Company’s AI approach identifies hidden cancers years before symptoms appear and spares low-risk patients from unnecessary procedures
C the Signs, the creator of an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based platform to identify patients at risk of cancer at the earliest and most curable stage, announced $8 million in funding from Khosla Ventures. The new capital will accelerate the company’s expansion from the U.K., where it has already helped detect tens of thousands of cancers across the National Health Service (NHS), to the U.S.
C the Signs fills a critical gap between cancer screening, which can be costly and imprecise for all but the most common forms of cancer, and diagnostic tests which are often ordered only after patients present with symptoms. The company’s explainable AI model works by analyzing data already available in patient electronic health records, going beyond basic risk indicators like age and gender, to examine a wide number of personal and environmental data points to precisely assess an individual’s cancer risk. By personalizing risk profiles, the platform flags people who need targeted testing and rules out those who do not, reducing the burden on primary care physicians.
That approach has already proven successful in the NHS, where it has identified 20.7% of breast cancer cases up to five years earlier than standard pathways, as well as beating early-stage diagnoses of ovarian cancer using traditional methods by 53.3%. C the Signs also recently unveiled new data at the 2025 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium using its AI model on the records of 894,275 patients registered in the Mayo Data Platform to achieve a sensitivity of 93.8% – comparable to the sensitivity level of a colonoscopy – and a specificity of 19.7% in identifying patients at risk of colorectal cancer. By detecting tumors when they can still be treated at stage 1 or 2, C the Signs increases survival odds compared to later-stage diagnoses.
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“We started C the Signs to move the burden of identifying cancer risk away from the emergency room, when it’s often too late. Instead, we want to enable primary care physicians to identify cancer risk at the earliest possible stage, to substantially increase the chance of survival,” said C the Signs Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Bea Bakshi, MD. “Cancer has a timeline — from curable to incurable — and time to diagnosis can mean the difference between life and loss. We’re grateful that Khosla Ventures recognises the urgency of getting this technology into the hands of as many doctors as possible. Together, we’re working toward a future where every patient has the best possible chance of surviving cancer.”
“Early cancer detection is the best way to beat the disease, and AI is primed to catch warning signs long before symptoms appear,” said Hal Paz of Khosla Ventures. “By leveraging patient clinical and medical data, C the Signs helps physicians personalize care, predict health risks, improve care coordination, and enhance early intervention efforts. Ultimately this leads to faster treatment and better outcomes. As a physician and a former leader of several large health systems, this is exactly the kind of transformative tool that not only works to improve outcomes, but reduces gaps in care.”
Source: Businesswire