Cork medtech Katana Healthcare targets €2m raise to scale AI medication safety platform

Cork-based medtech startup Katana Healthcare is planning a funding round of up to €2 million within the next 12 months, as the company looks to expand the reach of its AI-powered medication safety platform following early traction across Irish and UK hospital pilots.

According to the Business Post, Katana was founded in 2025 by Anthony Lyons and consultant urologist Derek Hennessy, and has raised €550,000 to date. The company currently employs four people and is focused on delivering real-time prescribing safety information to clinicians at the point of care.

Lyons said the platform addresses a well-documented pressure point in clinical decision-making. "As people get older, they tend to get prescribed more medicines. Things get complicated because drugs are complex things. They react and affect one another. For a doctor on the front line, where they have to make decisions quickly, it's hard to remember and know all the different nuances of different drugs. Katana is the second set of eyes for medication safety."

The platform allows clinicians to access safety information through a mobile application, with voice input enabling rapid assessment of proposed medication regimes. "They access the platform through a phone and can speak into the app, explain what the regime is and what they want to add. We can return immediate safety information," Lyons said.

Katana has active pilots running at Cork's Mercy Hospital, where the company said it has demonstrated significant productivity gains for clinicians, and is also working with NHS trusts across a number of sites in the UK. The company is preparing to publish its first clinical paper and has been exploring market opportunities in the Middle East.

Read the full profile of Katana Healthcare and its fundraising plans in the complete coverage.