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Hotly tipped healthtech startup Cera has doubled its multi-million pound seed round

Homecare startup Cera has announced it has raised an additional £1.4m in funding bringing its total seed funding to £2.7m in the last six months.

The round, which is headed up by existing investors Credo Ventures alongside Kima Ventures and other institutional investors, comes after the startup recently signed contracts with ten NHS organisations in the last two and a half months, and unveiled a high-profile partnership with Uber.

The hotly tipped startup is one of a number of platforms offering an Uber-style homecare on-demand service, which aims to put carers in touch with those requiring social care as and when they need it, lightening the burden on the NHS in the process.

Founded just one year ago by Dr Ben Maruthappu and Marek Sacha, the business is also developing AI-powered technology that it claims can help predict healthcare issues based on carer feedback, picking up on symptoms that may be pre-cursors to more serious illnesses.

Co-Founder Maruthappu, commented: “We are delighted to bring on additional investors with health, tech and financial expertise, to boost our development and growth as we reboot social care.

“In the past three months alone, we have signed partnerships with several NHS Trusts, Uber, insurers, food-tech companies and many others, scaling rapidly while delivering the highest standards of care.”

The London-headquartered business has also announced that it has appointed former UniCredit and Brightwater Capital chief, Neil Colverd, to spearhead its fundraising efforts as it looks to fuel its ambitious scaling ambitions.

Maruthappu believes that Colverd’s appointment and the latest funding boost will help the firm seal more deals with NHS Trusts alongside other commercial tie-ups to increase accessibility to its services.

Hailing the medical and technological pedigree of Cera’s co-founders, Andrej Kiska at Paris-based Credo Ventures, said that the startup has a ‘huge opportunity’ to improve care provision not just in the UK but in Europe as well.

He added: “Ben and Marek have extremely impressive individual backgrounds in healthcare and technology respectively, and their teamwork is reflected in the progress that has been made in just six short months since the launch.

“We are proud to be a part of their journey and are confident that Cera will continue to scale incredibly quickly.”

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