Healthera connects patients to a network of hundreds of pharmacies and NHS GPs, allowing them to order and track their prescriptions, access clinical services, and monitor their medication intake in one digital end-to-end solution.
Near half of all adults take long-term medication to treat their conditions, amounting to over 1 billion prescription items per year in the UK alone. Currently most patients still rely on manual and inefficient methods to obtain prescriptions from their healthcare providers – GP’s and pharmacies – often requiring paperwork and multiple physical visits.
The opportunity and vision for Healthera is to build the first smart platform to digitise medicine for 98% of patients, local community pharmacies and GPs. The platform’s initial focus is on assisting patients to order their repeat prescriptions, but there is much potential for expanding into OTC’s, data-led primary care, and real-world pharmaceutical insight.
This is in contrast with other digital solutions which are either standalone online sellers of medicine, or outdated software which require too much manual work to operate. Healthera is bringing a network of brick-and-mortar pharmacies into the digital age.
The company was founded in 2015 by three University of Cambridge alumni Quintus Liu, Martin Hao and Jin Dai, during their last year of study. Soon after its inception, the startup raised pre-seed funding and was incubated by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs through Founder.org. Healthera later raised seed funding from Cambridge Enterprise.
Quintus Liu, CEO at Healthera, said: “Over the past months, Healthera’s platform has won the confidence of the market as shown by the speed of adoption among patients, healthcare professionals, and NHS organisations. With this investment led by keystone investors ADV, Cambridge Enterprise, and Future Care Capital, we will be accelerating our expansion into every household, and soon, multiple healthcare verticals.”
Mike Dimelow, Chief Investment Officer at ADV, said: “Repeat medical prescriptions are used by millions in the UK each year and many more across the world. Paperwork, physical appointments and lack of focus on patient’s needs make this an all too often inefficient process for all involved. Healthera is tackling this by bringing clinical services, prescription and medicine intake monitoring in one consumer platform which has seen rapid uptake from pharmacists and patients since launching in Q4 2017. We expect to see this user base grow even more rapidly as the team expands across the UK and beyond towards a time of effortless prescription for those in need.”
Healthera will use the new funding to expand its product line and accelerate its commercialisation. According to Martin Hao, Managing Director, Healthera will “triple the size of [its] commercial force in order to secure market dominance”. Jin Dai, Vice President of Product, is optimistic about investing in developing new technology onto the platform to further integrate healthcare systems and “assist healthcare providers and commissioners in medical decision-making at mass scale”.
Since commercially launching in late 2017, Healthera now connects over 800 pharmacies and GPs, tens of thousands of patients, and is partnering with NHS local authorities (CCG). Its app is listed on the NHS Digital apps library, and has an ongoing NHS-funded patient benefit research with Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge.
About Healthera
Healthera is a health-tech company based in Cambridge, UK, founded by Cambridge graduates Quintus Liu, Martin Hao, and Jin Dai. It develops and markets an NHS approved platform that connects patients to a network of pharmacies and GPs, allowing them to order and manage their prescriptions, access clinical services, and monitor their medication intake in one seamless digital solution.
Find out more: https://healthera.co.uk/
About ADV
ADV is a patient venture investment engine. Its team are entrepreneurs and operators who have learnt the hard lessons and want to pay them forward. Currently investing £150M, ADV takes the long view of business building, investing across the funding lifecycle of startups, scaleups and ‘scalebigs’. ADV champions the innovators – the people who build complex, technical, generation-defining businesses. ADV’s investors are British Business Bank, Legal & General and Woodford Investment Management.
Find out more: https://accelerated.ventures/