Australia Medical startup Ferronova has raised an additional $6 million, increasing its five-year-old Series A funding to a total of $17.5 million.
The new funding round was led by existing investors, including Uniseed/UniSuper, the South Australian Venture Capital Fund, Artesian Venture Partners, and Renew Pharmaceuticals, which is part of Singapore-based Ultragreen.ai.
Ferronova has developed tiny iron-based nanoparticles that attach to cells in lymph nodes. This helps surgeons better spot tissue that may contain cancer cells during surgery.
The technology is designed to help doctors make better decisions in the operating room. It addresses a common problem where current imaging methods can miss small or hidden cancer cells, allowing some to remain undetected after surgery.
The company is currently running a two-year clinical trial with 60 patients focusing on stomach and oesophageal cancers. So far, 54 patients have joined the trial, and it is expected to finish in early 2026. The research involves leading cancer centres across Australia, with plans to expand studies to the United States over the next two years.
Ferronova CEO Stewart Bartlett said that while surgery remains the only curative treatment for a majority of patients, surgical research scores just 0.1% of global cancer research funding.
“We all know someone who had surgery to remove lesions only for the cancer to return and how devastating that can be,” he said.
“The challenge is particularly evident in stomach and oesophageal cancer, where recurrence after surgery occurs in over 60% of patients2. Three-year survival can be as low as 41% in stomach cancer and 27% in oesophageal cancer.
“Approximately 1.8 million people are diagnosed with stomach and oesophageal cancer globally each year. Our ambition is to support an increase in curative outcomes through improved surgical guidance.”
Ferronova is an Australian medical technology company based in Adelaide, South Australia. The company aims to improve treatment for early-stage and complex cancers by using its unique surgical tracer system, helping increase survival rates for patients.
Ferronova is backed by a strong group of investors and partners, including Renew Pharmaceuticals, Uniseed/UniSuper, the South Australian Venture Capital Fund, Artesian Venture Partners, and several leading universities in Australia and New Zealand. Since 2016, the company has also received grant support from the South Australian Government and the Australian Federal Government through national biomedical innovation programs.
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