Govtech Fund Announces First European Govtech Investment
Forward Health is the leading health communications platform set to revolutionize the way clinical staff communicate, saving time and improving the quality of care for patients. Forward is a prime example of govtech innovation in Europe and the Govtech Fund's focus on modernizing the operations at the intersection of health and government.
We’re thrilled to announce our first investment in Europe, Forward Health.
Forward was founded in 2016 by UK doctors Barney Gilbert and Lydia Yarlott, and serial technology entrepreneur Philip Mundy. Their mission is to connect healthcare systems around the world, making communication secure, transparent and flexible for healthcare professionals and patients. Forward’s initial offering is a clinical messaging app for UK-based clinicians, with the app quickly becoming a critical component in patient management across clinical teams in the UK since launch. Users have harnessed the tech to find efficient, secure and more collaborative ways of working. Forward Health has been piloted across six NHS Trusts over the past year, with over 6,000 clinicians already using the platform.
“We considered a range of venture investors to support us during our next phase of growth, but our goal was to partner with the market leader in govtech,” commented Dr. Barney Gilbert, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Forward. “As the first-ever fund exclusively focused on government technology startups, Govtech Fund has built an incredible ecosystem of twenty leading govtech startups operating in over 20,000 government agencies in the United States, so we’re thrilled to be joining their portfolio. This partnership will be invaluable as we look ahead towards international expansion.”
“For the first time, health professionals can safely and effectively communicate with each other and manage their patients’ care across an emergent, organically growing network,” said Ron Bouganim, Founder & Managing Partner of Govtech Fund. “Forward is the future of healthcare and a prime example of the govtech innovation coming out of Europe. We’re thrilled to be investing in this incredible team.”