Today: Feb 12, 2025

UK’s Health-tech innovator Doccla lands £35M series B to propel virtual hospital services in Europe

5 months ago

Doccla, a health-tech startup that addresses hospital bed shortages with its “virtual bed” technology, has raised £35 million ($46 million) in a Series B funding round led by Lakestar, with participation from Elaia and other existing investors.

This new round of funding comes two years after the company secured $17 million in a Series A round. The fresh capital will be used to expand Doccla’s operations across Europe, including hiring local teams in new markets like Austria and France, following its successful growth in the U.K. and Ireland.

The company has strategically focused on entering new markets by securing customer contracts before setting up operations, a method that has already proven effective in Germany.

Beyond its primary focus on healthcare systems, such as the NHS in the U.K. and Ireland’s Health Service Executive, Doccla is also extending its services to support virtual clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies.

Dag Larsson and Martin Ratz founded Doccla to address a critical gap in patient care.  In an interview with Express.co.uk, Mr. Ratz shared the inspiration behind Doccla, stating,

The trauma of my unexpected heart attack in 2017 gave me a personal perspective on hospital stays and the lack of aftercare patients face. Despite my extensive experience in the European healthcare sector over the past 15 years, I had never been a patient myself until then. It became clear to me why public care providers were so focused on keeping patients out of hospitals.”

He further explained,

One key realization from my hospital experience was the outdated methods of monitoring. Once you leave the hospital, there’s a lack of support, despite the availability of advanced technological tools. It was evident that this needed improvement to reduce readmissions and enhance the patient experience. Our goal was to build a better future for hospital care by using technology as a key enabler, essentially creating a virtual hospital.”

Hospitals around the world have long struggled with bed shortages, a problem that only worsens during large-scale health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remote monitoring through virtual wards is not just a stopgap solution—it’s a fundamental shift in how we think about patient care,” says Dr. Sarah Johnson, a clinician who has worked with virtual wards

. “The ability to monitor patients in real-time, intervene early, and keep them out of the hospital unless absolutely necessary is a game-changer.”

Doccla, is a pioneering startup that’s leveraging technology to redefine how we think about hospital care.

By creating “virtual beds,” Doccla offers a solution that could significantly alleviate the pressure on healthcare systems.

But what exactly are virtual beds, and how is Doccla leading the charge in this innovative field?

The rise of virtual wards

The concept of virtual wards isn’t entirely new, but it’s gained substantial momentum in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hospitals were overwhelmed, and there was an urgent need to keep as many patients out of physical hospital beds as possible to free up resources for the most critical cases.

Virtual wards provided a lifeline, allowing patients who were stable enough to be discharged early—or even managed without ever setting foot in a hospital—to be monitored remotely by healthcare professionals.

The idea is simple yet transformative: patients are given monitoring devices and a smartphone pre-loaded with an app that collects vital data like heart rate and oxygen levels.

This data is then sent directly to a clinician dashboard where doctors can keep a close eye on their patients from afar.

The system even sends alerts when a patient’s readings suggest they need more attention, providing both patients and overworked staff with much-needed peace of mind.

But virtual wards do more than just ease bed shortages; they also represent a significant shift in how healthcare is delivered.

Research has shown that remote monitoring can reduce the length of hospital stays, decrease readmission rates, and cut healthcare costs—benefits that were clearly demonstrated in evaluations conducted in the UK.

The numbers behind the innovation

The statistics behind virtual wards and Doccla’s impact are compelling. During an evaluation period in the UK, it was found that patients in tech-enabled virtual wards, like those run by Doccla, had an average length of stay of just 10 days, compared to 19 days in traditional wards.

This not only helps patients recover in the comfort of their own homes but also frees up hospital beds for those who need them most.

Moreover, the economic benefits are clear. The same evaluation showed that tech-enabled wards could lead to significant cost savings.

For instance, Doccla’s virtual ward model resulted in a net saving of £50,000 within a year. For every £1.00 invested in the tech, an additional £3.10 was returned—an impressive figure that highlights the efficiency of the model.

These numbers are backed by real-world data. According to a report by the NHS, the average length of stay for non-elective readmissions in hospitals is around 4.5 days.

Doccla’s system not only meets but exceeds this benchmark, further emphasizing its potential to transform how healthcare is delivered.

Doccla faces stiff competition from other companies like Graphnet and Huma, which are also developing virtual hospital solutions.

However, Doccla’s approach has a few key advantages. For one, it’s device-agnostic, meaning it can integrate with various types of monitoring devices.

This flexibility allows healthcare providers to use the tools they’re most comfortable with, rather than being locked into a specific ecosystem. Additionally, Doccla has put a strong emphasis on accessibility.

Its app is designed with large fonts and a simple interface, making it easier for all patients to use, regardless of their tech-savviness.

The app also includes in-app messaging and video calls with clinicians, providing a personal touch that helps maintain the human element of care, even when patients are miles away.

An evaluation was conducted, comparing a traditional virtual ward at Kettering General Hospital with a tech-enabled virtual ward at Northamptonshire General Hospital, which utilized monitoring technology provided by Doccla.

Patients in the tech-enabled virtual ward used wearable monitors and smartphones to send real-time health data to clinicians. This model aimed to reduce the length of stay and improve patient outcomes while also easing the burden on National Health Service resources.

Patient compliance with the virtual wards was high, with the tech-enabled virtual ward achieving a 98.9% compliance rate, and both models were praised by patients for the support provided by staff.

Patient satisfaction was also high, with 93% of respondents from the tech-enabled virtual ward and 100% from the traditional virtual ward expressing positive experiences.

 

 

Fabrice Iranzi

Journalist and Project Leader at LionHerald, strong passion in tech and new ideas, serving Digital Company Builders in UK and beyond
E-mail: iranzi@lionherald.com

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