Frekil

Based in San Francisco, California, Frekil operates a cloud software platform designed to procure, annotate, and manage medical imaging datasets while simultaneously automating real world evidence generation. The system utilizes artificial intelligence tools, including zero shot segmentation and 3D brushes, to process X-rays, computed tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasounds for healthcare and life sciences organizations. Additionally, the platform functions as an automated biostatistician for pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations, and clinical researchers, generating regulatory analytical outputs directly from electronic health records and medical claims data. The enterprise currently operates with a dedicated team of two employees and is financially backed by the startup accelerator Y Combinator, drawing on technical expertise from the founders' previous engineering and software development roles at Stripe, Amazon, and Sony. Frekil was officially founded in 2025 by Nikhil Tiwari and Shivesh Gupta.

High-Level Overview

Frekil is an end-to-end platform designed to accelerate the procurement and annotation of medical imaging datasets such as X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and fundus images, making the process up to 10 times faster through AI-assisted workflows. It serves healthcare AI teams, medical device companies, and pharmaceutical firms by providing fully annotated, production-ready datasets rapidly, addressing a critical bottleneck in healthcare AI development. Frekil partners with radiology networks to access large-scale imaging data and operates a global marketplace of certified radiologists who deliver high-quality annotations using advanced, browser-based tools tailored for medical imaging. This platform significantly reduces the time and cost associated with medical image annotation, enabling faster innovation in healthcare AI[1][2][3].

Origin Story

Frekil was founded in 2025 by Nikhil Tiwari and Shivesh Gupta, longtime friends and collaborators from their days at IIT Bombay. Their firsthand experience working on healthcare AI projects revealed the challenges of manual, slow, and error-prone annotation of complex medical images. Motivated to solve this problem, they created Frekil to streamline and automate the annotation pipeline, leveraging AI and a global network of radiologists. Early traction came from partnerships with radiology chains and rapid adoption by healthcare AI teams seeking to overcome the annotation bottleneck[2][4].

Core Differentiators

• AI-Accelerated Annotation: Frekil uses AI-assisted workflows to speed up the annotation process by up to 10x compared to traditional manual methods.
• Global Radiologist Network: A vetted, certified marketplace of radiologists ensures high-quality, benchmarked annotations with quality assurance.
• Browser-Based Tools: Advanced, collaborative, and FDA-ready annotation tools support diverse medical imaging modalities (X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, pathology).
• Data Procurement Partnerships: Direct collaborations with radiology networks enable access to large-scale, diverse imaging datasets.
• Compliance and Security: Designed to maintain data security and regulatory compliance, critical for handling sensitive medical data.
• End-to-End Platform: From raw data procurement to fully annotated datasets ready for AI model training, Frekil offers a seamless pipeline[1][2][3].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Frekil is riding the wave of AI-driven healthcare innovation, addressing a fundamental challenge in the development of medical AI: access to clean, well-annotated imaging data. The timing is crucial as healthcare AI adoption accelerates globally, but annotation remains a costly and slow process. By drastically reducing annotation timelines and improving data quality, Frekil enables faster AI model development and clinical research, fueling advancements in diagnostics, treatment planning, and medical device innovation. This platform also influences the broader ecosystem by setting new standards for annotation quality, collaboration, and regulatory readiness, helping to unlock the full potential of AI in healthcare[1][2].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Frekil is poised to become a foundational infrastructure player in healthcare AI data preparation. As AI adoption in medical imaging grows, demand for scalable, high-quality annotation solutions will increase, positioning Frekil for rapid expansion. Future trends shaping Frekil’s journey include advances in AI-assisted annotation, tighter regulatory frameworks requiring FDA-ready tools, and growing partnerships with healthcare providers and life sciences companies. Frekil’s influence is likely to expand beyond annotation into broader data management and AI lifecycle support, further accelerating healthcare innovation and improving patient outcomes[1][2][3].

In summary, Frekil acts as the "Scale AI" for medical scans, transforming a critical bottleneck in healthcare AI development into a streamlined, scalable process that empowers startups and established players alike.