PocDoc is a company transforming access to cardio, metabolic, and renal diseases by enabling patients to use smartphone-based technology to undertake screenings that offer almost instant results in workplaces, communities, and at home. This most recent heavily oversubscribed funding round has seen the business raise £5 million from leading investors MMC Ventures, Molten VC, and Simplyhealth Ventures. A fourth major investor joining this round is KHP Ventures.
This first NHS-anchored venture fund invests in health tech innovators and supports adopting transformative solutions at scale across digital health and MedTech.
The conclusion of this round brings the total pre-A funding by PocDoc to over £10 million, which is the largest raise at this stage for a UK digital diagnostics business. And this new investment will support the company’s continued rapid growth, fuelled by its growing list of pharmacy, retail, and corporate partnerships, as well as its deepening relationships with the NHS across the UK.
This year, has been a breakthrough for PocDoc, with major growth in both public and private sectors. And in the summer, it unveiled its first-of-its kind integration into the NHS app, enabling patients to undertake a ‘Healthy Heart Check’ – a point-of-care diagnostic test for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) that lets patients see their results immediately in the NHS app.
So far, the Healthy Heart Check service has been used by tens of thousands of patients across the country and patient feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with 97% saying they would recommend the service to a family member or friend.
With the NHS actively seeking to make digital health checks more widely available, PocDoc has been commissioned in several NHS regions to increase access to critical screening for cardio, metabolic, and renal diseases, particularly in areas of health inequality.
For the pharmacy sector, PocDoc’s commitment to Community Pharmacy has continued. And the business has launched a national partnership with Asda, while continuing to scale its relationship with Pharmacy2U and Lincolnshire Co-op Pharmacy. Several other notable high-street chains are set to launch PocDoc’s Healthy Heart Check before the end of the year.
PocDoc’s growth is being advanced by broader health trends and the focus of the NHS on three shifts – ‘Analogue to Digital’, ‘Hospital to Home & Community’ and ‘Sick Care to Prevention’. And with chronic conditions such as CVD and diabetes costing the NHS billions a year, the promise of rapid screening for cardio, renal, metabolic, and whole-body health in workplaces, communities, and homes is substantial. One study, for example, finds it could save the NHS £27 billion over the next 10 years in reduced costs and help save up to 1 million people annually from heart attacks and strokes. It also explains why the investor community is viewing PocDoc’s proprietary and patented technology with such confidence, with the company perfectly positioned to continue its rapid ascent in a market worth over $200 billion globally.
PocDoc’s tests are free in regions where the company is already working with the NHS, in community pharmacies across the UK, via online retailers such as Pharmacy2U, and on PocDoc’s website.
KEY QUOTES:
“Today’s announcement of our heavily oversubscribed investment round is a major endorsement of our incredible technology and our journey to date. We are delighted to see such healthy interest in our vision of revolutionizing access to screening from the investment community and we’re thrilled to have Molten Ventures, MMC Ventures, and Simplyhealth Ventures investing. The inclusion of KHP Ventures as a fund backed by NHS institutions is a clear signal of our NHS traction and alignment with overall NHS priorities – we couldn’t be happier that they’re investing in our journey.”
“Prevention is the lifeblood of our business. Through our screening technology we believe we can drive a fundamental shift in how we treat chronic diseases, helping people detect problems earlier and faster, get treatment sooner, and, in doing so, reduce the burden on under pressure health services.”
“As proven by our growing list of partnerships in both public and private sectors and the tens of thousands of people that have already benefitted from PocDoc’s diagnostics, we’re already making a massive impact. But the good news is that we’re only just getting started. We have new tests for metabolic, kidney and whole body health in the pipeline, and we’ll be scaling into new international markets next year.”
– Steve Roest, CEO and Co-founder at PocDoc
“At KHP Ventures, our focus is on investing in innovators and technologies that are going to deliver the transformation required to deliver the best possible outcomes for patients, staff and health systems, starting with the NHS. PocDoc is demonstrating excellent traction and we’re looking forward to working with Steve, Vlad, Kiran, and the team on the next phase of their growth journey.”
– Tim Irish, Partner at KHP Ventures
