Dentio, a Swedish startup, is disrupting the world of dentistry. They use artificial intelligence (AI) to automate and streamline administrative busywork for dental practices. Former high school classmates Elias Afrasiabi, Anton Li, and Lukas Sjögren started Dentio. The precocious startup has attracted a slew of big-time investors, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), which on Wednesday led a $2.3 million pre-seed funding round.
The trio of founders reconnected while studying at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). Their shared vision materialized into Dentio after they learned from Anton Li’s mother, a dentist, about how much administrative work detracted from patient care. This insight inspired them to create a solution that could enhance productivity in dental practices, allowing dentists to focus more on their patients.
Dentio recently released Recordium, a cutting-edge recording tool that leverages AI to generate clinical notes. This new innovation streamlines and reduces time spent by dentists on administrative tasks by more than 80%. Through Eurostar, the Swedish startup can proudly display its “Made in Sweden” branding. Importantly, it stresses that all relevant data is handled in full accordance with Swedish and EU law. Their dedication to compliance on the local level helps reassure customers — both current and potential — that data is secure and privacy protected.
Though laser-sharp in their mission to only deployed within the dental sector, Founders are hopeful for them to scale their operations globally outside of Sweden. They argue that healthcare systems throughout Europe are similar enough. This instills confidence as to whether their model can actually work in other countries. “Now we’re a team of seven people, and we think that it’s possible to build a unified way of handling administration all over Europe, and maybe even all over the world,” said Afrasiabi.
Dentio is a member of SSE Labs, a startup incubator famous for cultivating successful Swedish home-grown enterprises. The incubator propelled the company to key industry traction as well as introductions to invaluable connections in the industry. As Afrasiabi conceded they weren’t actively looking for investors at first. “We went to zero meetups. I didn’t pitch a single investor,” he said. Instead, they did this based on referrals and word-of-mouth alone to get noticed by U.S. investors.
So their big break was when they got the attention of Andreessen Horowitz. Gabriel Vasquez, a partner at a16z, has made multiple trips between New York City and Stockholm in the past year, signaling a strong interest in the Swedish market. He pointed out that U.S. venture capitalists are currently seeking opportunities beyond their own domestic borders. “In Sweden for example, we partnered with top founders abroad like Fredrik Hjelm, founder of Voi, and Johannes Schildt, founder of Kry, by turning them into scouts and mapping the best local talent,” Vasquez explained.
The dental tech space is becoming an increasingly crowded market. A year ago, another of the country’s healthtech challengers, fellow Swedish firm Tandem Health, landed $50 million in a Series A round. Dentio’s specific emphasis on rapidly integrating with generative AI is what makes it stand apart from competitors. The founders have bigger plans — including expanding on their initial product offerings and expanding their reach into new markets.
Vasquez reflected on the larger picture of AI’s positive impact on entrepreneurship, “I truly believe that AI is the great equalizer. He further explained that technology has democratized access to this new, smartest intelligence, putting it in the hands of more people than ever. “Most people now have access to PhD-level intelligence on a phone, and ultimately, Silicon Valley is a state of mind,” he remarked.
Dentio’s strategy is indicative of a larger trend in which U.S. investors are looking for deal flow outside of the United States. If they succeed, they would certainly create the conditions for many other European startups to be catapulted into the global limelight and investment. The founders are confident that they can replicate their success in other European markets, asserting that “what works in Sweden could work elsewhere in the EU.”