Wellola, a digital patient management company, today announced the successful closure of a €2.2 million funding round led by Elkstone with additional funding from Enterprise Ireland and Bay Advisory. The investment brings Wellola’s total funding to date to €4 million and will accelerate market expansion to meet demand.
Founded in 2016 by chartered physiotherapist and now CEO Sonia Deasy, Wellola builds innovative patient management solutions to deliver high-quality care in a rapidly changing environment.
Built by clinicians, major healthcare organisations including Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the North East London Foundation Trust and Birmingham Community NHS Trust have already deployed Wellola’s award-winning Portasana platform.
Portasana has enabled one NHS trust department alone to reduce the need for return appointments by 30%, saving it approximately £325,000 a year. In a representative evaluation of over 600 patients across the UK using education courses featured on the platform:
- 95% Have a better understanding of their conditions
- 91% Feel more confident about managing their condition
- 88% Feel more confident about what to do if their condition gets worse
- 59% Have been to hospital less frequently
“Digital interventions like ours can address health inequalities by being scalable, affordable, and accessible. This investment will enable us to further enhance our Portasana patient care and communication platform and also expand our footprint across the UK, ultimately empowering healthcare professionals to deliver more efficient, effective, and personalised care to their patients.” Neary said.
Wellola’s expansion comes at a time of growing demand for digital health solutions, driven by the need for more accessible and patient-centric care delivery models. Hospital overcrowding, increased waiting times, and an over-extended infrastructure continues to plague healthcare systems across Europe.
Last year, Ireland reached a record high for hospital overcrowding while two in three doctors in the UK suffered moral distress. Wellola aims to change this by providing even more hospitals and community-based clinics with the digital communication tools needed to deliver healthcare outside of a hospital setting.
Wellola will use the additional capital to accelerate market expansion across Europe and plans to recruit technical and operational staff across Ireland and the United Kingdom.