Home care provider Cera raises £260m so it can expand its care to thousands more

Cera which was founded in 2016, is set to expand from caring for 15,000 people a day to 100,000 people a day, with the help of £260m funding.

The home care company, which was founded by Dr Ben Maruthappu uses Smart Care technology, which includes devices such as machine learning algorithms that predict health deteriorations before they occur and its Dynamic Tasks platform – a so called Google Maps for care which uses artificial intelligence to recommend actions to care workers.

Users of Cera can book and coordinate emergency or long-term care from their smartphone. Family members can also send messages to and receive updates from the care worker in real time via Cera’s online portal.

Cera which operates in the UK and Germany has now raised £260m in funding made up of equity and debt. It has around 10,000 employees.

Dr Ben Maruthappu, chief executive and co-founder of Cera, said: “Since Cera’s launch in November 2016 the company has scaled at an unprecedented rate for the sector, benefiting countless lives, and proving the need for technology-powered improvement in healthcare.

“Receiving such significant financial backing during this period of global economic volatility, is testament to the strength of Cera’s business model, our innovation, and our commitment to revolutionising healthcare. We’re now in pole position to be able to use our unique technology to expand what we do for patients across the world who are in need of care, while relieving pressures on public services.”

Prominent investors in Cera include Jane Street Capital, KairosHQ, the Vanderbilt University Endowment and Schroders Capital.

Cera says this technology has reduced hospitalisation rates by 52 per cent, predicted up to 80 per cent of hospitalisations seven days in advance, reduced patient falls by 17 per cent, urinary problems by 47 per cent, infections by 15 per cent and also helped to improve medication and prescription compliance in older patients by 35 per cent.

The new capital will be used to increase the number of patients in Cera’s care by over five-fold by 2025 and also to expand the company’s investment in nursing, telehealth and prescription delivery services, both in the UK and internationally.

Sir David Behan, chair of Cera’s Advisory Board and former chief executive of the Care Quality Commission, said: “Cera’s blend of cutting-edge technology and truly compassionate carers represents the future for health and social care, in the UK and beyond.

"Cera has already transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people, helped the UK government to employ carers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and created and implemented technology that gives carers, those they care for and their families peace of mind, while also giving them the freedom to live their lives in the comfort of their own homes. Cera’s next chapter will take that further to more people who require care, more countries and with more technology innovations."

Christine Wand from Suffolk, who receives home care from Cera, revealed that Cera "has completely changed" her life.

She said: “Managing my health problems has been really difficult, but now that I have a Cera carer and their app, their technology has helped me to really stay on top of my health and wellbeing and it has dramatically improved my outlook on life. My carer is more like a friend - she is so reliable, so friendly and she truly understands me and my needs. My carer also organises my medication which has taken a huge burden off both my shoulders and my families’, and they are able to arrange for me to see a nurse at the click of a button whenever I need to. I truly don’t know what I would do without Cera’s help.”