Owlstone Medical
Owlstone Medical is developing breath tests: a person breathes into a collector and chemical traces in the breath are analysed to look for early lung cancer, liver disease and, in future, many cancers at once.
Overview
Owlstone Medical, based in Cambridge, UK, developed the Breath Biopsy platform for capturing and analysing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath with its ReCIVA collector and OMNI analysis service. In cancer, the EVOLUTION programme is developing a breath screening test for early-stage lung cancer, and in October 2025 ARPA-H awarded up to $49.1 million under POSEIDON to build a synthetic-sensor based multi-cancer early detection test for more than 30 solid tumours at stage I using breath and urine at home. Outside oncology, LIBRA addresses chronic liver disease and the OMED Health analyser digestive conditions; collaborators include the FDA, NHS, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Cancer Research UK. Owlstone closed a $27 million Series E first close in January 2025 led by Ventura Capital.
Funding
All startupsInvestors not recorded; see the round sources.
| Round | Year | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series E · First close of about $27 million (approximately GBP 22 million) led by Ventura Capital, January 2025. | 2025 | $27M | owlstonemedical.com |
| Grant · ARPA-H POSEIDON award of up to $49.1 million for at-home multi-cancer early detection tests, October 2025. | 2025 | $49M | owlstonemedical.com |
Amounts only where the cited source states them. Rounds without a public source are not listed.
Notes
top- No technology id exists for breath VOC analysis; mced is the closest tag. Founding year and earlier rounds not sourced. Grant amount is a maximum ('up to').
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