E-health firm raises €2m


21 May 2004

Irish e-health company H2HCare has raised €2m in a second round of venture capital funding led by Bank of Ireland Venture Capital, as well as existing investors Enterprise Ireland, Enterprise 2000 and Dublin Seed Capital. The company was advised in the round by Ernst & Young Corporate Finance.

H2HCare develops and provides web-based, healthcare solutions for the Irish, UK and international markets. Its products allow for automation of patient booking and scheduling throughout the hospital and clinical system, and allow disparate organisations (GPs and hospital departments) to share information in an automated and integrated way.

The funding will be used to finance H2HCare’s operations internationally. The company recently opened an office in the UK and appointed Patrick Murphy, former managing director of Point Information Systems as director EMEA, who will also head up the UK operation.

Brendan Vaughan, fund manager of Bank of Ireland Venture Capital, said that the financing will position H2HCare to capitalise on opportunities in the Irish and UK health markets. “This is the fund’s third investment in the medical health sector in the last six months,” he said.

“To raise such a strong second round of funding in today’s environment is a great endorsement of H2HCare’s e-health solutions,” says Eamonn Furniss, Managing Director, H2HCare. “We plan to accelerate the development of relationships and further leverage commercial value from our e-Health software. This is an exciting time for us at H2Hcare and I look forward to the challenges ahead.”

Nicky Deasy Senior Manager Ernst & Young Corporate Finance, added: “H2HCare’s ability to raise a substantial tranche of funds in the current environment is a further endorsement of the company’s strategy and technology.”

By John Kennedy