Leeds based digital clinic to expand into US market via £2.5m seed investment

LifeArc Ventures has announced its participation in a Seed investment in Leeds based digital clinic Surgery Hero, formerly Sapien Health Limited.

The £2m of seed funding brings total funding to £2.5m and will be used to scale its solution through the application of machine learning and establish a foothold in the US market.

In addition to LifeArc Ventures, the latest round of funding welcomes new investors Crista Galli Ventures and Clarendon Fund Managers, with pre-seed investors SFC Capital following on. Damien Lane, founding partner of Episode 1 Ventures, and Imran Hamid, former surgeon and Senior Investment Principal at LifeArc Ventures, both join the board.

Founded in May 2020, Surgery Hero has seen a spike in demand for its services as a result of the record numbers of people now on surgical waiting lists due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They are currently commissioned by 10 per cent of Integrated Care Systems in the UK and committed to provide over 8,000 programmes for people currently awaiting surgery.

Members access the programme via the Surgery Hero app, and each programme is tailored according to the individual’s personal risk factors for surgery and upcoming procedure. Every Surgery Hero member is also paired with their own expert human health coach, whose role is to help patients turn the knowledge acquired through the programme into action.

In a recent study in collaboration with South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in England, patients following the Surgery Hero programme experienced an average length of stay in hospital of 1 day less, representing a cost saving of £273 per patient.

Dr Imran Hamid, senior investment principal at LifeArc Ventures, commented: “Surgery Hero is an excellent example of how technology can be leveraged to enhance the experience for patients undergoing surgery and improve outcomes in a cost-effective way. It’s an exciting investment as we broaden the LifeArc Ventures portfolio into HealthTech.”

Dr. Matthew Beatty, CEO and co-founder, added: “The name Surgery Hero reflects our values and identity as a company. It’s inspired by our members - the people at the centre of everything we do, who overcome new challenges every day to become heroes of their own surgical journey.

We want to help as many people as we can on that journey, and so this injection of capital comes at an important time, as we look to scale the reach and impact of our coaches. This investment will fuel our growth and support our expansion into the US market.“

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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