Press Release | Gütersloh, 11/07/2024

Bertelsmann Investments Makes Further Investments in Fast-Growing Digital Health Market

  • Follow-on investments in portfolio companies Doccla and deepc
  • New investments in Guardoc Health and Pi Health
  • Total investment in the high seven-digit range
  • Further expansion of the Bertelsmann Next initiative
  • Since 2022, investments and capital commitments of about €120 million in the digital health market

Bertelsmann Investments (BI) is expanding its investments in the digital health companies Doccla and deepc and making new investments in the startups Guardoc Health and PI Health. Doccla is a leader in the European remote patient-monitoring market. Doccla's technology enables effective and uncomplicated remote medical monitoring of patients in their home environment, carried out by medical professionals. The AI company’s core technology is a cloud-native, vendor-independent platform that can be seamlessly integrated into existing radiology workflows. Guardoc Health automates clinical documentation, improves documentation and compliance, and ensures more accurate billing in nursing homes. Pi Health offers cutting edge clinical trial execution technology.  

Carsten Coesfeld, CEO of Bertelsmann Investments, said: “Within Bertelsmann Investments, the Bertelsmann Next unit focuses its investments on the fast-growing digital health sector, among others. We see great opportunities for the digital health market as a whole and have made investments and capital commitments totaling around €120 million since the launch of Bertelsmann Next in 2022. Our latest follow-on investments in Doccla and deepc underscore the strong development and potential of these companies. At the same time, I am very pleased to expand our portfolio with the highly innovative startups Guardoc Health and Pi Health.”

Tim Schneider, Director Investments Digital Health/Pharma at Bertelsmann Investments, added: “By backing Pi Health and Guardoc Health, we are investing in two up-and-coming companies in the promising digital health market. Pi Health offers a revolutionary solution that can transform the clinical trials process through an end-to-end platform. Guardoc Health is developing a compliance platform to support understaffed and overburdened nursing staff with their daily documentation, ensure compliance, and improve the audit process in nursing homes. We believe that both companies are making an important contribution to the digital health market, and that this will be clearly reflected in their development in the coming years.”

In the first half of 2024, BI made a total of 30 new and follow-on investments through its venture capital funds and the Bertelsmann Next unit. The active venture portfolio currently consists of 374 investments around the world. 

About Bertelsmann Investments
Bertelsmann Investments (BI) comprises Bertelsmann’s global venture capital activities as well as the Bertelsmann Next growth unit. The venture capital arm includes the Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) funds, as well as selected fund and direct holdings in markets including Europe, the United States, Brazil, Southeast Asia and Africa. The Bertelsmann Next unit advances the entrepreneurial development of new growth sectors and business areas, including Digital Health, HR Tech, and Mobile Ad Tech. To date, around €1.9 billion has been invested in around 500 innovative companies and funds through Bertelsmann Investments. Bertelsmann Investments currently holds over 350 active investments worldwide through its network of start-ups and funds.

About Doccla
Doccla is Europe's leading provider of virtual hospital platforms for remote patient monitoring, enabling effective and uncomplicated monitoring of patients in their home environment – for 10,000+ active patients every day in 13 countries (10 of them in Europe). With more than 40 treatment pathways, coupled with high interoperability and data security, Doccla offers its customers numerous application possibilities. For example, hospitals can discharge patients earlier or reduce the number of inpatient admissions for a variety of conditions. We expand healthcare capacity by providing software, devices, logistics, and patient services while reducing hospitals' workloads. Our service leads the market in patient compliance and satisfaction.

About deepc
deepc GmbH specializes in AI applications in the field of radiology. Its goal: precise diagnoses for patients with the help of certified AI applications. The company's core technology, deepcOS®, is a cloud-native, vendor-independent platform that can be seamlessly integrated into existing radiology workflows. For hospitals and medical practices, the platform provides a one-stop shop for all applications and services in the field of AI-supported radiology, while AI software providers gain improved access to a large number of potential customers.

About Guardoc Health
Guardoc Health is automating clinical charting, enhancing documentation and compliance, and ensuring more accurate billing. Currently, compliance is mostly handled manually by overburdened nurses, making the process expensive, inefficient, and draining valuable clinician hours. Additionally, it's a retroactive process, leaving providers helpless against financial losses and poor patient outcomes. The founding team around former Nurse Hadassah Backman is looking to change that and we are excited to support on this journey together with lead Pitango HealthTech. Springbank VC, and Fresh.fund.

About Pi Health
In the clinical trials space, the software landscape is fragmented and disconnected, comprising of a collection of single end-point solutions for sponsors as well as research sites. This lack of integration creates a complex web of disparate systems that hampers the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical trials. Pi Health is pioneering a transformation through its end-to-end, single-source software platform that enables sponsors and research sites to obtain higher quality data more quickly, plan studies better, and address operational issues more efficiently. We are excited to support the outstanding founders Geoff Kim and Bobby Reddy and co-invest alongside Obvious Ventures, Alleycorp and Invus.

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Jan Hölkemann
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