Craif raises $33M to boost work on its urine test for cancer

MedTech Craif raises $33M to boost work on its urine test for cancer By Ben Adams Aug 18, 2026 10:04am pancreatic cancer Diagnostics MedTech The AI biopharma Craif has raised $33 million in its series D funding round as it also adds a new exec, bringing its total capital raised to date to $88 million. Craif has since 2018 been working on artificial intelligence tech that analyzes microRNA to seek out pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers with typically low survival rates. Its non-invasive test, known as miSignal, is offered at more than 2,500 medical institutions and 4,500 pharmacies across Japan, with over 110,000 tests performed to date.

Current testing for the disease involves a mixture of imaging scans, blood tests, and tissue samples. According to the American Cancer Society, 67,530 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year. The five-year survival rate for the disease is very low at just 13% across all stages, according to the ACS.

Originally founded in Japan, Craif is now setting its sights on the more lucrative U.S. market as it looks to “strengthen its U.S. R&D" and "prepare for a reimbursement-driven launch of its non-invasive cancer test in the United States,” it said in a statement.

This will see the company tap its series D to scale up R&D at its newly opened San Diego laboratory, as well as running a new prospective study of its urine-based test in pancreatic cancer. To “spearhead” that work, Craif said it has appointed Nick Bevins, M.D., Ph.D., as its chief medical officer. The company set up its U.S.

subsidiary four years ago and back in April opened its bio-AI laboratory in San Diego. Its CEO Ryuichi Onose also relocated there to lead the U.S. business.

The series D was co-led by Granite-Integral and diagnostics maker Tauns. Onose said: “We started Craif in 2018 to solve cancer, a problem the whole world shares, with technology built in Japan. “I moved to San Diego to build our U.S.

business myself, because the United States is the hardest and most important market to prove this technology. What we are building goes beyond a single cancer test. The earliest signals of many diseases show up in urine, and reading them is what Craif is really about.

Cancer is the first step.” pancreatic cancer Diagnostics MedTech