SWORD Health wants to hire 100 more staff in Porto

Many companies saw demand drop during the Covid-19 pandemic, however SWORD Health was not one of them. On the contrary, subject to confinement, thousands of people had to resort to physiotherapy treatments in digital format, a solution that the Porto company has been developing since 2015. The increase in demand and a substantial investment of 25 million dollars (about 20.6 million euros) now lead to the recruitment of 100 more people to the office in Porto.

Started in Porto in 2015, SWORD Health is growing more and more in the huge North American market - representing US $ 190 billion - because of the digital physiotherapy system that it has developed by combining clinical teams with artificial intelligence. Much due to this exponential growth on the other side of the Atlantic, throughout 2021, it will integrate another hundred reinforcements in the Porto team in the areas of technology, product and operations. It is almost a doubling of the current total of workers.

The year 2020 was particularly positive for the company, which saw revenues increase eightfold and treated five times as many patients, closed at home due to the confinement imposed by the pandemic and forced to continue physiotherapy treatments at a distance.

"We have drastically increased the range of customers and, consequently, our revenue. We were also chosen in 75% of the evaluations in which we participated, by companies looking for a solution for the treatment of musculoskeletal pathologies for their workers", points out the founder, Virgílio Bento, in a statement quoted by Dinheiro Vivo.

This growth has resulted in the Portuguese technology company now receiving a B series investment (the second phase in the path of a startup, with the aim of expanding the business, improving processes, recruiting talent and betting on new markets). After two injections of eight and 17 million dollars, in 2019 and 2020, respectively, SWORD Health accumulates close to 50 million dollars (more than 40 million euros) of investment.

With offices in Porto, Salt Lake City and New York, the digital physiotherapy company believes that "the system born in Portugal registers clinical results superior to those of a human physiotherapist" in the treatment of musculoskeletal diseases, particularly incidents in workers with bad postures. These diseases are considered the main cause of disability, being directly related to other health conditions, such as depression and other chronic pathologies.

Also last year, SWORD Health was included in Deloitte's list of "Technology Fast 500", which highlights companies in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region with the fastest growth in the last four years, and which included other eight companies from Porto. Scaleup Portugal also distinguished it as the best national startup.