SökerData

SökerData is a London-based health data intelligence company that aggregates, curates and provides insights from health datasets drawn from diverse and global majority populations. Its stated purpose is to create unbiased health datasets that can be used to train AI models and to inform clinical trial decisions, addressing the underrepresentation of non-European ancestry populations in genomic and clinical research. The company frames its work around biomarkers — indicators of disease vulnerability, treatment response and clinical outcome prediction — and notes that drugs developed with biomarker selection are twice as likely to progress beyond the development phase.

The company's central project is a diverse biomarker database, with work split between sourcing and curating biomarkers from existing datasets and designing the underlying database architecture. Stated applications include targeted drug discovery, clinical trial design and market access. SökerData describes use cases covering personalised medicine (insight into how subpopulations experience specific drugs, including pharmacogenomics and pharmacokinetics), identification of disparities in drug availability and uptake across markets, and improved understanding of the needs of diverse patient groups. Alongside data products, the company has published research on community perceptions and trust in clinical trials among Black and ethnic minority groups, reporting that most participants described limited knowledge of clinical trials, difficulty accessing trials, scepticism about companies' motives and a general lack of trust.

The company offers data access via an early-access registration on its website, targeting researchers, drug developers and policymakers across therapeutic areas and geographies.

Founding story

SökerData was founded by Dr. Elsa Zekeng, who serves as CEO and is described as a former European Commission Young Leader with strategy consulting experience through accelerators including GCHQ-Wayra and the insight and strategy agency ClearView Research. She is joined by CTO Rakia Finley, described as an AI and database architect who previously worked with the Obama administration. The founders positioned the company around the observation that people of European genetic ancestry account for roughly 80% of participants in genome-wide association studies while those of African genetic ancestry account for about 2%, a gap with implications for diseases such as breast cancer where outcomes vary across ethnic groups.

Business model

SökerData aggregates and curates health and biomarker datasets from diverse populations and provides access to these datasets and derived insights, along with data visualisation support for early drug discovery. Access is offered through a registration-based early access programme. The company has reported refining its business model and market entry approach, and increasing revenue, following participation in an accelerator programme.

Traction

In February 2024 SökerData was awarded a share of a £6.2 million ($7.8 million) Innovate UK grant for its biomarker database project. It has published research on trust in clinical trials among Black and ethnic minority communities, with a downloadable report. As of May 2025, following the TechBio Boost programme, the company reported securing new partnerships, increased revenue, two new hires, and ongoing fundraising to accelerate R&D and commercialisation.

Latest developments

In May 2025 the BioIndustry Association published an interview describing SökerData's participation in the TechBio Boost programme, delivered by the BIA and KQ Labs with support from London & Partners' Grow London. The company reported refining its business model and market entry strategy, forming new partnerships, increasing revenue, hiring two additional staff, and working to secure further funding for R&D and commercialisation, with future plans to expand its product offerings, global partnerships and team.