A British startup thinks it has found a workaround to one of medicine's most stubborn problems: catching lung cancer early, without radiation or invasive procedures.
Respiro Diagnostics disclosed on July 8 that it had closed a £1 million pre-seed round to advance what it describes as a fundamentally different approach to breath-based diagnostics. Rather than hunting for volatile organic compounds—the telltale chemical signatures most breath tests chase—the York-based company is going after something more tangible: fragments of DNA, RNA, and proteins that tumors shed into exhaled air.
It's an angle that hasn't received much attention in a field crowded with electronic noses and VOC sensors. Whether molecular breath analysis can deliver where other methods have stumbled remains an open question, but the funding gives Respiro a runway to find out.
Zinc Venture Capital and SFC Capital led the round, joined by Amadeus Capital Partners, Conception X Angel Syndicate, and KQ Labs operating through the Francis Crick Institute. Strategic angels participated alongside non-dilutive backing from Innovate UK. Cancer Research Horizons, the commercialization arm of Cancer Research UK, also threw its weight behind the venture after sponsoring Respiro's stint in KQ Labs Cohort 8 earlier this year.
A September Start in Aalborg
The capital will bankroll Respiro's inaugural clinical study—a pilot launching in September at Aalborg University Hospital in Denmark. Dr. Weronika Szejniuk, a medical and radiation oncologist who holds an associate professorship in clinical oncology at the institution, will oversee the work.
The company already has some preliminary data in hand. It completed proof-of-concept testing in mesothelioma patients, though Respiro hasn't said when that work wrapped or what the results looked like.
The startup's workflow is straightforward enough: patients exhale into a proprietary collection device at their doctor's office, then samples head to Respiro's laboratory in York for molecular analysis. No imaging. No needles. Just breath.
"Respiro's platform has the potential to transform how we detect and monitor lung cancer," Natalie Pankova of Zinc Venture Capital said in a statement, citing the founders' complementary skill sets. Adam Beveridge of SFC Capital echoed the sentiment, pointing to what he called an unusual pairing of deep scientific expertise and commercial instinct in such a small team. The company, incorporated last May, lists between two and ten employees on LinkedIn.
The Screening Problem No One Has Solved
The optimism around Respiro lands against a backdrop that's been frustrating for clinicians and investors alike. Low-dose computed tomography remains the only screening method recommended for lung cancer. The FDA has yet to approve a single breath-based alternative, despite years of effort from well-funded competitors.
Uptake of LDCT screening itself is dismal—hovering around 18% among eligible Americans, according to 2026 figures from the American College of Radiology, which drew on the American Lung Association's 2025 State of Lung Cancer report. The reasons are layered: cost, access, fear of radiation exposure, and the simple fact that many at-risk patients never get referred.
Which is where breath tests keep surfacing as a theoretical fix. If you could detect lung cancer from an exhaled sample, the logic goes, you'd sidestep most of those barriers. But turning that premise into a validated diagnostic has proven elusive.
Respiro will be threading a path already trod by others with deeper pockets. Owlstone Medical, a Cambridge-based company, pulled in $27 million this past January to push forward its Breath Biopsy platform, which targets VOC profiles. Over in the Netherlands, Breathomix is chasing similar ground with electronic nose technology designed for early-stage detection.
The molecular biomarker strategy—analyzing actual genetic material and proteins instead of airborne chemical byproducts—represents something of a pivot within the field. Perhaps it sidesteps the reproducibility issues that have dogged VOC-based tests. Or perhaps it introduces new complexities around sample handling and detection sensitivity. The Denmark study, two months out, should offer at least an early signal.
For now, Respiro has funding, a clinical partner, and a thesis that cuts against the grain of existing breath diagnostic work. Whether that's enough to crack a market that's been waiting for a breakthrough longer than most care to admit is the £1 million question.
