Ankit Modi’s journey with Qure.ai almost ended before it began. He had an offer from Epic Systems in the US, and though his first H-1B visa attempt failed, it succeeded the following year. By then, however, Ankit had already co-founded Qure.ai with Prashant Warier and Preetham Putha, leaving him torn between two paths — a secure job in Wisconsin or an uncertain but exciting future in Indian health-tech.
Reflecting on his decision, Ankit says the key factor was reversibility. “If Qure didn’t work out, I could always move to the US later,” he recalls. After long discussions with Prashant and a close look at the team’s potential, he decided to stay. His earlier startup, a fitness and healthy food venture called CrankOut, had taught him that success requires not just hard work but also the right mix of people, technology, and timing. “Even then, nothing is guaranteed,” he adds.
Today, that decision has clearly paid off. Ironically, Ankit now visits the US frequently — because a significant part of Qure.ai’s business comes from there.
Building a Visionary Partnership
Qure.ai was founded in 2016 by Prashant Warier, with Preetham, Ankit, and Bhargava Reddy as part of the founding team. The company’s vision was to use deep learning and AI to make healthcare more accessible. Its AI-powered solutions analyse medical images such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs to assist doctors in detecting diseases like tuberculosis, lung cancer, and stroke at an early stage.
Ankit’s collaboration with Prashant began by chance — during a flat-hunting interaction. Prashant’s earlier venture, Imagna Analytics, had just been acquired by Fractal Analytics, and Ankit was eager to learn from someone who had successfully built and exited a startup. “Prashant’s experience and clarity stood out,” Ankit recalls.
Early Breakthroughs and Global Recognition
Qure.ai achieved a major milestone when it became the first AI company in the world to be published in The Lancet. “At first, we didn’t realise how big that was until doctors began reaching out to us,” Ankit says.
When COVID-19 struck Italy, San Rafael Hospital in Lombardy contacted Qure.ai to deploy its chest X-ray algorithm for COVID screening. Six months later, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Mumbai followed suit, catapulting the startup into global attention.
WHO Endorsement and Worldwide Adoption
By 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) evaluated and approved Qure.ai’s algorithm to read chest X-rays in the absence of radiologists — a landmark step for global adoption. Today, Qure.ai’s AI solutions are deployed in over 100 countries.
In partnership with AstraZeneca, Qure.ai has conducted over five million AI-powered chest X-rays across 20+ countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. The project supports AstraZeneca’s commitment to the World Economic Forum’s EDISON Alliance 1 Billion Lives Challenge, which aims to improve early lung cancer diagnosis in underserved regions.
Tackling Tuberculosis and Global Health Gaps
Tuberculosis remains one of Qure.ai’s major focus areas. In countries such as Lesotho and Malawi — where only two radiologists serve the entire nation — AI-driven screening has become a lifeline. “Community-level screening of thousands of X-rays daily would be impossible without AI,” Ankit explains.
Recognising this, WHO has created a funding pathway to integrate AI software with X-ray equipment. Today, several countries procure Qure.ai’s solutions specifically for TB detection. Together, its tuberculosis and lung cancer tools account for nearly 85–90% of Qure.ai’s total revenue.
Building Bias-Free AI — Even Before ChatGPT
Qure.ai’s foundation lies in deep learning algorithms. The company began with convolutional neural networks in 2016 and later transitioned to transformer-based architectures. Over time, its researchers, who work closely with clinicians, have developed deep domain knowledge — many now interpret radiological data with near-radiologist precision.
Interestingly, while testing, the team discovered a gender bias: the AI performed better on men’s X-rays than on women’s due to skewed datasets. To fix this, they built a generative AI tool — before ChatGPT existed — to create synthetic data representing female patients. They also fine-tuned their models to account for geographic diversity, since X-rays from Kenya, Bihar, or Australia each have distinct characteristics.
“Detecting TB isn’t just a technical problem — it’s contextual,” Ankit explains. To ensure accuracy across regions, Qure.ai’s 75-member clinical team travels widely to understand local conditions.
Expanding Horizons and Product Innovation
Today, Qure.ai employs nearly 280 people across Mumbai, Bengaluru, London, the US, Dubai, and Africa. “Distribution is our key moat,” says Ankit. “Our presence in primary healthcare centres gives us a strong foundation, and we plan to expand beyond imaging.”
As reported by TOI, the company recently launched AIRA, an AI-powered assistant that listens to doctor–patient conversations, suggests relevant questions, assists in diagnosis, and automatically fills electronic medical records (EMRs). Qure.ai is also developing new tools to detect chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and early signs of heart failure.
Strong Growth and Financial Stability
So far, Qure.ai has raised $120 million in funding. Ankit says the company expects to break even by the next financial year, emphasising that “future funding will be for expansion, not survival.”
From a Leap of Faith to a Global Impact
Looking back, Ankit Modi’s decision to stay in India instead of moving to the US transformed not just his career but also global healthcare diagnostics. Through innovation, persistence, and the right partnerships, Qure.ai has become a world leader in AI-driven medical imaging — proving that the right mix of people, technology, and timing can indeed change lives worldwide.