In today’s increasingly specialised healthcare landscape, patients often struggle to find providers with the specific expertise they require. This is a problem that London-based 32Co had in mind when it started connecting general clinicians with a network of specialists.
Today collaborative healthtech startup 32Co has secured €2.5 million in Seed funding, led by Balderton Capital, to advance its innovative approach to accessible specialist healthcare. The health tech platform founded in 2021 by Dr. Sonia Szamocki is growing rapidly and expanding from its London Headquarters. The funding, which includes participation from Wavemaker 360 Health and strategic angels, will fuel the development of 32Co’s comprehensive clinical collaboration platform with artificial intelligence and prepare to build on new clinical use cases.
Dr Sonia Szamocki, founder and CEO of 32Co, says: “32Co is an all-in-one healthcare platform changing the way healthcare is delivered to patients by scaling specialist expertise beyond the specialist’s clinic. Traditional healthcare models cannot keep up with the demand for increasingly specialised treatment, and yet highly trained general clinicians are not empowered to work at their full potential. By connecting clinicians with different but complementary skill sets using technology, not only do more patients get access to the treatment they need, but clinicians feel less isolated and more fulfilled in their work. We see applications for this model in several healthcare specialities with a market size of over $500bn. We’re delighted to have the belief of Balderton and their experience and support will be integral as we scale 32Co.”
The successful seed funding round, led by Balderton and featuring participation from strategic angels such as Nicolas Cary, co-founder of Blockchain.com, will support 32Co’s vision of becoming the leading health tech platform to scale access to specialist treatments.
Magda Lukaszewicz, Principal at Balderton, says: “We are proud to have partnered with 32co at the start of their journey. Having a number of healthtech companies target patients directly – a lot fewer have managed to bring technology platforms to the hands of healthcare professionals, and collaboration between general practitioners and specialists is unlocking a completely new supply & demand – in an overwhelmed healthcare system”
32Co enables patients to access a range of specialist advice and clinical services through their trusted local provider, without the travel, waiting times and often high fees. Inspired by the virtual care sector, 32Co’s platform brings the specialist to the patient. By facilitating collaboration between generalist and specialist clinicians, they are offering patients the best of both worlds—high-quality clinical care delivered conveniently through their local provider. This unique model scales specialist expertise beyond the confines of a single clinic, instantly generating additional supply through a network of generalist colleagues who already have existing patient relationships. This creates new revenue streams for both generalist and specialist clinicians, whilst simultaneously increasing patient access to specialised services.
Starting with orthodontics, 32Co is transforming the clear aligner industry. Only about a third of dentists offer clear aligner treatments consistently and only a fraction are able to treat more complex cases; with ~60% of patients suffering from malocclusion (misaligned teeth), there is significant unmet patient demand in this space due to constrained supply. To address this issue, 32Co has assembled a team of highly experienced UK-based specialist orthodontists who collaborate directly with dentists worldwide through the platform. Their guidance ensures safe and reliable outcomes, establishing the first real-time, treatment-focused commercial collaboration for clear aligner providers.
