Cyber and data innovation startup Pontiro has secured £350,000 in seed investment, marking a major milestone in its journey from healthcare challenge to funded startup.
The funding has been raised through SFC Capital and Plug and Play Ventures as part of Pontiro’s seed round and will support the next phase of product development, customer growth, and commercial scaling, as Pontiro responds to increasing demand for secure, compliant data sharing in healthcare.
Newport-based Pontiro enables healthcare organisations to safely share and analyse medical images and clinical data using AI, without compromising patient privacy. By automating the anonymisation and de-identification process, the platform removes one of the biggest bottlenecks slowing down diagnosis, research and innovation across the NHS.
Medical images and clinical reports often contain hidden identifiers that put patient data at risk and require time-intensive manual processing. Pontiro automatically detects and removes this sensitive information while preserving full clinical detail for research and AI development. The result is significant time savings for clinical teams, reduced risk of human error, and faster access to data that can ultimately improve patient care.
Pontiro is a graduate of the Cyber Innovation Hub’s Venture Building Programme, delivered in partnership with Cardiff University and the Alacrity Foundation, which brings together cyber domain expertise, industry challenge-setters and academic insight to build ventures around real-world problems.
The origin of Pontiro’s solution lies in a challenge surfaced through NHS Wales and life sciences stakeholders, who identified data sharing constraints as a major barrier to AI adoption in healthcare. In response, the Cyber Innovation Hub convened a roundtable bringing together NHS problem owners and leading academics specialising in data anonymisation and encryption. From this collaboration, Pontiro’s solution was shaped, built and validated.
Since then, the team has trialled the platform within the NHS in Wales, demonstrating that sensitive imaging data can be anonymised quickly and securely while maintaining patient trust. Early pilots have shown anonymisation time reductions of up to 98%, with 99.9% accuracy in removing personally identifiable information, helping validate both the technology and its product–market fit in a highly regulated environment.
Caroline Parker, Clinical Systems Manager at National Imaging Academy Wales, said:
“The product has the power to change and open new safe avenues for research in the NHS, particularly in the radiology field.”
Through the Venture Building Programme, Pontiro received hands-on support including challenge validation, venture design, access to cyber domain experts, and introductions to industry partners, economic buyers and investors. The programme also enabled the team to pitch their solution directly to senior decision-makers across healthcare, infrastructure and cybersecurity.
Lewis Bowen, Chief Executive Officer at Pontiro, said:
“This investment is a major step forward for Pontiro. From the very start, our focus has been on removing the data barriers that slow down healthcare innovation and take time away from patient care. The support we’ve received through the Venture Building Programme helped us validate the problem, strengthen our solution and build something that meets the realities of NHS environments. This funding allows us to scale our impact and bring those benefits to more organisations.”
Adam Beveridge, Principal at SFC Capital, said:
“Pontiro has built proven, compliant infrastructure inside the NHS, processing over two million medical images. Their move into AI evaluation and ROI measurement addresses a real and growing need. We’re pleased to back the team as they scale this beyond Wales.”
The Cyber Innovation Hub Venture Building Programme is designed to strengthen the three factors most critical to startup success: deep domain expertise, demonstrable product–market fit with a clear value proposition, and an investable team. Pontiro’s progress from challenge-led concept to funded startup reflects that model in action.
Prof Pete Burnap, Director of the Cyber Innovation Hub, said:
“Pontiro shows what’s possible when real world digital challenges are matched with deep domain expertise and early access to the right networks. By helping founders validate demand, strengthen IP and connect with industry and investors, we support ventures to move faster from idea to impact.”
The investment has also been welcomed by funders supporting Cyber Innovation Hub’s mission to grow the cyber security sector in South Wales, including Welsh Government and Cardiff Capital Region.
Rebecca Evans MS, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, Welsh Government, said:
“Wales has the talent and ambition to lead in secure, responsible innovation. Pontiro’s progress demonstrates how we can accelerate the safe use of AI in healthcare while ensuring privacy and public confidence remain at the heart of progress.
“This investment milestone is a strong example of how Wales is building world-class capability in cyber and data innovation.”
Kellie Beirne, Chief Executive, Cardiff Capital Region, added:
“This is a great example of innovation that delivers on both fronts: improving how healthcare data can be used safely, while building a scalable Welsh business with global potential.
What sets the Venture Building Programme apart is the way it connects founders to real industry partners, customers and investors early. Pontiro’s journey is exactly the kind of progress we want to see coming out of Cardiff Capital Region.”
Pontiro now plans to expand its NHS partnerships, grow its customer base, and continue developing its platform to help organisations leverage the power of data to improve patient outcomes and advance medical research, without compromising privacy or trust.
