French startup Chipiron raises $17M to disrupt $10B MRI market with portable, affordable scanners

MRI is still the gold standard for high-resolution medical imaging, but access to it remains frustratingly limited. Machines are big, expensive, and mostly stuck inside major hospitals. That’s a problem for millions of patients worldwide, especially in underserved communities and smaller care centers that can’t afford the setup or infrastructure needed.

That’s exactly what French deeptech startup Chipiron is setting out to fix.

The Paris-based company just raised $17 million in Series A funding to bring its miniaturized MRI scanner closer to reality. Their goal? Build a scanner that’s small, mobile, and 10 times less expensive than current models—without compromising on performance.

Aiming to shrink MRI machines—and the gap in access

Founded in 2020 by Evan Kervella (CEO) and Dimitri Labat (CSO), Chipiron has been working on a lightweight, ultra-low-field MRI device that could sit in a clinic, a local care center, or even a mobile unit. The idea is to make MRI scans as common and accessible as X-rays.

Their device also opens doors for patients typically excluded from traditional MRI: people with pacemakers, those who are claustrophobic, children who can’t sit still, or individuals with obesity. The current MRI experience isn’t made for them. Chipiron is trying to change that.

And there’s a lot on the table. The global MRI market is valued at around $10 billion, with $2.5 billion in Europe and $500 million in France. Many industry insiders believe that the number could double if more facilities could afford MRI technology.

Funding to get real-world ready

The new $17M round was led by Blast, with follow-on investments from the EIC Fund and iXcore, along with public funding support from France2030 (SGI), the EIC Accelerator (European Commission), and Bpifrance.

The plan is to use the money to finalize development, produce the first clinical prototypes by the end of 2025, and start hospital trials in 2026. If all goes well, Chipiron expects to deploy at least 100 commercial units over the next three to five years, with the U.S. healthcare market as a key target.

“This fundraising marks a major turning point for Chipiron,” said CEO Evan Kervella. “It validates both our technological approach and the clinical impact we aim to achieve. Thanks to the trust of our investors, we now have the means to complete our R&D phase and begin clinical investigations in hospitals as early as next year.”

Building momentum

Chipiron’s been building toward this for a while. In 2021, they closed a $1.1M pre-seed round with business angels and Entrepreneur First. Between 2022 and 2023, another $1.1M in non-dilutive grants kept early R&D moving. A $2.7M seed round followed in 2023, led by Exor Ventures and Unruly Capital.

Now with over $22M raised to date—including equity and public funding—the startup has a clear shot at building something that could genuinely shift how and where MRI is used.

“This round led by Blast will allow us to install our first device in a hospital,” said CSO Dimitri Labat. “We’ll soon be able to acquire MRI images of patients in a real-world setting—something that will form the foundation for a product that we believe can transform medical imaging practice globally.”

A scanner made for everywhere

Hospitals aren’t the only ones in need. MRI accessibility is one of the biggest barriers to early diagnosis, especially for conditions like tumors, neurological diseases, and musculoskeletal issues.

“Chipiron is exactly the kind of biotech we want to boost at Blast,” said Anthony Bourbon, Founder and CEO of Blast.Club. “They’re making possible what traditional medicine still struggles to do: detect life-threatening diseases early.”

The company’s long-term goal is clear: move MRI out of exclusive hospital wings and into everyday care. If they pull it off, we may see a new standard for medical imaging—one that shows up in places it’s never been before.