Cancer patients often receive common treatments based on basic tumor staging, resulting in ineffective treatments and severe side effects for patients with biological mismatches. MultivisionDx addresses this issue with an AI spatial biology platform that analyzes tumor biopsies to create a patient-specific “cancer fingerprint” and predict treatment response more accurately than standard methods.
Today, the Helsinki-based startup secured €1 million in pre-seed funding led by Antler, together with the University of Helsinki Foundation, Kaikarhenni Oy and Finnish angel investors, to develop the test, conduct validation, build partnerships and obtain public grants.
The company plans to use the capital to develop diagnostic tests, complete validation studies, build partnerships with international hospitals and research groups, and secure additional public funding to scale up.
Providing better cancer treatment to patients
MultivisionDx was spun out of the University of Helsinki in April 2025 and was founded by cancer researchers, medical technology experts and engineers led by CEO Michael Wittinger, CSO Karolina Punovuori, Fabian Bertillot, Janos Lengyel and Sara Wickstrom.
Punovuori says TFN“This technology was born out of an interest in academic research. When we developed an image analysis platform and saw early data showing that it could identify patients at high risk of treatment failure, we realized that this technology could be translated into clinical use to support therapeutic decision-making. Our primary motivation for starting the company was to use the discoveries we made in the lab to improve treatment outcomes for cancer patients.”
The team started after Wickström’s lab discovered a predictive spatial biomarker and secured €680,000 in funding from Business Finland for commercialization in 2022.
The platform, which uses computer vision to identify “spatial cancer signatures” from multiple biopsy images and integrates biological and histological features for superior prediction, was validated in 650 patients and published in Cell.
“Our biomarker discovery platform analyzes detailed images of tumor biopsy tissue, analyzing protein expression, cell size and shape, spatial cell arrangement, and microenvironment composition from hundreds of patients at once. We used this information to identify new cancer signatures that are more predictive of how patients will respond to treatment than the diagnostic criteria currently used in the clinic.”
“Unlike other image-based tools that use AI to automate manual processes performed by pathologists, our test provides new biological information about each patient’s unique tumor that was previously unavailable to clinicians. This information can be put to immediate use by clinicians to adjust treatment strategies to maximize the potential for treatment efficacy while minimizing the side effects of unnecessary or ineffective treatments.”
What about diversity? What’s it like being a woman in the tech industry?
When asked about diversity, Punobori said, “The founding team represents five different nationalities. Two of the five founders are women and four have PhDs.”
Regarding being a woman in technology, Punovuori comments, “The transition from academia to entrepreneurship has been exciting and challenging, and has provided great opportunities for personal and professional growth. Advice: If you think you have what it takes, you’ll never know until you try.”
What’s next?
“Over the next 18 months, our goal is to demonstrate that spatial biology can move from research to routine diagnostics and fundamentally improve how cancer treatment decisions are made,” said Wittinger.
Antler Partner Antti Tolmanen commented, “It’s rare to find a founding team that combines world-class clinical and scientific expertise with the grit and ambition of a world-class founder. MultivisionDx has developed a technology that has the potential to completely transform the way cancer is treated around the world, and significantly improve patient outcomes in the process.”
