On behalf of the London chapter, we would like to share the following investment opportunity:
 

Thermology Health

The first and only platform capable of medical-grade thermal imaging accuracy, Thermology Health is a UK/US medtech  startup pioneering early detection of diabetic complications. Born out of a decade of research at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL - one of the world’s top metrology institutes), Thermology Health is translating advanced thermal imaging technology – originally developed for space and nuclear industries – into a life-saving solution to prevent diabetic amputations.

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Executive Summary: Thermology Health Overview

Building on world-class science, Thermology Health has developed an AI-powered remote monitoring platform that revolutionizes how clinicians detect diabetic foot ulcers before they become limb-threatening. Recently spun -out from NPL led by CEO Yuval Yashiv (London Business School alumnus and serial medtech entrepreneur), Thermology Health is leveraging its unique high-precision thermal imaging system to address a critical gap in diabetes care.

By providing an early-warning, Thermology’s platform helps healthcare providers prevent costly amputations, improve patient outcomes, and reduce hospital burden – tackling one of the most urgent challenges in diabetes care today affecting millions of lives and costing over $40 billion p.a. in the US alone
 

Unmet Need

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) represent a silent healthcare crisis, leading to ~150,000 amputations per year in the US and ~9,000 in the UK. Of the 37 million adult diabetics in the US, over 20% - 7 million people – are at high-risk of diabetic foot ulcers and will get a DFU in their lifetime. This translates to 1.6 million DFU in the US every year.

Treating DFUs is extremely expensive ($43 billion annually in the US) and outcomes are poor – five-year mortality rates of approx. 30% (comparable to all-cancers), and 50% of patients dying within two years after a major amputation (a rate surpassed only by lung cancer). Physicians currently detect foot ulcers too late, resulting in preventable disability and death. There is a critical need for a way to catch early signs of ulcers before they progress: studies show that well over 60% of diabetic foot ulcers could be avoided with early detection and simple interventions (e.g. rest, orthotics, antibiotics). The challenge has been achieving frequent, accurate monitoring at home – something not feasible with standard care until now.

Diabetic foot ulcers also contribute to health inequality with the most deprived patient population having 1.82 times more amputations than the least deprived patients, with ethnic minorities affected in particular.
 

Technology Platform

International clinical guidelines call for “Daily monitoring of foot temperature to look for signs of inflammation”. To date, this has been a wholly unachievable task.

Thermology Health addresses this gap with a precision thermal imaging solution for preventative care. Thermology Health is building an AI-driven platform to remotely monitor foot temperature patterns and to detect subtle warning signs of ulcers 2–6 weeks before clinical symptoms appear. It combines a patient-friendly device with powerful cloud analytics:

• High-Accuracy Thermal Scanner: Patients scan their feet at home using a specialized thermal camera that measures temperature within ±0.2°C accuracy – meeting medical-grade standards (ISO 80601-2-56).

• AI Diagnostic Algorithms: Each scan generates over 70,000 highly accurate temperature data points per foot. Thermology is developing algorithms to analyze these heat maps to identify abnormal hotspots and asymmetries (e.g. looking for ≥4°F differences between feet) that indicate inflammation or developing ulcers.

• Alerts & Reporting: The system flags concerning temperature changes and sends real-time alerts to clinicians. It generates easy-to-read reports and trend analyses, enabling doctors to intervene early (often with simple measures) before an ulcer forms.

• Cloud Integration: All data is uploaded to a secure cloud platform, integrated with electronic medical records. Clinicians can remotely track patients’ foot health over time via a dashboard, while machine learning will continuously improve the predictive accuracy as more data is collected.

This end-to-end platform empowers proactive care: an early warning system that provides actionable insights for physicians to prevent serious complications.
 

Market Opportunity

By preventing ulcers and amputations, Thermology Health’s solution can save lives and significantly reduce healthcare costs. The addressable market is vast and under-served: tens of millions of high-risk diabetics worldwide could benefit from routine thermal monitoring. Despite this $20B+ global opportunity, no dominant competitor exists – other technologies are beginning to make in-roads, but Thermology’s solution has distinct and unique advantages over competitor systems. These include: accuracy, portability, whole foot coverage (most systems cover the soles only, missing 50% of potential ulcers) and AI potential (AI data requires high-fidelity data), leaving the market wide open for Thermology Health. In our initial target markets (US, UK, EU) alone, ~14 million high-risk diabetic patients translate to a $7.7B serviceable market for Thermology’s platform.

• TAM: ~$25B+ globally (high-risk diabetic patients requiring preventive foot monitoring).

• SAM: ~$7.7B focused on high-risk diabetics in the US, UK, and EU (≈14M patients * ~$540/year per patient).

• SOM: ~$1B+ directly reachable in the near term through initial focus on specific settings and on leading podiatry/endocrinology clinics and healthcare networks in the US and UK (our pilot and partnership channels).

Traction & Momentum

• Deep R&D and IP: Technology developed and validated over 10 years at NPL. To the best of our knowledge, Thermology’s device is the most accurate medical thermal imaging system of its kind (±0.2°C), with a patent granted in the US and UK (pending in EU, China, India, Japan, Canada). Developed at NPL, a paper published in a study with King’s College Hospital, London showed that the technology is reliable and accurate compared with “gold standard” single-point medical thermometers.

• Non-Dilutive Funding: Backed by significant grant support – $5M awarded by the UK government – underscoring the confidence in Thermology’s solution. Spun out from NPL in April,2025 (https://www.npl.co.uk/news/saving-lives-through-early-foot-ulcer-detection)

• Clinical Pilots Underway: Pilot trials will commence over the summer at multiple sites, including an NHS hospital in London and two healthcare facilities in the US. Early clinical feedback is positive and very encouraging.

• Proven Impact Potential: External studies have demonstrated that high-frequency temperature monitoring can reduce ulcer incidence by over 60%. This is formalised in Recommendation #7 of the Preventative Guidelines issued by the International Working Group of the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF) – the highest international authority in this area.

• Team & Support: As detailed below, the company is led by industry veterans with a strong track record and actively supported by the  top leadership and subject-matter experts at NPL. This has enabled partnerships and early customer conversations both in the US and in the UK.

Competitive Edge

 No direct competitor offers a solution with the same combination of accuracy, foot coverage, portability and AI potential. In addition, the technology has multiple modalities with potential in additional areas such as: Pressure Ulcers; Chronic Wound Care; Surgical Incision Infections. Each of these areas is a large market in its own right and represents an opportunity for Thermology’s system.

More specifically, the key advantages are:

• Non-Contact & Comprehensive Foot Coverage: Unlike other competitors, which are contact devices with hygiene requirements, concerns over pressure, and lack of ability to scan the whole foot, Thermology Health is non-contact and provides whole-foot coverage.

• Multi-Modality & Versatile Use Cases: Other competitors are a single-modality product for at-home, soles-only use (therefore DFU-only). Thermology Health supports multiple modalities, fitting clinical, semi-clinical and home settings. Thermology also offers broader use cases beyond just DFUs, including pressure ulcer detection, monitoring of ulcer healing and monitoring of Surgical Incision Infections. Each of these represent multi-billion dollar markets in their own right.

• Portability & B2B Appeal: Thermology Health is a smaller and more portable device, making it practical for larger care settings. This, combined with its technical precision and multi-usage capability, makes it significantly more attractive for B2B medical distribution, which should add a premium to its valuation.
  While some competitors have had success with some US providers, we see the presence of competitors as a positive sign, as it helps validate the market and eases the reimbursement journey for thermal monitoring technology in general.

Business Model

• Recurring Revenue – Remote Monitoring Service: Thermology operates as a B2B2C remote patient monitoring service. Clinics and physicians enrol their high-risk diabetic patients onto the platform, and Thermology will charge approximately a monthly fee per patient for continuous monitoring. These fees are largely reimbursable under existing Medicare RPM (Remote Patient Monitoring) reimbursement codes, making it budget-neutral for clinics, affordable for patients and, importantly, incentivizing for physicians .

• Scalable Economics: The model is highly scalable and capital-efficient. Each physician typically enrols 50-100 patients, which can generate roughly $1,600 per patient per year in total reimbursement revenue. With a concentrated base of specialist physicians treating many at-risk patients, Thermology can grow revenue rapidly while keeping sales and distribution costs low.

Go-to-Market Strategy

• Pilot to Pipeline: Thermology’s initial go-to-market focuses on a specific clinical setting of with a concentration of relevant patients in the US and specialist diabetes hospital settings in the UK. We will leverage pilot results and endorsements from key opinion leaders (e.g. renowned Vascular Surgeons, Podiatrists and Diabetologists) to build credibility and demand. Early adopters in our pilot sites will serve as reference accounts, demonstrating reimbursement and improved patient care to attract additional providers and payors. We expect FDA clearance later this year – as a Class 1 device this does not involve the regulatory burden seen in other medical areas.

• Scaling with Partners: Following successful pilots, Thermology will expand to broader healthcare settings and to the ultimate goal of home settings. We’ll be looking to partner with Remote Care companies, which is a high-growth area both in the US and in the UK/EU. Initially starting out in the US, Thermology will replicate successful strategies in the UK as a second market and major EU markets as a third market. With key competitive advantages and the backing of NPL’s global reputation, Thermology is uniquely positioned to become the standard of care for diabetic foot monitoring globally.

Leadership & Team

Thermology Health is led by an all-star team with deep technical and industry expertise. The whole team is comprised of executives with no less than 15 years’ experience in their respective fields.

CEO Yuval Yashiv is a veteran tech entrepreneur with 25 years of experience and two successful tech exits (including a prior medtech startup acquired by FTSE 100 firm Halma), an IPO on London’s Junior Market, and VC experience from an early-stage London-based firm. An Electrical & Electronics Engineer by background, Yuval has an MBA from London Business School.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Paul Hayes is a former senior Vascular Surgeon at the renowned Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge with a record of over 20 clinical trials and over 150 peer-reviewed publications.  Over the past 6 years Paul has transitioned to CMO roles in early-stage med-tech companies and has the unique combination of clinical expertise and commercial med-tech experience.

Commercial Advisor, John Strobel has 30 years commercial experience in the US med-tech industry. John served as Global VP Sales & Marketing of Ohio-based Volk Optical over 12 years, as it grew to become one of the best known brands in Ophthalmology worldwide. Over his career John held commercial roles in a variety of med-tech companies in multiple clinical areas. John holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University, and an MBA from Thunderbird.

Aside from the presenting team, other members include a Symbolic AI specialist with a unique track record in medical devices and an imaging specialist also with many years of med-tech experience across multiple medical technology companies.

Between them, the team have the key essential ingredients of any med-tech company: technology, clinical and business expertise coupled with real-world experience. Most of the team members have worked together previously.

Thermology is also supported by notable advisors and board members – including NPL’s CFO ,a highly experienced med-tech investor and a former tech advisor to the UK government – who bring additional credibility and networks in both healthcare and venture communities.
 

Fundraising

Thermology Health did a first-close of its pre-seed round in April (of which one HBSAA UK member invested over  $200,000). As a result of interest from Harvard Business School Angels, the Board has agreed to keep this round open on the same terms until the end of August, exclusively for HBS Angels. This investment will enable Thermology to undergo initial pilot trials and to obtain regulatory clearance from the FDA.