This week health tech startup 32Co announced it had raised £2.2m in seed funding led by Balderton Capital.
Starting with orthodontics, 32Co is transforming the clear aligner industry.
Only about a third of dentists offer clear aligner treatments consistently, and only a fraction can treat more complex cases. With up to 60% of patients suffering from misaligned teeth, there is significant unmet patient demand in this space due to constrained supply.
Inspired by the virtual care sector, 32Co has assembled a team of highly experienced UK-based specialist orthodontists who collaborate directly with dentists worldwide through the platform. Their guidance ensures safe and reliable outcomes, establishing the first real-time, treatment-focused commercial collaboration for clear aligner providers.
It also scales specialist expertise beyond the confines of a single clinic, creating new revenue streams for both generalist and specialist clinicians, whilst simultaneously increasing patient access to specialised services.
The company looks to replicate this approach across other healthcare verticals in the future.
Since April 2022, 32Co has grown 5x, with hundreds of dentists signing up monthly and over 30% growth attributed to word-of-mouth referrals.
Dr Sonia Szamocki, founder and CEO of 32Co, said:
"Traditional healthcare models cannot keep up with the demand for increasingly specialised treatment, and yet highly trained general clinicians are not empowered to work at their full potential.
By connecting clinicians with different but complementary skill sets using technology, not only do more patients get access to the treatment they need, but clinicians feel less isolated and more fulfilled in their work.
We see applications for this model in several healthcare specialities with a market size of over $500 billion."
The successful seed funding round, led by Balderton and featuring participation from strategic angels such as Nicolas Cary, co-founder of Blockchain.com will support the development of 32Co's comprehensive clinical collaboration platform with AI and prepare to build on new clinical use cases.
Magda Lukaszewicz, Principal at Balderton, said:
"We are proud to have partnered with 32co at the start of their journey.
Having a number of health tech companies target patients directly - a lot fewer have managed to bring technology platforms to the hands of healthcare professionals, and collaboration between general practitioners and specialists is unlocking a completely new supply and demand - in an overwhelmed healthcare system."
Lead image: Daniel Frank.
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