A London-based digital healthcare start-up delivering rehabilitation programmes to people with neurological and musculoskeletal conditions, has announced the successful close of an $11 million Series A funding round.
The new funding will enable GripAble to expand its industry-leading data platform and therapy services, with a particular focus on growing markets in Europe and the US.
“Patients with physical and cognitive impairments require guided therapy to improve their quality of life,” Dr Paul Rinne, GripAble co-founder and CEO, explained on April 11.
“Simply put, the more rehab they do and the more they adhere to professional guidance, the greater their chances of having better outcomes, with a wealth of evidence backing this up.
“However, due to resource costs and poor logistics, current health systems cannot deliver the amount of therapy needed, with significant backlogs, and few patients receiving anywhere near what they require to get better.”
This is a common problem faced by hundreds of millions of patients around the world, he said, with inefficient care pathways not only costing health systems hundreds of billions of dollars every year, but costing people a chance to live their lives to their full potential.
The rehabilitation funding is led by IP Group with equal investment from Parkwalk Advisors.
Dr Sam Williams, managing partner of Life Sciences at IP Group, said: “IP Group has had great success in the digital therapy market with our investment in Hinge Health and we see similar potential in GripAble.
“We’re therefore delighted to be joining the company’s journey as it develops into a fully-fledged commercial organisation.”
Martin Glen, investment director at Parkwalk Advisors, said: “Parkwalk is excited to be backing this breakthrough digital rehabilitation technology as it grows and enters new markets.
“In particular, we are hopeful that GripAble can reproduce its strong initial success in the UK in the significantly larger US market.
“This would enable many more patients to access the sustained level of rehabilitation therapy that they require for a positive outcome post-injury.
“GripAble was an early investment in the Parkwalk-managed Imperial College Innovation Fund and is the second such company to receive further investment from Parkwalk.
“It is a reflection of the strength of Imperial College’s research in STEM subjects that this breakthrough technology emerged from its labs.”
Dr Rinne added: “The evidence is clear. The new funding will accelerate GripAble’s journey to delivering end-to-end patient care and connecting millions to their own personal home-based clinic.
“We welcome IP Group and Parkwalk, who have a wealth of insight and experience that will support us in growing our industry-leading platform in the US market and enable us to expand our clinical and commercial evidence base.”
The successful fundraise follows a period of significant activity in the US by the company, including its recent partnership with leading medical equipment distributor, Medline.
GripAble is also part of a pioneering group of health tech companies led by the ABHI, with recent trade missions to the US accelerating the company’s traction with both national payers and providers.
Its mission is to make outcome-driven care scalable and accessible to all, delivering high volumes of efficient and personalised therapy from hospital to home.
Through the company’s digitally led care pathway, combining bespoke hand-held sensors, engaging, gamified app software, and hybrid tele-therapy services, it will allow more patients to access gold standard physical and cognitive rehab for longer, driving improved outcomes whilst reducing costs.
With more than 8,000 individuals having already used the platform, it has established itself as a leading technology in the remote-rehab space in the UK, recording 100,000 activity sessions and 27 million movement repetitions across its users.
Initial evidence highlights an eight-fold increase in patient training through its platform compared to current standard care, and following rapid provider adoption in the UK, GripAble has attracted and signed partnerships with both multinational pharmaceutical companies and distributors.
For more information, visit: www.gripable.co
