Cera Raises $150M to Expand AI-Powered In-Home Healthcare

Post-Pandemic Pressures Drive Investment in UK Home Healthcare

Globally, public healthcare systems are facing challenges in their recovery following the pandemic. Specifically, the growing number of elderly individuals in Western nations is increasing strain on available resources. This is particularly evident in the U.K., where reports of an “NHS in crisis” are frequently seen in the news.

Cera Secures $150 Million Funding Round

Recognizing a market opportunity, private companies – many utilizing advanced technology – are stepping in to address these gaps. Cera, a U.K.-based provider of in-home healthcare and a proprietary software platform, has recently secured $150 million through a combination of debt and equity financing.

While the company indicated that the majority of the funding comes from debt, the precise allocation and current valuation were not disclosed.

Funding Details and Platform Scaling

The investment round was spearheaded by funds associated with BDT & MSD Partners and Schroders Capital. These funds will be utilized to expand Cera’s platform, which the company describes as heavily reliant on AI.

Cera leverages its own data for proprietary modeling, while also incorporating elements of both Google’s Gemini AI platform and Microsoft’s ChatGPT.

Previous Funding and Investor Base

In 2022, Cera completed a previous funding round, raising $320 million (£260 million) through a roughly equal split of equity and debt.

According to CrunchBase, the company currently has 14 investors. Notable equity investors include Earlymarket, Guinness Ventures, DigitalHealth.London, and Robin Klein, a prominent U.K. investor.

Financial Performance

A company spokesperson stated that Cera achieved EBITA-positive status in 2023 and free-cashflow positive status in 2024, despite these results not yet being reflected in publicly available financial statements. This financial stability contributed to their ability to secure the recent debt financing.

Technological Innovation and Service Expansion

Dr. Ben Maruthappu MBE, founder & CEO of Cera, highlighted the company’s progress in an interview with TechCrunch. He stated, “We are getting to profitability, plus we have very significantly scaled how we’re using our technology and AI, and we’ve expanded into more services in the home.”

Cera’s caregivers utilize a dedicated app for work planning and patient symptom logging. The company’s AI modeling then analyzes this unstructured data – such as reports of patient falls – to predict potential risks of illness or injury.

Demonstrated Outcomes

Cera claims its technology has led to significant improvements in patient outcomes, including reductions in hospitalizations of up to 70%, a 20% decrease in patient falls, and hospital discharge times up to five times faster.

To date, the company has raised over $407 million through a combination of equity and debt.

Competitive Landscape

Within the U.K., Cera’s competitors include Home Instead and Bluebird Care, which rely on standard, non-proprietary applications for staff management. In the U.S., Signify Health (acquired by CVS Health) and Honor (with $625 million in funding) represent comparable companies.

Expanding Service Offerings

Maruthappu emphasized Cera’s role in alleviating pressure on the NHS, stating, “We’re taking pressure off the NHS and supporting it to have more capacity to look after other patients.”

He also noted the company’s expansion into additional service lines, including nursing, physiotherapy, support for learning and physical disabilities, and mental health services delivered in the home, positioning Cera as a comprehensive provider of at-home healthcare.

The Power of Data and Predictive AI

The AI-driven capabilities of the business are rooted in the extensive data collected through its app. “We’re logging information about patients from those visits on our app that’s given us now one of the largest home healthcare datasets in the world, definitely the largest in Europe,” Maruthappu explained.

This data is analyzed to develop algorithms that can predict potential health events. “We can predict over 80% of falls a week before they happen… So we actually reduce falls by over 20% because of our AI algorithm… We can also predict around 83% of hospitalizations again a week before they happen… reducing hospitalizations by up to 70%,” he stated.

Investor Confidence

Rob Platek, partner and global head of credit at BDT & MSD, commented, “Cera has achieved strong growth through a demonstrated ability to leverage technology to deliver exceptional care. We believe Cera is well-positioned to further scale its business.”

Market Position and Impact

Cera positions itself as the U.K.’s largest “HealthTech company,” currently serving approximately 30 million people with a network of 10,000 caregivers and nurses. The company collaborates with over 150 local governments and two-thirds of NHS Integrated Care Systems.

An independent analysis by U.K. consultancy faculty suggests that Cera’s AI-led home healthcare model generates savings of £1 million per day for the U.K. healthcare system.

Avoiding Past Pitfalls

Cera is actively working to differentiate itself from healthcare startups that have faced difficulties, such as Babylon Health, which declared bankruptcy after attempting to deliver healthcare solely through a chatbot.