Virtual ward company Doccla secures £35m in Series B funding

Virtual ward and remote monitoring technology provider Doccla has secured £35 million in a Series B funding round led by venture capital firm Lakestar.

Doccla, which provides remote monitoring technology to the NHS, said it would use the investment to fund its expansion in Europe’s life sciences sector, with a focus on France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The latest funding round follows a financial injection of €5 million (£4.21m) from Bertelsmann Investments in November 2023.

Martin Ratz, founder of Doccla, said: “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”.

Doccla’s remote monitoring technology consists of a box of equipment including a pre-configured tablet and wearable medical devices capable of measuring various vital signs.

The solution is designed to enable patients to be cared for at home in virtual wards while being monitored remotely by healthcare professionals, freeing up capacity in acute care settings.

Lakestar partner and new Doccla board member, Oliver Heimes, said: “In less than five years Doccla has gone from a research project to establishing itself as the market leader in the UK.

“Remote patient care delivers proven results and is ushering in new standards in the healthcare systems globally”.

Doccla closed a £15m Series A funding round in September 2022 with participation from funds managed by KHP Ventures  – an NHS-founded venture fund comprising Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London.

In November 2023, Doccla announced a partnership with Joined Up Care Derbyshire, under which five sites across the integrated care system have deployed the company’s virtual ward tech across palliative, respiratory, frailty, cardiology and haematology pathways.