One of Europe’s leading providers of digital-first home healthcare, Cera Care has secured over €310 million. Operating in the UK and Germany, the startup is freeing up hospital beds and empoering elderly and vulnerable patients to access better and more affordable care from the comfort of their own homes.
While the healthcare sector across Europe finds itself under unprecedented strain, new and innovative solutions need to be found to ensure that people are still accessing the care they need. Aiming to do just that, whilst freeing up space in hospitals, making the life of healthcare staff a little easier, and providing patients with quality care, Cera Care has secured a mega funding injection of over €310 million.
The Funding
The equity and debt investment place Cera as the top player in Europe’s digital-first home healthcare market. More broadly, Cera is also one of the fastest-growing companies on the continent.
The funding round was led by Cera’s existing investor Kairos HQ, alongside the Vanderbilt University Endowment, Evolve Healthcare Partners alongside Schroders Capital, Jane Street Capital, Yabeo Capital, Squarepoint Capital, Guinness Asset Management, Oltre Impact, 8090 Partners, technology investor Robin Klein and several other international institutional investors. Goldman Sachs International and JPMorgan Securities PLC acted as Placement Agents to Cera for the equity portion of the raise.
Dr Ben Maruthappu MBE, CEO and Co-founder of Cera, commented: “Since Cera’s launch in November 2016 the company has scaled at an unprecedented rate for the sector, benefiting countless lives, and proving the need for technology-powered improvement in healthcare. Receiving such significant financial backing during this period of global economic volatility, is testament to the strength of Cera’s business model, our innovation, and our commitment to revolutionising healthcare. We’re now in pole position to be able to use our unique technology to expand what we do for patients across the world who are in need of care, while relieving pressures on public services.”
Pioneering better at-home care
Launched in 2016 by Dr Ben Maruthappu MBE, Cera is a digital-first home healthcare company delivering care, nursing, telehealth and repeat prescriptions. The mission is to empower patients to live longer, better lives in the comfort of their own homes, saving the need to go to the hospital.
The healthtech company operates in the UK and Germany, giving at-home care that is more affordable than a patient receiving care in a hospital, due to its technology-powered model. Cera’s Carers and Nurses collect patient symptoms and health data during at-home appointments, which its artificial intelligence algorithms use to predict deterioration in conditions before they occur, triggering earlier health interventions to prevent people from becoming unwell.
It’s reported that the tech has reduced hospitalisation rates by an unprecedented 52%, predicted up to 80% of hospitalisations seven days in advance, reduced patient falls by ~17%, urinary problems by ~47%, infections by ~15% and also helped to improve medication and prescription compliance in older patients by 35%.
These are stats which certainly catch attention. Europe’s healthcare systems are under immense pressure at the moment, with labour shortages and government funding cuts leaving crises occurring across the continent. For example, the NHS is currently reporting waiting lists at a record high of 6.6 million. Looking worldwide, society is still adapting to living with COVID-19, exacerbating the need for quality, tech-powered care to be provided in the home. The impact on patients can not be understated either. Having access to quality healthcare is a fundamental human right, and currently too many are suffering because of ineffective health systems and poor government decisions.
Christine Wand from Suffolk, being cared for by Cera, commented: “Cera has completely changed my life. Managing my health problems has been really difficult, but now that I have a Cera carer and their app, their technology has helped me to really stay on top of my health and wellbeing and it has dramatically improved my outlook on life. My carer is more like a friend – she is so reliable, so friendly and she truly understands me and my needs. My carer also organises my medication which has taken a huge burden off both my shoulders and my families’, and they are able to arrange for me to see a nurse at the click of a button whenever I need to. I truly don’t know what I would do without Cera’s help.”
Cera’s digital-first home healthcare frees up much-needed hospital beds by supporting the NHS to discharge healthy patients sooner and enabling them to live independently in their own homes for longer.
Tim Creed, Head of Private Equity Investments of Schroders Capital, said: “Ageing populations, post-pandemic recovery and major staff shortages have created a series of issues facing healthcare providers and governments. Cera’s proposition is proven to deliver results to face down these challenges. Cera’s digital-first home healthcare is a unique offering that we believe must be rolled out far and wide to provide a tangible solution to hospital waiting times, building a bigger carer workforce and to help our elderly communities to receive quality, genuine care. We’re proud to be a partner of Cera, and to play a part in supporting their mission to empower people to live longer, better lives in their own homes through technology.”
The company has scaled rapidly thanks to its combination of proprietary tech and compassionate carers. It has reported 100-fold growth in under three years with now hundreds of millions in annual revenues and currently servicing 15,000 patients per day – the bed capacity equivalent to more than 40 NHS hospitals. Cera’s technology is also used by over 2,000 care businesses that collectively deliver over 1 million at-home appointments per week.
Moving forward with its tech that is making tangible defences to lives in UK and Germany, Cera wants to expand. The new capital will be used to enhance investment n nursing, telehealth and prescription delivery services, both in the UK and internationally, to provide multiple healthcare services per household. Doing so will reduce hospital waiting times, keep elderly patients out of the hospital, and relieve pressure on national health services.
Sir David Behan CBE, Chair of Cera’s Advisory Board and former CEO of the Care Quality Commission, added: “Governments around the world have been searching for solutions to the ongoing challenges in healthcare. Cera’s blend of cutting-edge technology and truly compassionate carers represents the future for health and social care, in the UK and beyond. Cera has already transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people, helped the UK Government to employ carers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and created and implemented technology that gives carers, those they care for and their families peace of mind, while also giving them the freedom to live their lives in the comfort of their own homes. Cera’s Next Chapter will take that further to more people who require care, more countries and with more technology innovations.”
