Morphle Labs raises $5 million to automate core of cancer diagnostics

Inflexor Ventures-led round backs robotic microtomy and high-throughput imaging systems as the startup accelerates global expansion and regulatory approvals

Morphle Labs, the Bengaluru-based deep-tech healthcare automation company building next-generation robotic and imaging systems for cancer diagnostics, has raised $5 million in a Series A round by Inflexor Ventures. The funding will enable the company to accelerate global market expansion, scale manufacturing for its flagship products RoboTome and MorphoLens, invest in global regulatory approvals, and deepen its technology and IP leadership as it expands into major international markets.

 

“Our vision at Morphle is to rethink healthcare from the ground up. Histology remains one of the few critical domains still untouched by true automation, and that is where we have chosen to start,” said Rohit Hiwale, founder and chief executive officer, Morphle Labs. “With RoboTome and MorphoLens, we have tackled two of the most challenging bottlenecks in diagnostics — high-throughput robotic microtomy and robust, modular slide imaging — but this is only the beginning. The larger opportunity lies in stitching together every broken link in the diagnostics chain, enabling labs to deliver faster, higher-quality results and empowering pathologists to focus on what matters most: the diagnosis,” he explained.

 

Founded in 2017, Morphle Labs is addressing one of the most underserved but critical aspects of healthcare: automation in histopathology, the core of cancer diagnostics. While radiology and haematology have rapidly digitised or automated, anatomic pathology continues to rely on manual, labour-intensive processes that have barely changed in decades. Globally, histopathology labs are struggling with acute talent shortages, with over 60 per cent reporting unfilled positions, leading to rising case backlogs and delays that impact patient care. Morphle is rebuilding these workflows from first principles by integrating robotics, precision hardware, optics and computer vision.

 

The company’s flagship platform, RoboTome, is the first robotic microtome of its kind, capable of slicing biopsy blocks at more than twice the speed of an experienced histotechnologist while delivering consistency in section quality, a critical requirement for downstream diagnostics. Its complementary platform, MorphoLens, is a high-throughput slide scanner that digitises over 100 slides per hour through robust optics and AI-driven imaging, enabling remote pathology and scalable diagnostic operations. Together, the platforms automate some of the most complex and historically manual steps in histology, forming an end-to-end workflow that improves speed, reliability and clinical readiness. Morphle has filed over 80 patents across robotics, optics, embedded systems and imaging, underscoring its deep R&D culture.

 

“Morphle Labs is transforming one of the most overlooked yet mission-critical segments of global healthcare. Their ability to bring together robotics, imaging and AI into clinically reliable systems is exceptional,” said Pratip Mazumdar, partner, Inflexor Ventures. “The traction they are already seeing with leading labs in the US and Europe demonstrates both the scale of the problem and Morphle’s ability to solve it. We believe they are poised to become a global leader in tissue diagnostics automation.”

 

The company is led by a deeply technical founding team: Rohit Hiwale, CEO and an IIT Kharagpur alumnus and second-time founder with engineering experience at Walmart Labs and Rippling; Ashish Manmode, chief technology officer (CTO), an IIT Kharagpur alumnus specialising in systems integration and full-stack robotics; and Sunnel Daniel, chief operating officer (COO), who leads business, regulatory and customer operations and has been instrumental in driving early commercial adoption. Their combined expertise spans robotics, optics, computer vision, precision systems, compliance and customer-centric product design. Morphle’s 100-member team is based primarily in Bengaluru and Boston, with an expanding commercial presence in the US and Europe.