- NHS doctor turned founder, Dr. Ben Maruthappu launched Cera to modernise care by shifting it from reactive hospital treatment to preventative, tech-enabled care at home, using AI and data to improve outcomes at scale.
- Under his leadership, Cera has grown into a national healthcare provider, delivering millions of monthly visits and helping reduce hospitalisations by 70%, while saving the NHS over £1 billion.
- Driven by personal experience and a strong mission, Dr. Maruthappu has focused on scaling healthcare access through technology, including AI agents, robotics and community-based care models tailored for an ageing population.
Tell Me About Yourself and Cera
I’m an NHS doctor by background, and I’ve always been passionate about finding ways to improve healthcare outcomes through technology. I launched Cera to help create a more modern, preventative approach to care that improves safety, quality, and sustainability across the health system.
Since 2016, we’ve been using technology, including AI and robotics, to shift care away from hospitals and into community-based settings, building a model of healthcare that works for an ageing population.
Today, Cera operates at national scale, delivering millions of tech-enabled visits every month to support an ageing population and reduce pressure on the NHS.
What Inspired You To Start Cera, and What Problem Were You Trying To Solve?
In 2016, my mother fell and fractured her back, and I was shocked to discover that tracking a food delivery or taxi ride was easier than monitoring her health and care. It became clear to me how fragmented and outdated the care system was, and how far it lagged behind other sectors.
I felt strongly that care needed to modernise and learn from the digital revolution to give older people like my mum the quality of care they deserved. I set about using technology to build a better model—one that delivers more healthcare services at home and addresses some of the NHS’s biggest challenges.
Since then, Cera has evolved into a fully regulated healthcare provider, using AI and data to shift from reactive crisis management to a preventative model. In doing so, we’ve reduced patient hospitalisations by 70%. What drives me every day is using technology to strengthen the health system that has meant so much to me personally.
What Has Been Your Biggest Challenge So Far, and How Did You Overcome It?
Transitioning from the risk-averse world of medicine to the high-stakes reality of entrepreneurship was a steep learning curve. I founded Cera with almost no business experience – I’d never led a full-time team or worked in a company before.
Navigating those initial “growing pains” was a steep learning curve. We had to build our technology, recruit thousands of staff and secure regulatory accreditation—all from scratch. Scaling from zero meant figuring out everything from office space to training protocols overnight. It taught me that passion and persistence often outweigh a traditional business background.
Can You Describe a Pivotal Moment That Significantly Shaped the Direction of Your Startup?
A pivotal time came when the COVID-19 pandemic created a dramatic surge in demand for home care and I saw an opportunity to make a difference.
We launched an initiative to recruit people who’d lost their jobs, and train them up as carers, growing the care talent pool and expanding access to care at a critical time for older and vulnerable people. Within 18 months, we’d recruited 10,000 new people into the sector, and the Government even licensed our recruitment technology to other care companies, scaling our impact across 2,000 businesses. This demonstrated how digital health solutions can rapidly scale to solve systemic problems and improve health outcomes.
How Do You Define Success?
For your business: For us, success means delivering impact at scale—improving outcomes for people while strengthening the healthcare system. It’s about using technology to shift care from reactive crisis management to prevention, expand access, and do so in a clinically safe and economically sustainable way.
2025 was a strong reflection of that definition in practice. Independent analysis confirmed we’ve saved the NHS and Government more than £1 billion to date, and we delivered our 100 millionth patient visit alongside 100-fold revenue growth. We are now scaling our care robotics platform following successful pilots, while external recognition from TIME Magazine and Newsweek validates both our impact and our AI model.
As a founder: A particular moment that stands out is when we first launched our AI tool that predicts and prevents hospitalisations. That very day we spotted someone who was at high risk of having an infection, and got them antibiotics, avoiding them potentially needing to go to hospital days later. This showed our model in action, and how it can make a difference to people’s lives on an individual level. It meant a lot to me on a personal level and pioneering meaningful change is what keeps me driven.
What Advice Would You Give To Someone Thinking About Launching Their Own Startup?
Start with “why” and solve a problem that truly matters to you. Deep mission-alignment provides the energy to push through difficult phases; chasing pure financial gain rarely sustains a founder or produces a transformational company.
Take your time early on—patience and market clarity at the outset save years of pain later. Once you begin building, hire people better than you. Complement your weaknesses with their strengths and stay adaptable as the company’s needs evolve. Finally, persevere. I’m a firm believer that passion and persistence often outweigh raw capability in the long run.
What’s Next for Cera? Any Exciting Developments We Should Watch Out For?
Cera is pioneering the next generation of healthcare through thousands of AI agents that transform workforce recruitment, productivity and retention. We are now licensing these tools to other sectors facing staffing challenges.
We are also broadening the range of services available in the home, including nursing, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, as well as expanding geographically.
In 2026, we’ll announce major research partnerships with life sciences organisations, powered by our 250-billion-point dataset, providing longitudinal insights into diseases like dementia and cancer. By bringing trials into the home, we’re closing the “participation gap” for over-65s. Additionally, our ‘Back to Work’ programme continues to scale, creating thousands of tech-enabled jobs for the long-term unemployed and younger people, building a sustainable and accessible future care talent pool.
Founder’s Five with Dr. Ben Maruthappu
Without further ado, here is our exclusive Founder’s Five with Dr. Ben Maruthappu.
1. Favourite business tool
Google Gemini.
2. One lesson you learned the hard way
We started as an online marketplace, but learned quickly that tech alone wasn’t enough. To make a real difference, we had to provide care ourselves and redesign how it’s delivered — it was a healthy reminder to focus on solving actual problems in the sector, rather than just build smart technology which may not be impactful.
3. One future trend you’re watching
Early Warning for Mental Wellbeing
I’m keeping a close eye on AI-driven behavioral health. We’re getting very good at predicting physical falls, but the next frontier is predicting social declines. By spotting tiny changes in a person’s daily routine or speech patterns, AI can alert us to loneliness or the very early signs of dementia months before a human might notice. It’s about treating the mind as proactively as we treat the body.
4. One quote you live by
“Chance favours the prepared mind” — Louis Pasteur.
5. One Book or Podcast you recommend
“The 4-Hour Work Week” — Timothy Ferriss.
