Brisbane-based Proseek Bio has raised A$1.5 million in an oversubscribed seed round to advance OC-Triage, a blood test designed to improve how women are triaged for ovarian cancer diagnostic surgery. The round was backed by Edale Capital, Scale Investors, AngelLoop, and AusHealth, alongside non-dilutive funding from CSIRO, Advance Queensland, and the Brisbane Economic Development Agency Medtech Global Accelerator.
The problem OC-Triage addresses: up to 80% of surgeries for suspected ovarian cancer come back benign, meaning the vast majority of women undergoing invasive diagnostic procedures don’t have cancer. The test identifies specific glycoproteins that indicate a future likelihood of ovarian cancer, with the goal of supporting earlier and more precise clinical decision-making, improving referral pathways, and reducing unnecessary surgery.
The clinical urgency is clear. Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal gynecological cancers, and over 15,000 women in Australia undergo diagnostic surgery for it each year, with many cases diagnosed too late. The five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer today is the same as the five-year survival rate for all cancers in 1975.
Proseek Bio was founded by Michelle Hill and says OC-Triage has future applications beyond ovarian cancer, including endometriosis triage and other women’s health diagnostics. The funding will support clinical lab deployment and validation, with the company preparing to pursue a Series A focused on market entry, clinical studies, and regulatory progression.
“Women’s health has long been framed as a niche, or an impact category. In reality, it’s one of the most mispriced opportunities in healthcare,” the company said. “We’re now seeing that shift: capital is beginning to catch up to the scale of both the clinical need and the commercial potential.”
