Since Covid-19, there has been an estimated shortage of up to 13 million nurses around the world according to the World Bank. It’s a problem that Copenhagen based health tech startup Teton is on a mission to solve using AI.
Teton develops cutting edge deep learning and computer vision products to empower caregivers to do more with less. The company was founded by Mikkel Wad Thorsen and Esben Thorius in 2020, with the intention of revolutionising the health care sector by targeting nurses.
Teton’s solution is based around AI technology that uses smart cameras which are set up across the hospital room and care homes. The cameras use computer vision that then translates to information from live images. Information tracked includes sleep tracking and fall warnings, with alerts for high risk situations which is then fed back into an app alerting the nurse.
Each camera sensor offers benefits such as reduced errors, saves money with less burnout, and more time to focus on patients’ needs. Teton began selling its nursing companion in the middle of 2022 and is currently active in two hospitals and two care homes in Denmark. The company says that the tech can reduce a nurse’s workload by 25%, according to its own research.
The company has recently raised a $5.3m seed round with a total amount of $6.4 million. The seed round was led by Taavet Hinrikus’s early stage VC firm Plural and stars a number of angels including former Frontline Ventures VC Finn Murphy. The money will be used to grow the company and expand internationally.
Mikkel Wad Thorsen said, “we hope to dominate the Nordic market over the next two years.”
Teton currently says it is monitoring 141 patients and has its sights set on hitting 5,000 by the end of 2025. With plans to start selling into Norway and Sweden by the end of the year, it also plans to set up pilot programmes in the UK, Germany and the US by the end of 2023.
Teton will use some of the funding round to double its employee headcount to 25 by the end of the year, and further down the line will develop the capability of its AI.
Over the next couple of years, Thorsen says the startup hopes to expand the tech’s ability to automate more administrative tasks and integrate with electronic health records.
Sources: Sifted, Teton , Crunchbase