Virtual ward company Doccla raises £15 million to enable early discharge of patients

The issue of hospital bed shortages in the U.K. is acute, and the NHS has long been forced to play a balancing act. According to the British Medical Association, the U.K. - compared to other nations - has a very low total number of hospital beds relative to its population.

Sweden-founded and London-headquartered health tech startup offering remote patient monitoring solutions to hospitals, Doccla has raised £15 million to develop a tech stack that facilitates the integration of its patient monitoring solutions with more medical devices.

The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from funds managed by healthcare investors KHP Ventures and existing investors Giant Ventures and Speedinvest.

Founded in Sweden in 2019 by Martin Ratz and Dag Larsson, Doccla’s virtual ward technology enables the early discharge of patients while remaining under the care of clinicians, but also reduces the need for patients with long-term or chronic health conditions to visit hospitals in the first place. This in turn minimises NHS costs and workload pressures.

Launched in the U.K. during the pandemic, Doccla has experienced extraordinary growth. According to the company, the platform is present in 20% of all Integrated Care Systems (ICS) in the U.K., with patient intake from 20+ hospitals.

So, what’s next in its roadmap? The startup plans to develop a tech stack that facilitates the integration of its patient monitoring solutions with more medical devices and electronic healthcare record systems, data analytics and AI and expand clinical capacity and availability to meet the increasing demand for virtual hospitals that alleviate pressures on healthcare systems. The company also anticipates forthcoming expansion to new European markets and segments.

Martin Ratz, Doccla founder said: “Our combining new technology with a service layer and clinical capacity reduces work for the NHS. The new round will help us further build on our success by getting more hospitals on board and developing our technology and clinical capacity in order to help solve the hospital bed crisis and alleviate the immense pressures on the NHS and other healthcare systems.”

Chris Bischoff, managing director at General Catalyst, added: “The virtualisation of hospital wards is a critical step in efficiently expanding health resources and enabling timely, safe transition of care into the home. Doccla has immense potential and is driving real impact by not only providing a much-needed lifeline for overwhelmed hospitals but also improving patient outcomes through remote monitoring.”