Berlin-based roclub secures €4 million to overcome shortage of medical technical workers in Europe and the US | EU-Startups

roclub, a pioneer in teleoperations aiming to transform the global healthcare landscape, today announced the close of a €4 million seed funding round led by European and American early-stage investors Speedinvest and FJ Labs alongside Better Ventures and strategic angels. 

The funding follows a recently announced pre-seed funding of over €2.5 million. With the fresh capital, roclub will expand its operations from DACH to the rest of Europe and the US, further develop its remote healthcare service marketplace and grow its international team.

The world is currently facing a significant shortage of healthcare personnel due to a rapidly aging population. By 2030, one in six people worldwide will be 60 years or older, putting immense pressure on health systems. It is estimated that there will be a shortfall of 10 million healthcare workers by 2030. The need to counteract this shortage of personnel has never been more urgent. 

Teleoperations, like the one roclub offers are set to be a solution to this problem. roclub’s digital innovation can improve access to care, increase the efficiency in the operation of medical technology as well as secure business continuity for healthcare organizations at any location at any time for any examination. roclub is capitalizing on the €50 billion market opportunity by pioneering a digitalized approach to medical technology as a first mover, utilizing an entirely web-based, multi-modal, and multi-vendor approach. 

In order to inspire physicians and radiographers worldwide as well as continuously improve products and support teleoperation projects, roclub has teamed up with a group of global key opinion leaders in diagnostic imaging. Its Advisory Board also includes thirty of the most influential radiologists and radiographers from across the globe.

André Glardon, Co-Founder & Managing Director of roclub, said: “We are pioneering a platform that has the potential to disrupt the operation of medtech. Our vision: Better access to care for patients, more flexibility and business opportunities for medical technical staff and business continuity for healthcare providers worldwide. We are thrilled by the support of leading early-stage investors like Speedinvest and FJ Labs who not only believe in our vision but support us with their strong investment platform to grow and scale our business.”

roclub was born from a simple idea – professional medical technicians are important and indispensable for safe and high-quality diagnostics, but there are too few and their potential has not yet been unleashed. The teleoperation platform makes it possible to access and operate medical devices from anywhere in the world – purely browser-based. The connectivity of any medtech device to the platform is done “plug&play” without any integration effort. Andrea Zitna, Partner at Speedinvest, said: “André and Matthias are serial health entrepreneurs with deep experience in the medtech and specifically diagnostics imaging space. They intimately understand the pain-points in the industry and their roclub solution is a testament to that. Not only can it dramatically improve access for patients, it represents a clear and compelling business case for providers. We are excited to support them in their vision and respond to an amazing demand from providers globally.”

Jeff Weinstein, Partner at FJ Labs, commented: “As specialists in network effects-driven investments, we see immense potential in roclub’s vision of a marketplace for remote healthcare service. We love the concept of fusing a secure, compliant connectivity solution for medical devices of all kinds with a marketplace layer and are eager to contribute our expertise to this endeavour.”

Tina Dreimann, Managing Director and Co-Founder of better ventures, added: “We are proud to support roclub’s vision of harnessing teleoperation technologies to not only enhance the global healthcare system but to fundamentally transform it. Their innovative platform addresses a critical workforce gap while elevating the quality of patient care, exemplifying the kind of impact-driven solution we are committed to investing in. This seed funding round is a pivotal step towards scaling their operations and ultimately, towards creating more equitable access to healthcare services worldwide. We believe that roclub’s trajectory is not just promising in terms of market opportunity, but pivotal in shaping the future of medical technology and patient care.”

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