Irish healthcare startup Teckro raises $25m in series C funding

Irish healthcare startup Teckro, which uses machine learning to speed up clinical trials, said on Thursday that it had raised $25m (£19.5m) in series C funding with a view to doubling its 100-strong workforce within the next 18 months.

Teckro said on Thursday that there had been a 240% increase in the number of clinical trials conducted using its platform over the past year, and that 10,000 users from over 80 countries now make use of its offering.

The firm was founded in 2015 with the goal of both simplifying and modernising all aspects of clinical trials using machine learning. Its mobile-first platform helps connect drug companies, researchers, and patients and allows them to track trials as they progress.

The company’s CEO, Gary Hughes, told Yahoo Finance UK that the company would “invest heavily” in its platform, and that the majority of its new hires would focus on product development.

The series C investment, which brings the firm’s total haul to date to $43m, was led by Northpond Ventures. Series C funding is when a company that has already proved its business model — and had success in the sector and market — goes for a third round of investment in a bid to expand.

Headquartered in the Irish city of Limerick with bases in Dublin and Nashville, the company will also look to establish a presence in Asia in the future, Hughes noted.

“The momentum that’s there in terms of customer traction, the adoption of the platform by doctors and nurses around the world is also reflected in the appetite that the investors continue to invest and back the company,” Hughes said.

Founders Fund, an early investor in Facebook and Stripe, also participated in the round, as did Sands Capital Ventures, Bill Maris’s Section 32 venture fund, and Borealis Ventures.

In a statement, the company pointed to the fact that, in spite of supposed digital transformation, the actual experience of participating in a clinical trail “has changed little in the last 20 years.”

“The industry still relies heavily on paper, on working off retrospective data,” it said.

“We are building a new digital infrastructure and toolset for clinical research that makes the conduct of trials simpler, more transparent and more inclusive.”

The firm has partnered with leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies, it said.

Teckro was founded by Hughes, his brother Nigel, and Jacek Skrzypiec, who sold their previous venture Firecrest to clinical research giant Icon (ICLR) in 2011.

“This time around,” Hughes said, “our focus is very much going for the longer term. We want to go all the way with this company.”

“I think that reflects in the investors we’ve brought on.”