Mecha Health Raises $4.1 Million Seed Round to Build Next Generation Foundation Models for Radiology

Mecha Health, an applied AI lab building next-generation foundation models for radiology, led by Ahmed Abdulaal, Nina Montaña Brown, Ayodeji Ijishakin, and Hugo Fry, has raised $4.1 million in Seed funding, led by Valia Ventures with support from Y Combinator.

Radiology is now a critical backbone of modern medicine, but the field is at a breaking point. Nearly 70% of practices report staffing shortages, two-thirds of radiologists face burnout, and imaging demand has surged 13% with double-digit growth ahead, while training capacity has barely moved. The consequences are already visible: emergency patients face 4.4× higher odds of dangerous imaging delays, every 15-minute stroke delay increases the risk of death or disability, and pandemic backlogs are projected to cause 2,500 excess breast-cancer deaths in the U.S. Radiology’s strain has become a systemic weakness in healthcare.

Radiology’s future isn’t automation over clinicians, it’s giving them superhuman capability.

Next-generation foundation models now read images and draft full reports, accelerating high-volume cases and supporting complex ones. In just a year, they’ve set new performance benchmarks, and they're only getting started.

RSNA this year will bring together leaders shaping the future of medical imaging, creating a pivotal moment for advancing the field.

Radiology once transformed medicine by making the invisible visible. With scalable intelligence amplifying clinical expertise, the discipline now stands poised to redefine the future of healthcare once again, delivering greater precision, speed, and impact for patients everywhere.