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Image credit: Ancora Health

Dutch banking giant Rabobank, on Tuesday, announced that it is investing €3M in digital health startup Ancora Health. According to Rabobank, with this investment, it aims to further expand its focus on preventive health. With this round of investment, Ancora’s total start-up capital has reached €9M.

Ancora Health’s unique approach

Founded by Sridhar Kumaraswamy, Rahul Gannamanic and Jose Castela Fortea in 2019, Ancora Health’s aim is to add more healthy years to society and has developed an approach that differs from regular health programs. 

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The Groningen-based startup focuses on preventive healthcare in which one’s lifestyle functions as medicine. It doesn’t only focus on clinical parameters, but also on behaviour and lifestyle support. The Ancora health programme combines personal coaching with digital support in its approach. The company has two ultramodern studios in Amsterdam and Eindhoven.

Martijn Starre, startup & scale-up banker,  healthcare at Rabobank, says, “With the approach of Ancora Health, programmes can be offered to the ever-growing group of people with chronic diseases (physical and mental). The programmes can have a preventive effect, but also help people with a chronic condition to stay or become as fit and healthy as possible and thus prevent it from getting worse.”

This is also in line with the aim of the Dutch government to add more healthy years to every citizen’s life, which would translate to lower overall healthcare costs.

“The rapid development, the proven methodology and the growth potential of Ancora Health give us the confidence to facilitate the next step”, adds Starre.

Sridhar Kumaraswamy, who is also the CEO of Ancora Health, calls the new investment  ‘a great vote of confidence.’ 

“This further illustrates that the momentum towards prevention of chronic lifestyle diseases becomes unstoppable, and that evidence-based blended programmes (a combination of people and technology) will contribute significantly to scaling prevention programmes based on sustainable behaviour change. We see this as a necessary complement to other major social and environmental changes of our time to build a sustainable society,” he adds.

Rabobank banks making healthcare futureproof 

Utrecht-based Rabobank Group is an international financial services provider. It offers retail banking, wholesale banking, private banking, leasing, and real estate services. As a cooperative bank, Rabobank is committed to being a customer-focused cooperative bank in the Netherlands and a food and agri bank worldwide.

Michel van Schaik, director of health care at Rabobank, says, “If people have the knowledge and skills to maintain their own health, they do not need to rely on professional care as often. It is already under pressure, but it will only get worse in the near future. Ancora Health uses modern technology to efficiently reach as many people as possible.”

“It is a scalable revenue model and therefore not dependent on (temporary) subsidies. The company fits our vision that innovation and entrepreneurship are needed to make our healthcare system future-proof. Fortunately, we see more and more startups and scale-ups with that ambition. We want to actively support them with our knowledge, networks and financing solutions,” he adds.

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