Against the backdrop of severe challenges facing the global medical system, especially under the dual pressure of tight medical resources after the epidemic and intensified population aging, the public medical system is undergoing unprecedented tests. As a world-renowned public health system, the UK's National Health Service System (NHS) has frequently fallen into crisis in recent years and has become the focus of social attention. Meanwhile, private healthcare companies, especially those driven by technology, are rapidly rising to fill the market gap. It is against this backdrop that Cera, the UK’s leading home health care provider, announced a $150 million debt and equity financing aimed at further expanding its business.
The financing was led by funds owned by BDT & MSD Partners and Schroders Capital. Although Cera did not disclose specific debt-to-equity ratios and company valuations, the company made it clear that the funding would be mainly used to expand its AI-powered Home health care service platform. Since its establishment in 2015, Cera has been committed to optimizing home care and medical services through technological innovation, especially in the application of artificial intelligence.
Cera's core competitiveness lies in its proprietary AI models that can accurately predict patients' health risks by processing large amounts of unstructured data such as "patient falls at night", thereby helping caregivers take intervention measures in advance. . The application of this technology not only significantly improves the patient's care effect, but also greatly reduces the hospitalization rate and the patient's fall rate, while accelerating the patient's recovery speed. The company has made profitable and has made breakthroughs in the application of technology and artificial intelligence, said Dr. Ben Maruthappu, founder and CEO of Cera.
According to data released by Cera, the company's EBITDA (Earnings before EBITDA and Amortization) in 2023 have reached a positive value, and free cash flow in 2024 also showed positive growth, showing a significant improvement in its financial health. This allows Cera to further accelerate business expansion through debt financing, especially in the home healthcare sector. Cera's AI model has been able to predict fall events in more than 80% of patients and has achieved 83% accuracy in predicting hospitalizations one week in advance. The application of these technologies helped companies reduce the fall rate of patients by 20% and the hospitalization rate by 70%.
Cera's platform has one of the largest home healthcare data sets in the world, especially in Europe. The company has successfully applied this data to multiple medical fields, including physical therapy, learning disabilities, physical disabilities and home mental health services. Meanwhile, Cera's competitors in the UK and the US are also rapidly rising. In the UK, companies such as Home Instead and Bluebird Care rely primarily on non-proprietary applications to provide services, while in the US, Cera's main competitors include Signify Health, CVS Health and Honor. Maruthappu stressed that Cera's artificial intelligence-driven services have significant advantages in accuracy and efficiency, which is the key to its standout in the market.
Rob Platek, global head of credit at BDT & MSD Partners, said Cera has achieved strong growth with its technological innovation and excellent care services and believes the company has the ability to further expand its business and change the landscape of home health care worldwide. In addition, independent analysis by British consulting firm Faculty shows that Cera's artificial intelligence home healthcare model can save about £1 million a day for the UK healthcare system. With Cera expanding and financing, the company will continue to work to drive innovation in home healthcare through technical means and bring more changes to the UK healthcare system.
Cera's success is also closely related to its avoidance of becoming a medical startup failure like Babylon Health. Unlike Babylon Health's approach to relying on simple chatbots for healthcare, Cera focuses on collaborating with professional care teams through artificial intelligence to effectively improve patient experience and medical efficiency. This pragmatic technology application strategy has enabled Cera to occupy an important position in the highly competitive medical market and laid a solid foundation for future development.