🫂 Tender embrace
One of Australia's most high-profile AI startups is benefiting from government initiatives in England and Hong Kong. Australia's government should follow suit.
Harrison.ai is quietly transforming from a promising AI startup to an Australian export success story. The Blackbird-backed outfit, which creates AI software that can identify health issues by reading brain and chest scans, this week secured a major contract win in the UK.
The company's chest X-ray reading platform, Annalise.ai, will be the go-to for radiologists across six NHS networks that perform 35% of X-rays in England, the startup said. It follows a similar expansion in Hong Kong, where Harrison.ai's wares will be used in emergency departments across the city's entire public healthcare system.
The startup, which raised $129 million in 2021 and has Tesla chairwoman Robyn Denholm on its board, won both deals via a public tender process. The NHS agreement came as part of the UK’s £21 million ($40 million) AI Diagnostic Fund, which seeks to use AI to lower lung cancer deaths.
There is something to learn here, though perhaps not so much for founders and investors as for Australia’s government. Though the flow of money from various governments into the sector (this week Queensland's QIC has been particularly active) is welcome, many startups would benefit more from the government becoming a customer, where possible, than an investor.
