Swedish translation app raises 2.5 million EUR in investment round to reduce language barriers in healthcare

The Swedish health tech company Care to Translate raised EUR 2.5 million in a round led by the family-owned investment company Provider Investment. Both new and former investors, such as Sophia Bendz, are participating in the round. "The fact that the majority of our previous investors have chosen to enter this round is proof that we are doing something right," says Linus Kullänger.

Care to Translate is a translation app with medically quality-assured language that healthcare professionals and patients use to communicate with each other when they do not speak the same language.

The tool can translate to and from 40 different languages and in the last year the use of the translation service has doubled. Care to Translate now has close to 500,000 users worldwide and sees a strong increase in demand from countries outside the Nordic region.

"We solve a large, vital, and under-prioritized problem in the healthcare sector. By tearing down language barriers, we contribute to more equal and safe healthcare", said Linus Kullänger, CEO and co-founder of Care to Translate.

About 1 in 10 patients in high-income countries need language support when seeking care. The problem is much greater in low- and middle-income countries. The lack of qualitative language support can lead to incorrect treatment, extended hospital stays, and increased care costs. Today's human interpreters are not close enough to solve the scale of the problem and today's machine translation cannot deliver sufficient quality.

"We verify all our translations both medically, culturally and contextually; but when using traditional machine translation you cannot be sure if the phrases are translated correctly. We ensure the quality of each translation so that our customers and users can feel completely safe when they use our products", said Annie Backman, co-founder and medical director at Care to Translate.

Last year, the company was able to secure several large Swedish customers, including the Värmland Region, and it has also signed its first international customer in Belgium. The aim is now to grow even more in the Nordic region and internationally.

"Our customers have experienced that language barriers have prevented them from being able to offer patient-safe care with high quality to all their patients before using our services. We are extremely proud of partnering with them to ensure more equal care for all patients - no matter their language", said Linus Kullänger.

The latest round of financing is led by the family-owned investment company Provider Investment, led by Johan and Emma Hernmarck, the angel investor Eva Engelbert, Petter

von Heidenstam and the financier Claes Dinkelspiel, who already invested in the company in previous rounds.

Other investors who have been backing the company for some years already are KRY's/LIVI’s co-founder and former CEO Josefin Landgård, Sophia Bendz - partner at Atomico and former marketing director at Spotify and former CEO and founder of Capio Per Båtelson.

"The money will primarily be used for market expansion and product development. Our product is already ready to be scaled up to more than 40 markets. We are now doubling our team and investing in smart tech solutions that will ensure our competitiveness for the future. We are a company that will solve language barriers globally and we have only just started", said Linus Kullänger.

About Care to Translate

Care to Translate was founded in 2018 by Linus Kullänger (CEO) and Martin Schalling (senior advisor) and the company is today run together with co-founders Maja Magnusson (COO) and Annie Backman (CMedO), and Alexander Gyllensvärd (CTO). The Care to Translate medical translation app has over 500,000 users worldwide and is available in 40 languages. The goal is to create more equal care by enabling communication between patients and care staff, regardless of language. The app is available via the App Store and Google Play on mobile and tablet and via web browser on a computer.

Contact

Linus Kullänger, CEO and co founder:

+46733225545

linus.kullanger@caretotranslate.com

www.caretotranslate.com