Suvera has been many long years in the making. Today it brings me so much joy to share our first public release announcing our Seed Extension financing round of £5m led by Morningside Ventures, a Boston-based private equity and venture capital firm committed to investing in socially responsible businesses.
The investment will allow the company to continue to invest in our people and technology, allowing us to reach more patients and partners across the UK.
In addition to this funding we're excited to also announce the recent appointment of Professor Bryan Williams, Chair of Medicine at University College London (UCL) and the President of the International Hypertension society, as a Chief Medical Advisor. We're excited to have the expertise and innovation that Professor Williams has developed over his 30 years as a leading clinician and researcher in the NHS and Healthcare system worldwide.
From tracking blood pressure results to administering prescriptions, we save GP appointments. In addition, we help reduce care waiting times and improve clinical outcomes by regularly interacting with patients virtually. In less than a year, we've signed with over 40 GP practices, supporting over 20,000 patients.
We operate very differently from other virtual care platforms. We're contracted by general practices across the country to virtually manage patients with hypertension and diabetes with our dedicated remote care team and in-house technology. Uniquely, we've identified that up to 70% of patients interacting with the platform have uncontrolled blood pressure. With 12% of GP appointments in the UK currently dedicated to managing patients with high blood pressure, there's an acute need to reduce this demand for care on GP practices.
To date, we've raised over £7 million in funding supported by Google for Startups through their Black Founders Fund 2021, Calm/Storm ventures, Ascension ventures and angels, including Stephen Bourke, Co-Founder of Echo Pharmacy (acquired by Lloyds Pharmacy owner, Mckesson), Matthew Miller, Co-founder of Ustwo, Chris Kelly, a Google Health research scientist, British actor Colin Salmon and others.
This announcement is the beginning of making public the work we're doing to address the increasing demand on the healthcare system, and the continuous workforce challenges across the system.
Today none wants to say it, but the NHS isn't set up to deliver the care that patients deserve. As trained clinicians, my co-founder Will and I couldn't sit back and not do something. With Ryzard Akita (our third co-founder) and the amazing team at the company, we're confident that digital health solutions like Suvera will be part of the solution - creating better access and more personalised care while improving outcomes for patients.
We work with the system, not against it, and our mission at Suvera is to keep people in good health wherever they are in the world. With this continued support from Morningside, we're excited to grow our team and help provide better care to more people with chronic conditions.
We are building the future of healthcare!
