The field of cancer care is witnessing a significant trend, with artificial intelligence playing a crucial role in the early detection of cancer. This emphasis on early detection is understandable, given that cancer is more treatable and less deadly when identified at an early stage.

However, an equally important question is often overlooked: If a patient is diagnosed with cancer, is aggressive treatment, such as chemotherapy, always necessary? This is the problem that Ataraxis AI is attempting to address.

Ataraxis AI, a New York-based startup, utilizes artificial intelligence to predict not only the presence of cancer but also the likelihood of its recurrence over a period of five to 10 years. If the risk of recurrence is low, chemotherapy can be avoided, resulting in significant cost savings and avoiding the notorious side effects associated with the treatment.

According to its co-founder, Jan Witowski, Ataraxis AI plans to launch its first commercial test for breast cancer in the coming months, which will be available to oncologists in the United States. To support this launch and expand its services to other types of cancer, the startup has secured $20.4 million in Series A funding, as exclusively reported to TechCrunch.

The funding round was led by AIX Ventures, with participation from Thiel Bio, Founders Fund, Floating Point, Bertelsmann, and existing investors Giant Ventures and Obvious Ventures. Ataraxis AI emerged from stealth last year with a $4 million seed round, marking the beginning of its journey in transforming precision medicine.

The company was co-founded by Witowski and Krzysztof Geras, an assistant professor at NYU’s medical school, who specializes in artificial intelligence. Ataraxis AI’s technology relies on an AI model that extracts information from high-resolution images of cancer cells, which is trained on hundreds of millions of real images from thousands of patients, according to Witowski.

A recent study demonstrated that Ataraxis AI’s technology is 30% more accurate than the current standard of care for breast cancer. The company’s long-term ambitions are equally impressive, aiming to impact at least half of new cancer cases by 2030 and positioning itself as a pioneer in AI development for healthcare applications.

Ataraxis AI views itself as a frontier AI company that builds its own models, with Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, serving as an AI adviser. As Witowski explained, “We are trying to build what is essentially an AI frontier lab, but for healthcare applications, because many of these problems require novel technology.”

The current AI boom has led to a surge in fundraising for cancer care startups. For instance, Valar Labs raised $22 million in May 2024 to develop an AI-powered cancer care prediction tool. Additionally, AI-powered drug discovery firms, such as Manas AI, which raised $24.6 million in January 2025, are also making significant strides in the cancer space.