Valencia biotech iPremom has closed a €15 million seed round led by Amadeus Capital Partners, with Asabys Partners and APEX Ventures participating, to push a first-trimester blood test for pregnancy complications toward clinical validation and commercial launch.
What MaiRa Detects
iPremom's MaiRa platform analyzes cell-free RNA (cfRNA) signals in a routine maternal blood draw to estimate the risk of preeclampsia, preterm birth, fetal-growth restriction and gestational diabetes — well before any of them become clinically obvious. Where existing prenatal risk stratification typically relies on demographic risk factors and second-trimester biomarkers, cfRNA offers a molecular readout as early as the tenth week of pregnancy.
Validated On 26,000 Samples
The company says its algorithms have been trained and validated on more than 26,000 cfRNA samples linked to roughly 10,000 pregnancies, one of the largest such datasets outside a handful of academic consortia. That scale is what convinced Amadeus, an early bio+AI investor, to lead the round.
Moving Preventative Medicine Upstream
The MaiRa play mirrors a broader shift in medical AI toward risk stratification that acts before symptoms present. Adding a first-trimester molecular test into standard obstetric care could let clinicians intervene earlier for high-risk pregnancies — with monitoring, low-dose aspirin protocols for preeclampsia, or glucose management — potentially reducing both maternal morbidity and neonatal intensive-care costs.
Regulatory Road Ahead
The financing will fund the clinical validation studies, CE-IVD certification and, ultimately, U.S. FDA submission required to sell MaiRa as an in-vitro diagnostic. iPremom says early commercial deployment is expected in select European clinics through 2027.
Context
iPremom joins a growing cluster of AI-driven diagnostic startups drawing venture capital in 2026. See Microbot Medical's Liberty endovascular robot FDA nod, Wandercraft's Eve exoskeleton FDA clearance, and Enovis's €155M eCential orthopedic robotics deal.
Reporting based on coverage from Sifted and Tech Startups.