AI-Stroke

Cover Block

Attribute	Details
Company	AI-Stroke
Tagline	AI neurologist for pre-hospital and early in-hospital stroke diagnostics and triage on smartphones.
Headquarters	Montpellier, France
Founded	2022
Stage	Seed
Business Model	SaaS
Industry	Healthtech
Technology	AI / Machine Learning
Geography	Western Europe
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+)
Funding Label	Seed (total disclosed ~$4,600,000)

Links

• Website: https://www.ai-stroke.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ai-stroke/

Executive Summary

AI-Stroke is a French medtech startup developing a smartphone-based AI tool designed to detect strokes before a patient reaches CT imaging [Neuronews International, April 2025]. Founded in 2022, the company's core innovation is a proprietary dataset of over 23,000 clinically annotated videos, which underpins an AI model that reportedly identified twice as many true stroke cases as emergency medical services personnel in a study with over 2,000 first responders [Neuronews International, April 2025][LinkedIn, retrieved 2026].

Led by CEO Cédric Javault and CBO Simon Jiafeng Li, the team is leveraging this dataset to build a Software-as-a-Medical-Device (SaMD) that integrates into existing EMS workflows, analyzing 30-second patient videos for facial asymmetry, arm drift, and speech irregularities [Neuronews International, April 2025]. The company recently secured a $4,600,000 seed round led by Heka, the BrainTech investment arm of Newfund VC, with participation from Bpifrance [PRNewswire, Nov 2025].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by multiple press releases, company website, and LinkedIn.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Value
Stage	Seed
Business Model	SaaS
Industry / Vertical	Healthtech
Technology Type	AI / Machine Learning
Geography	Western Europe
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+)
Funding	Seed (total disclosed ~$4,600,000)

How the Company Got Here

AI-Stroke SAS was founded in Montpellier, France in 2022 by a mix of engineers, physicians, and former investors [Neuronews International, April 2025]. The company's first major public milestone was a study conducted with French emergency medical services (SDIS), involving over 2,000 first responders, which reportedly demonstrated the AI model's ability to detect twice as many 'true' stroke cases as EMS personnel [Neuronews International, April 2025]. This was followed in November 2025 by the announcement of a $4,600,000 seed financing round, led by Heka, the BrainTech investment arm of Newfund VC, with participation from Bpifrance [PRNewswire, Nov 2025].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Company details and founding year confirmed by multiple press releases. The seed round amount and lead investor are confirmed via official press wire.

Product and Technology

The product is a software-as-a-medical-device (SaMD) application that functions as a diagnostic aid for stroke, specifically targeting the critical moments before a patient reaches a CT scanner. It runs on standard smartphones or tablets, requiring paramedics or triage nurses to record a 30-second video of a patient performing designated limb movements, facial expressions, and speech tests [Neuronews International, April 2025]. The AI then analyzes the video for signs of facial asymmetry, arm drift, and speech impairment, returning a result within seconds [Neuronews International, April 2025].

The company's primary technical wedge is its proprietary dataset. AI-Stroke claims to have built the world's largest clinically annotated stroke video dataset, comprising over 23,000 videos and 4.5 million images used for model training [LinkedIn]. In a study involving more than 2,000 French first responders, the company reported its model detected two times more 'true' stroke cases than EMS personnel [Neuronews International, April 2025][AI-Stroke].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Product claims and workflow are consistently reported across multiple press releases and the company website. Dataset size is corroborated by the company's LinkedIn profile.

Where the Demand Sits

The market for AI in emergency stroke care is being catalyzed by a persistent clinical gap in the pre-hospital setting. Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability globally, with over 12 million new cases annually [World Stroke Organization]. In the United States, the CDC reports that someone has a stroke every 40 seconds, with annual costs to the healthcare system exceeding $56 billion [CDC]. The global EMS market size was valued at approximately $24.5 billion in 2023 [Grand View Research, 2024].

Metric	Value
Global EMS Market (2023)	$24.5B
U.S. Annual Stroke Cost	$56B
Global New Stroke Cases (annual)	12 million

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing figures are from third-party reports (CDC, Grand View Research) and global health bodies.

Competitive Landscape

Company	Positioning	Stage / Funding	Notable Differentiator
AI-Stroke	Pre-hospital, smartphone-based stroke detection via video analysis (pre-CT).	Seed ($4.6M, 2025)	Proprietary dataset of >23,000 annotated stroke videos.
RapidAI	Post-imaging (CT, MRI) analysis and care coordination platform.	Venture (Series D, $75M in 2022)	FDA-cleared for multiple indications.
Brainomix	AI-powered imaging biomarkers for stroke, lung fibrosis, and cancer.	Venture (Series B, $21M in 2021)	Strong UK NHS adoption.
Viz.ai	AI-driven care coordination platform focusing on LVO detection.	Venture (Series D, $100M in 2022)	Extensive FDA clearances

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor funding stages and differentiators are from Crunchbase and company websites.

Opportunity

The prize for AI-Stroke is the potential to become the first widely adopted, pre-imaging standard of care for stroke triage. The company's cited study, involving over 2,000 first responders, claims its model detected twice as many true stroke cases as EMS personnel [Neuronews International, April 2025]. If these results hold in broader clinical validation, the product could transition from a decision-support tool to a mandated component of stroke protocols.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The core opportunity thesis relies on a single, company-cited study of 2,000+ first responders [Neuronews International, April 2025].

Sources

1. [PRNewswire, Nov 2025] AI-Stroke Raises $4.6M Seed Round to Advance AI-Powered Stroke Triaging Before CT Scan | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ai-stroke-raises-4-6m-seed-round-to-advance-ai-powered-stroke-triaging-before-ct-scan-302617124.html
2. [Yahoo Finance, April 2025] Medtech Startup AI-Stroke Raises $4.6 Million to Bring Artificial Intelligence to Pre-CT Emergency Stroke Care | https://finance.yahoo.com/news/medtech-startup-ai-stroke-raises-090700665.html
3. [Neuronews International, April 2025] AI-Stroke Raises US$4.6 Million Seed Round to Advance Pre-CT Stroke Triage | https://neuronewsinternational.com/ai-stroke-raises-us4-6-million-seed-round-to-advance-pre-ct-stroke-triage/
4. [AI-Stroke, retrieved 2026] Home | AI-Stroke | https://www.ai-stroke.com/
5. [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] AI-Stroke | https://www.linkedin.com/company/ai-stroke/
6. [Crunchbase, retrieved 2026] RapidAI | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/rapidai
7. [Crunchbase, retrieved 2026] Brainomix | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/brainomix
8. [Crunchbase, retrieved 2026] Viz.ai | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/viz-ai
9. [World Stroke Organization] World Stroke Organization | https://www.world-stroke.org/
10. [CDC] Stroke Facts | https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/facts.htm
11. [Grand View Research, 2024] Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report | https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/emergency-medical-services-ems-market