Startup of the Week: Cera

• Cera was founded in 2016 by Mahiben Maruthappu and Marek Sacha.
• The startup is a technology-enabled care company, helping transform people’s care.
• So far, Cera has raised a total $94.4 million in funding over 9 funding rounds.

Website: https://www.ceracare.co.uk/

Our Startup of the Week for this week is Cera! A healthtech business utilising machine learning, data analytics and AI technologies to help transform the way people are cared for. Cera predicts health changes in users quicker than other, more traditional methods, while supporting care workers and ultimately empowering those in need of care to “live longer, healthier and better lives at home”.

Cera was started out of co-founder Dr. Ben Maruthappu’s own experience with organising a loved one care. In doing this, the entrepreneur and doctor experienced first-hand the difficulties in arranging the right type of care for their loved one, while seeing the challenge care workers had balancing heavy administrative burdens with quality care. With the idea that “there must be a better way”, Cera was born.

Cera are on a mission to reimagine healthcare, from its planning to how it’s both delivered and received. Through the Cera Care app, carers can view their schedule and the upcoming visits they have, all organised in one place, while families can use the app to monitor the quality of service their loved ones are getting. Over 85% of Cera app carers believe the platform helps them deliver a more effective, safer service.

Recently, Cera have also announced its new initiative, recruiting, training and employing 500 Afghan refugees who flee to the U.K. due to the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban’s takeover. Cera co-founder Maruthappu commented…

“We understand that for many of those displaced by conflict, finding employment is yet another significant obstacle to overcome in starting their new life. Over the next five years, our goal is to support them in this journey by offering a pathway into not only gainful employment, but an enormously rewarding career in one of the UK’s most important sectors. We’ll be working with those councils we are already in partnership with, as well as the government more broadly, to reach out to those affected and who are eligible for these roles.”

“If we can play even a small role in helping those arriving from Afghanistan, that’s an opportunity we’re keen to grasp with both hands. We’ve been greatly inspired by the response from across the international business community, and are keen to support wherever we can.”

So far, Cera have raised a total $94.4m in funding, their latest a Venture Round announced in February 2020, which raised £54 million.