Helping Early Healthtech Startups Raise $1-3M Funding | Award Winning Serial Entrepreneur | Best-Selling Author
AI just helped a couple get pregnant - after 19 years and 15 failed IVF cycles. The breakthrough came with an AI tool built by a team at Columbia University. It’s called STAR - the world’s first AI system trained to find sperm that embryologists can’t. The husband had azoospermia - a condition where no sperm is visible under the microscope. Dozens of attempts, surgeries, and even overseas experts had failed. But the team at Columbia didn’t give up. They spent 5 years building STAR (Sperm Track and Recovery). The system scans 8 million images per hour using a chip and computer vision, then gently isolates viable sperm missed by even the most experienced lab techs. And it worked. ▶︎ STAR found 44 sperm in a sample that had been manually searched for two full days. ▶︎ That one breakthrough led to a pregnancy that had felt impossible for nearly two decades. ▶︎ And it did so without chemicals, donor samples, or invasive extraction methods. For millions of couples dealing with infertility, this is a glimpse of what AI-assisted reproductive medicine could unlock. But more importantly - this shows us what AI in healthtech should be aiming for: Not just more data. Not just smarter models. But real clinical results that change lives. And as a healthtech investor, this is what I look for in AI-driven care: → A clear pain point → A targeted intervention → And a story no one can ignore What’s your take - could AI reshape fertility care the way it’s starting to reshape diagnostics and mental health? #entrepreneurship #healthtech #innovation
Saneel Kilpady
1mo
It's exciting to see the advent of AI in medical domain
Ankur Sharma
1mo
Vineet Agrawal This is incredible—not just for the science, but for the hope it restores. After 19 years and 15 IVF cycles, it's proof that AI’s real power lies in solving the problems humans have struggled with for decades. More than disruption, this is redemption for so many families.
Sachin Nagar
1mo
Thats the iota of what AI can do, hoping to see more disruption in future, All good ones though. No field can ignore the AI now.
Nishant Nambiar
1mo
Looking forward for AI interventions in cancer and diabetes care asap . Hope this saves more lives which we are losing at the moment .
It's possible, that we can achieve much more to isolate and locate potential solution options depending on where we are using the AI Tools. Other long term potential danger is over a period of time if human expert doctors are not available, then it can impact the AI tool may not have new models validated. So we gotta be prepared for that. Thanks for bringing up and sharing Vineet Agrawal
Mustafa Ahmedov
1mo
Incredible breakthrough! At our side, we’re supporting fertility care with thermo-i — a robot that monitors basal body temperature accurately and contactlessly, helping couples pinpoint the best time to conceive. BBT is a key fertility marker, and AI-driven tools like STAR and thermo-i show how tech can truly change lives.
Parag Gulati
1mo
It's an amazing AI use case. Thanks for sharing.
Karan Bhargava
1mo
This is where AI really shines, not replacing doctors, but revealing what even the most trained eyes can’t catch. Makes me wonder how many “no hope” cases just need better tools, not different outcomes.
Anne Hanson
1mo
Outstanding!!!!
Making healthcare AI safe, reliable & clinic-ready | Health & Fitness Enthusiast | Passionate surfer 🏄♀️ | Social worker (NGO associated: Mahila Sanrakshan Samiti)
1moAI can be pivtol into IVF space. I was doing research on this, however for Indian context, didn’t find enough data.