Bengaluru: Morphle Labs, the deep tech startup reinventing cancer diagnostics, has raised 5 million dollars in a series A round led by Inflexor Ventures. The funding gives a lift to the company’s global expansion plans, including manufacturing scale-up and regulatory approvals for its fast-growing product line.
Founded in 2017, Morphle is tackling one of healthcare’s most stubborn bottlenecks. While radiology and blood analysis have leapt into digital automation, histopathology still runs on slow manual processes. With labs worldwide facing talent shortages and rising backlogs, Morphle is building what it calls physical AI to bring speed and reliability to tissue diagnostics.
At the heart of its offering are two flagship platforms. RoboTome, a robotic microtome, slices biopsy blocks at more than twice the pace of an experienced technician and consistently produces high quality sections for analysis. MorphoLens, a high throughput slide scanner, digitises over 100 slides per hour using advanced optics and AI imaging. Together, they aim to create a seamless workflow from tissue to digital interpretation.
The company has filed more than 80 patents across robotics, optics, embedded systems, and imaging, reflecting its focus on deep R&D.
“Our vision is to rethink healthcare from first principles,” said Morphle Labs founder and CEO Rohit Hiwale. “Histology is one of the last major areas untouched by real automation. With RoboTome and MorphoLens we have addressed two of the biggest choke points, but this is only the start. The real opportunity lies in fixing every weak link in the diagnostics chain.”
Morphle plans to expand its Bengaluru and Boston teams across robotics, optics, computer vision, hardware, software, and compliance. The company is also hiring widely to strengthen its push into physical AI.
The founding team includes Hiwale, CTO Ashish Manmode and COO Sunnel Daniel, whose combined expertise spans engineering, robotics, systems design, and regulatory operations. Morphle already has traction with leading laboratories in the United States and Europe.
Inflexor Ventures partner Pratip Mazumdar said that Morphle is transforming a vital and often overlooked segment of global healthcare. “Their ability to combine robotics, imaging, and AI in clinically reliable systems is exceptional. They are well placed to become a global leader in tissue diagnostics automation.”
With the new capital, Morphle Labs is preparing for a broader global rollout, stronger IP protection, and next generation automation tools. The company believes its technology can cut diagnostic delays and help pathologists focus on what they do best, making life saving decisions.
Original source: in