virtual staining technology will be a critical enabler of this transformation."

The bottom line: "We believe this tech advancement is very similar to what happened when radiology transitioned from film to digital," Rivenson says. "We are going to fuel that adoption."

Traditional histological staining methods

Exclusive: PictorLabs hauls in $30M for digital staining

Traditional histological staining methods are resource and labor-intensive, as well as costly.

Illustration of a scientist holding a petri dish full of binary code

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Histopathology software company PictorLabs raised a $30 million Series B led by Insight Partners, CEO Yair Rivenson tells Axios exclusively. Why it matters: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Traditional histological staining methods" data-vars-click-url="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2308.00920" data-vars-content-id="004ee63c-0e56-449b-87a4-f3fd9f6cfe03" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: PictorLabs hauls in $30M for digital staining" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2308.00920" target="_blank">Traditional histological staining methods</a> — which are used to make tissue sample structures visible — are resource- and labor-intensive.

Exclusive: PictorLabs hauls in $30M for digital staining

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