Portuguese SWORD Health gains an investment of 85 million and hires 400
The development of a digital physiotherapy system that brings together artificial intelligence and clinical teams earned SWORD Health a new investment. The Portuguese startup received an investment of 85 million dollars (71.4 million euros) in series C, according to the announcement made this Wednesday. The inflow of money will allow the hiring of 400 people in the coming months and the development of new tools.
It is the second-largest investment series ever for a startup founded by Portuguese. Only Talkdesk managed to raise more funds in this financing stage, in the amount of 143 million dollars, in July 2020.
The new capital injection also points SWORD Health down the unicorn route, which brings together companies valued by private investors at least $1 billion. The restricted 'club' of tech companies includes four representatives with Portuguese DNA: Farfetch, OutSystems, Talkdesk, and Feedzai (the most recent).
The second investment in the Portuguese startup in 2021 was led by the American venture capital company General Catalyst, which has already invested in tech companies, such as Airbnb, Snapchat, and Stripe. Venture capital investors such as BOND, Highmark Ventures, and BPEA also participated.
In 2021, SWORD Health raised 110 million euros from investors: in addition to the 85 million dollars raised in series C, it raised 25 million dollars in the previous round, series B, announced in February. Since its foundation, in 2015, the Portuguese technology company has already obtained 135 million dollars in capital injections.
At the end of 2020, a Portuguese startup had 120 people on its team, distributed across offices in Porto, Salt Lake City, and New York. In February, just the Porto team would have more 100 reinforcements. But the investment series C obliges the company to double the hiring targets: 200 people will enter the Portuguese office and another 200 will go to the facilities in the United States.
How the recent hiriees allow us to respond to the "600% growth per year", in the words of Virgílio Bento, and the 1000% increase in the number of patients undergoing treatment. Both metrics ranked SWORD as "one of the fastest-growing startups in the United States".
Musculoskeletal diseases affect one in three people worldwide (two billion people) and the system born in Portugal registers clinical results "superior to those of a human physiotherapist", argues the platform.
These diseases are considered the main cause of disability, directly related to other health conditions, such as depression and other chronic pathologies.
Sword Health is betting on a market that represents $190 billion in the United States alone.
