Pontiro Secures £357,500 to Expand Healthcare AI Infrastructure
•February 20, 2026
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Companies Mentioned
Why It Matters
The funding accelerates UK hospitals’ ability to deploy compliant AI at scale, turning data bottlenecks into measurable operational value.
Key Takeaways
- •Raised £357,500 led by SFC Capital
- •Processed over 2 million NHS Wales medical images
- •Automates anonymisation, cutting turnaround times
- •Expands from Wales to NHS England trusts
- •Targets inclusion on national procurement frameworks
Pulse Analysis
The healthcare AI market has long been hamstrung by the labor‑intensive task of preparing imaging data for research. Pontiro’s platform tackles this bottleneck by embedding automated anonymisation, quality checks, and workflow integration directly into hospital systems. By converting a traditionally manual pipeline into a scalable, compliant service, the company not only speeds up data readiness but also reduces the legal and operational risk that has deterred many institutions from embracing AI.
In practice, Pontiro’s technology has already handled over two million medical images across multiple NHS Wales health boards. This volume demonstrates the platform’s capacity to support large‑scale AI validation studies and teaching programs while maintaining strict data‑privacy standards. Hospitals using the solution report faster turnaround for AI model testing, enabling clinicians to assess algorithmic impact in real time. The reduction in manual effort translates into cost savings and frees staff to focus on patient‑centric activities, a critical advantage as the NHS pushes for measurable improvements in care delivery.
Looking ahead, the fresh £357,500 injection positions Pontiro to replicate its Welsh success across NHS England trusts, where demand for robust AI evaluation frameworks is rising. Securing a spot on national procurement lists will streamline adoption, allowing public‑sector buyers to source compliant AI infrastructure more efficiently. As more trusts adopt the platform, the UK health system could see a cascade effect: faster AI rollouts, clearer evidence of clinical benefit, and a stronger competitive edge in the global health‑tech arena.
Pontiro secures £357,500 to expand healthcare AI infrastructure
Pontiro, a healthtech company focused on enabling the safe and compliant use of medical imaging data for research and AI, has raised £357,500 in a funding round led by SFC Capital, with participation from Plug and Play Ventures and the British Business Bank.
Founded by Evan Jenkins, Adam Shannon, and Lewis Bowen, Pontiro was created to address a key bottleneck in healthcare AI: preparing medical imaging data for research and development had long been slow, manual, and resource-intensive.
As AI adoption accelerates across healthcare, expectations are shifting. Safe data access alone is no longer sufficient, and healthcare leaders increasingly require evidence that AI deployments deliver measurable operational value.
Pontiro’s platform has processed more than 2 million medical images across NHS Wales, supporting secure anonymisation, AI validation case studies, and teaching workflows across multiple health boards. By replacing fragmented manual processes with automated tools integrated into hospital systems, the company has reduced turnaround times while lowering compliance risk.
Pontiro was built inside the NHS, alongside the teams who use it every day. That matters. With this investment, we're taking infrastructure that already works at scale in Wales and making it available to trusts across the UK who are navigating the same challenges.
said Lewis Bowen, Co-founder of Portiro.
The new investment marks an important step in Pontiro’s development, reflecting its progression from addressing operational challenges within NHS Wales to building infrastructure that helps healthcare organisations measure the real-world impact of AI. Co-founder Evan Jenkins said the funding validates both the problem the company is addressing and its approach.
The funding will support expansion beyond Wales into NHS England trusts, with early discussions already underway with organisations exploring AI evaluation frameworks. The company is also working toward inclusion on national procurement frameworks to help streamline adoption across the public sector.
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