AI Diagnostics’ Ostium device puts specialist-level tuberculosis screening in the hands of community health workers across Africa and Asia
A Cape Town-based medical technology startup has just secured a major funding boost that could transform how one of the world’s deadliest diseases is detected across the developing world.
AI Diagnostics has raised $5.2 million (approximately R85 million) in a pre-Series A round to scale its groundbreaking AI-powered digital stethoscope, a device that can screen for tuberculosis through lung sound analysis without requiring X-ray equipment or specialist clinicians.
The funding round was led by The Steele Foundation for Hope, with participation from iFSP Group and the Global Innovation Fund. The investment will be used to accelerate deployment of the company’s flagship product, the Ostium digital stethoscope, paired with its proprietary AI.TB software.
Tuberculosis remains one of the leading causes of death globally, killing approximately 1.3 million people each year. The disease hits hardest in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, precisely the regions where diagnostic infrastructure is most lacking. In many rural communities across the continent, the nearest X-ray machine may be hours away, and specialist pulmonologists are virtually nonexistent.
That is the gap AI Diagnostics is racing to fill. The Ostium stethoscope works by analyzing the acoustic signatures of a patient’s lung sounds using artificial intelligence algorithms trained on thousands of clinical cases. A nurse or community health worker simply places the stethoscope on the patient’s chest, and within minutes, the AI delivers a screening result at the point of care.
The company has already achieved regulatory approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) and has screened over 1,000 patients domestically. But its ambitions extend far beyond South African borders. AI Diagnostics is currently expanding its clinical research footprint across more than 10 countries in Africa and Asia, bringing the technology to the communities that need it most.
What makes this story particularly compelling is the simplicity of the solution. While much of the global health technology conversation focuses on complex genomic tools and expensive imaging equipment, AI Diagnostics has essentially reinvented the most basic tool in any doctor’s kit: the stethoscope. By adding AI capability to an instrument that every health worker already knows how to use, the company has dramatically lowered the barrier to adoption.
The startup is not stopping at tuberculosis either. According to the company, it plans to explore how its acoustic AI technology can be adapted to screen for a broader range of respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. If successful, a routine check-up with the Ostium could become a comprehensive early-warning system for multiple life-threatening diseases.
For a continent where healthcare access remains one of the most pressing challenges, this kind of innovation represents exactly the kind of leapfrog technology that could save millions of lives. The funding round sends a strong signal that global investors are paying attention to African health-tech solutions that are practical, scalable, and designed for the realities of frontline healthcare delivery.
As TB continues to claim lives at an alarming rate, the race to put diagnostic tools directly into the hands of those on the front lines has never been more urgent. AI Diagnostics may have just taken a significant step toward winning that race.
