- Florence was founded in 2016 by Dr Charles Armitage and former army officer Dan Blake.
- The startup are helping to improve the way temporary staffing operates throughout care homes.
- Florence have already raised a total of $9.3 million over the course of 4 funding rounds.
Our Startup of the Week for this week is bringing some much-needed disruption to the care industry.
Florence helps to connect care providers in need of staff for vacant shifts with nurses and carers to help cover them. The startup operates throughout England, Scotland and Wales, matching care providers to the most appropriate professionals to help cover understaffed shifts.
The startup was inspired by co-founder Dr Charles Armitage’s experience working in the NHS as a locum. Charles found that he had no control over the shifts he was working, moving somewhere different every day, and that as a result patients were lacking important continuity of care.
With patients not getting the continuity they deserved in their care, staff limited by an inflexible temp system, and care providers’ budgets drained on agency fees, Charles thought there must be a better way for this to work…so he made one!
Charles, alongside co-founder and former army officer Dan Blake, founded Florence in 2016.
Through the startup’s online marketplace, matches between nurses and care providers are made based on the skills required for the shift, location and reliability. All care homes need to do is post the shifts they have available, including a full description of the shift, the skills it requires, its location as well as pay information. Nurses and carers can then explore the shifts most suited to them.
Timesheets are both submitted and approved online, hassle-free with no paper or signature required. The service is free for nurses and carers to use, and can be accessed from any device.
Since starting up, Florence has undergone 4 funding rounds, raising a total of $9.3 million. Their latest round was a Series A in June last year, which raised £5 million.
The startup claim: “We created Florence to bring quality, choice and transparency to care staffing.”
“Our purpose brings us together: to provide everyone with the care and dignity that they deserve.”
