Doccla bags £35M for European expansion

Doccla, a provider of virtual ward and remote patient monitoring services, has raised a Series B funding round of £35M.

The round was led by Lakestar with participation from Elaia as well as existing Doccla investors General Catalyst (led 2022 Series A), Bertelsmann Investments, and Speedinvest (which co-led Doccla’s 2021 seed round with Giant Ventures). Lakestar partner, Oliver Heimes, will join the Doccla board.

The investment will allow London-headquartered Doccla to consolidate its position in the UK and Ireland. Doccla monitors patients across more than 10 European countries, works with NHS Trusts across over half of the NHS regions and has recently signed a partnership with Ireland’s HSE.

The fresh funding will enable Doccla to expand across Europe, particularly targeting France and the DACH region, while also positioning the company for potential growth in other international markets beyond Europe.

Doccla is Care Quality Commission-regulated in England, like any hospital or GP practice, with customers in nearly half of the NHS regions. The technology enables 24/7 monitoring across 40 pathways, allowing medical staff to access patient data in real-time and pre-emptively flag concerning signals, triggering in-person appointments before issues escalate. This proactive approach not only reduces emergency admissions but also alleviates the stress on patients and their loved ones.

Doccla Founder Martin Ratz commented: “Doccla was founded to provide hospital-level care and support at home for multiple patient profiles across the acuity spectrum: enabling the early discharge of patients, as well as ensuring that for those with chronic care needs, hospital admission might be avoided in the first place. Technology-enabled virtual wards deliver great benefits for patients, who can recover at home, while freeing up resources for healthcare providers. Our work has proven immensely valuable to the UK’s National Health Service and we’re excited to scale our European operations. At the same time, we see exceptional upside potential for our services in the Life Sciences sector, and will continue to invest in our data science operations.”

Lakestar Partner and new Doccla board member Oliver Heimes added: “In less than five years Doccla has gone from a research project to establishing itself as the market leader in the UK. We are confident they will not just maintain that position but successfully launch in new markets, whilst diversifying their services. Remote patient care delivers proven results and is ushering in new standards in the healthcare systems globally.”

Doccla was founded in the wake of Martin Ratz suffering an unexpected heart attack. During his treatment journey, Martin realised a gap existed for patients when they’re discharged from inpatient care. With a background in healthtech, he co-founded Doccla with Dag Larsson (Doccla’s co-founder and CEO).