The post-covid digital health boom saw European startups in the sector pick up $7.3bn across 2021 and 2022, according to Dealroom — more than the previous six years combined.
And while funding has tailed off in 2023 amid a wider tech downturn — digital health startups have raised just $783m so far this year — a number of promising scaleups are still convincing VCs to open their wallets and growing their businesses.
Sifted has used data from Dealroom to earmark nine digital health startups that could go on to hit unicorn status in the future. Each company was founded after 2005, raised its most recent round in 2020 or later and had a Dealroom valuation between $350m-999m.
Here are Europe's digital health soonicorns
Flo
What does it do? Period tracking app
Founded: 2016
HQ: London
Valuation: $800m
Flo’s app allows people to track their menstrual cycle, work out when they’re most fertile and manage pregnancies. It last raised in a $50m Series B in September 2021 and more than 50m people use the app on a monthly basis, according to the company.
Cera
What does it do? At-home elderly care
Founded: 2016
HQ: London
Valuation: $686m-1bn (Dealroom estimates Aug. 2022)
Cera is a platform that helps patients and their carers manage healthcare in the home. It offers symptom tracking, appointment scheduling and a recruitment platform for care providers.
It raised a £260m round in August 2022, which was split roughly 50-50 between debt and equity, in what was the largest European round ever in the elderly care sector. In May this year, Cera told Sifted it was beginning to roll out generative AI-based tools to help automate admin tasks.
Padoa
What does it do? Workplace health platform
Founded: 2016
HQ: Paris
Valuation: $352m-528m (Dealroom estimates Feb 2022)
Padoa is a health platform for employers, providing access to healthcare for employees and risk analysis in the workplace. It last raised in an €80m round in February 2022.
Proximie
What does it do? Augmented reality for surgery
Founded: 2016
HQ: London
Valuation: $320m-480m (Dealroom estimates Jun 2022.)
Proximie uses augmented reality to allow surgeons to advise on operations remotely, and last raised in an $80m Series C in June 2022. Investors in the round included SoftBank, Advent Life Sciences and Mubadala.
Oviva
What does it do? Digital therapeutics for diabetes and weight loss
Founded: 2013
HQ: Zurich
Valuation: $320m-480m (Dealroom estimates Sep 2021.)
Oviva connects dieticians with patients suffering from diabetes or looking to manage obesity, helps people track their diet and access other resources. The UK is the scaleup’s biggest market — where it’s partnered with the NHS — and it also has a presence in Switzerland, France and Germany. The startup most recently raised in an $80m Series C in September 2021.
HealthHero
What does it do? Telehealth provider
Founded: 2019
HQ: London
Valuation: $308m-462m (Dealroom estimates Jul. 2021)
HealthHero is a telehealth provider that offers virtual GP services, a workplace mental health programme, symptom assessment and health risk tools, workplace health insurance and digital prescriptions. It has raised $121m, according to Dealroom.
The startup has acquired a number of European healthtechs in the last several years, and after its acquisition of Qare.fr in April 2021, the company said it was covering 22m people across the region.
Kaia Health
What does it do? App-based treatment for chronic pain related to musculoskeletal conditions
Founded: 2016
HQ: Munich
Valuation: $300m-450m (Dealroom estimates Apr. 2021)
Kaia provides app-based treatment for musculoskeletal problems. It uses a phone or tablet camera to track movement and suggest exercises. Its business grew 600% during covid, as remote-care boomed, and 650k people now use its platform, according to the startup. Kaia partners with healthcare providers across Europe, the Middle East and the US. It last raised in a $75m Series C in April 2021, which included investors like Eurazeo, 3VC, Balderton Capital and Heartcore Capital.
Patient21
What does it do? Digi-physical health platform
Founded: 2019
HQ: Berlin
Valuation: $280m-420m (Dealroom estimates May 2023.)
Patient21 buys up health clinics and outfits them with its proprietary tech platform, which includes a booking platform and practice management software for patient data. The startup also provides patients with a health platform allowing them to see their case history, diagnostic information and treatment plans.
It had launched 43 dental practices when Sifted covered the company’s €100m Series C round — a 70-30 split between equity and debt — alongside four GPs and six women’s health clinics. Patient21 is currently only active in Germany, but plans to expand into two more European markets in the next year.
Neko Health
What does it do? Preventative healthcare platform
Founded: 2020
HQ: Stockholm
Valuation: $264m-396m (Dealroom estimates Jul. 2023)
Founded by Spotify darling Daniel Ek, Neko Health is a preventative care startup focusing on non-invasive body scanning clinics. It currently has one clinic — which it opened in February 2023 after years in stealth (Sifted broke the story 12 weeks before Ek officially announced the project).
It raised a €60m Series A round in July this year from investors including Lakestar, Atomico and General Catalyst, and plans to use the funding to expand across Europe. Ek has invested about €30m in the company, partly through his VC firm Prima Materia.
