Urine-Test Medtech Startup Closes $1.7m Funding
LONDON, Sept. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TestCard, the UK-based health tech company, announced today it has completed a seed round of financing led by Neo Ventures (www.neoventures.net). In 2018 TestCard will launch its at-home urine test solution, providing consumers and patients with immediate and accurate results in the privacy and comfort of home. The £1.25m funding round will push the company through its launch and initial roll out phase.
TestCard's service is a combination of a non-invasive urine test kit embedded into a postcard, with an accompanying mobile application that turns a phone's camera into a clinical grade scanner. The applications vary from detection of urinary tract infections (UTIs) through to pregnancy testing that, for the first time, will provide a specific due date for positive tests, whilst providing an optimal date to try and conceive for tests that show up negative. The product pipeline includes other critical analysis test products such as prostate health screening alongside the monitoring of health conditions like diabetes and kidney disease.
The Scarborough-based management team is led by industry veterans and experienced entrepreneurs including Dr. Andrew Botham (co-founder and CSO), mobile game entrepreneur Luke Heron (CEO and co-founder), George Sutherland (Chairman). Several hundred general practitioners have pre-registered as early adopters of the solution in the UK market, where the company has identified that over 14 million patients annually are not promptly or accurately diagnosed from their urine specimens and over 55,000 patients daily run the risk of ineffective treatment. An MOU has already been signed by a Yorkshire based NHS trust to trial the UTI product in a live hospital setting.
The simplicity and affordability of TestCard creates significant business opportunities in other large markets, such as India, where distances and infrastructure limit patients' access to healthcare services. The company is actively developing partnerships with national health services and global insurance companies. CSO Dr. Andrew Botham commented: "TestCard is superbly positioned to revolutionize the direct to consumer healthcare diagnostics market, valued in the billions of pounds annually, with a solution offering clear interpretation of results, in language that is easily understood by consumers."
Chairman George Sutherland added: "The TestCard product and the accompanying TestCard mobile app enables individuals to take ownership of their health, serving as an effective diagnostics tool and prompting earlier medical intervention and treatment." Deyan Dobrev, partner at Neo Ventures commented that "TestCard's team and B2C solution are a great example of an experienced team with a highly scalable innovative range of products, enabling the disruption of the health tech marketplace, an investment focus for Neo Ventures."
For photos, product images and additional information, contact Dr. Andrew Botham / Luke Heron via info@testcard.com.
Related Files
Related Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQi-SxknJOI
View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/urine-test-medtech-startup-closes-1-7m-funding-300717735.html
SOURCE TestCard Diagnostics
