The best-funded healthcare and health startups in the Netherlands in 2026

Clinically validated AI applications dominate the Dutch healthcare and health sector when it comes to venture capital. The companies raising the most funding focus on concrete diagnostic problems, work with hospitals and can demonstrably deploy their technology outside the Netherlands. With €82.5 million, Kaiko is the best-funded company in this segment; Screenpoint Medical and Pacmed follow at a distance.

These are rarely early-stage concepts. Investors opt for companies already operating in real healthcare environments, with approvals in place or partnerships with academic centres. That pattern is evident across virtually all of the frontrunners in this overview.

Kaiko and Screenpoint Medical: AI deep in clinical processes

Kaiko, founded in Amsterdam in 2021, is building an AI assistant for oncology. The software processes pathology slides, scans, genomic data and physician notes, and drafts reports or suggests treatment options. Its Series B round closed at €82.5 million, one of the largest in the Dutch healthtech sector. The company works with the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI-AVL) and now counts approximately 94 employees from 25 countries, with offices in Amsterdam and Zurich.

Screenpoint Medical, based in Nijmegen, focuses on breast cancer detection via mammograms. Its Transpara platform has been deployed in more than 30 countries and has now processed over 12 million mammograms. In April 2026, the company raised approximately €14.7 million, of which €13 million came from existing investors Insight Partners and Siemens Healthineers, and €1.8 million in research grants. Screenpoint is a spin-off of Radboudumc, founded in 2014 by professors Nico Karssemeijer and Michael Brady.

Both companies illustrate what appeals to investors: software that demonstrably works in clinical settings, validation through reputable partners, and the ability to scale internationally without having to reinvent the wheel in each country.

Pacmed and Aidence: hospital logistics and lung diagnostics

Pacmed (Amsterdam, 2014) uses AI to optimise ICU capacity and patient outcomes in hospitals. The platform combines medical patient data with routine care data to generate treatment suggestions. In 2021, it closed a Series A of €24 million, with investors including Achmea Innovation Fund and ScaleUpNation. Its focus on hospital logistics, a persistent challenge in Dutch and European healthcare, makes it attractive to both strategic and financial investors.

Aidence (founded 2015, now based in Rotterdam) develops AI software that detects lung nodules on CT scans. Early detection of lung cancer significantly increases the likelihood of successful treatment. Total funding amounts to approximately €12.7 million across four rounds, with contributions from INKEF Capital, Northzone and Rabo Ventures, among others. In 2022, Aidence entered into a collaboration with Google Health for lung cancer screening. The software runs in more than ten hospitals in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia.

SkinVision and Nostics: validation as the key to growth

SkinVision (Amsterdam, 2011) illustrates how heavily clinical validation weighs for investors and partners. The app provides a risk indication for skin spots and has been clinically validated. Total funding stands at approximately €15.7 million, though the most recent round dates from February 2020. More recent growth has come through partnerships: in March 2026 with the Mayo Clinic, and previously with British health insurers Benenden Healthcare Society and Medicash. Rabobank is supporting the expansion into the US market. The SkinVision Pro platform now focuses on direct integration with medical practices.

Nostics (Amsterdam/Delft, 2020) is developing point-of-care diagnostics for bacterial infections, using nanotechnology, photonics and machine learning. The technology is designed to deliver a result within ten minutes, on location. In September 2024, it closed a funding round; total funding raised stands at around €9.9 million, with 3T Capital and DFF Ventures as investors. With 33 employees and offices in Amsterdam, Delft and Palo Alto, Nostics remains relatively small, but the application addresses an urgent problem: rapid, accurate infection diagnostics outside the hospital.

Sensara, Ancora Health and iseeubabycare: prevention and early care

Sensara (Rotterdam, 2013) places smart sensors in the homes of elderly people and in care homes to monitor health and safety. With €9 million in Series A funding, it is smaller than the frontrunners, but it responds to ageing demographics and the growing pressure on elderly care. Ancora Health (Groningen, 2019) offers an AI platform for digital prevention and remote recovery care, and raised a Seed round of €9 million.

iseeubabycare (Utrecht, 2024) measures sleep in premature infants using an AI camera system, providing neonatal care teams and parents with objective sleep data. In January 2026, the company grew to five employees and is working with a Dutch hospital and a children's hospital in the US. Funding consists of a €68,000 loan from Startup Fund Utrecht and an innovation prize from the SANtiAgo Healthcare Innovation Fund in November 2025. The figure of €27 million cited in databases has not been confirmed by external sources.

What attracts investors to Dutch healthtech

Three factors recur consistently among the best-funded companies. First, clinical validation: software already running in hospitals, with approved CE marking or partnerships with academic centres, gives investors a solid basis for decision-making. Second, international scalability: products that work across multiple countries without major adaptations, such as Screenpoint Medical's Transpara or the SkinVision app, are easier for investors to assess when they do not want to be limited by a national ceiling. Third, problem relevance: diagnostic backlogs, ICU pressure and ageing populations are structural challenges in virtually all Western healthcare systems, not just in the Netherlands.

The divide between early-stage companies such as iseeubabycare and Nostics on the one hand, and Series B companies like Kaiko on the other, also reflects the broader European healthtech market. Early capital is available, but moving to larger growth rounds requires demonstrable clinical use at scale. For Dutch founders in the healthcare sector, this means that partnerships with hospitals and real-world validation carry more weight than technological sophistication on paper.