Dentio, a Swedish startup, was founded by high school classmates and Hamburg Summit alumni Elias Afrasiabi, Anton Li, and Lukas Sjögren. They further accomplished raising a $2.3 million pre-seed funding round, led by well-known venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). With AI solutions, the company aims to liberate dental practice from administrivia. By implementing this creative solution, dentists across the country can spend more time doing what they do best—caring for their patients.
The funding underscores a growing enthusiasm for AI-powered healthcare technologies. In Sweden, Dentio is set to take big leaps in this direction. The founding pair initially met up at the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. There, they were able to draw from their own experiences and hone their concept to come up with the Dentio idea. Li’s mother, a practicing dentist, highlighted how overwhelming administrative work often detracted from her clinical duties, leading the trio to create a tool that alleviates such burdens.
Dentio has created a revolutionary recording application that uses voice and/or video to create clinical notes automatically. With this flagship product, dentists can quickly simplify their documentation process. Their slogan hints that this startup is serious about data privacy and security. Secondly, it ensures that all information pertaining to a given case is dealt with according to Swedish and EU legislation. The heavy focus on regulatory compliance makes Dentio’s wares even more attractive in a market that is being increasingly focused on for its data collection practices.
As an alumnus of SSE Labs, Dentio has access to a robust support network. Each year, this exclusive startup incubator has produced dozens of accomplished companies calling Sweden home. The founders found support from KTH’s Innovation Launch program, which helped them sharpen their business strategy.
“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,” – Elias Afrasiabi.
With designs on international expansion, Dentio has its sights set on scaling that success throughout the European Union. The founders are confident in their model’s applicability to other markets, due to the shared nature of healthcare systems across Europe. They hope to scale their solution beyond Sweden while maintaining the “Made in Sweden” branding that emphasizes quality and reliability.
Dentio certainly isn’t the only player on the AI healthcare field. There’s no doubt the Swedish startup faces fierce competition from other newcomers to the space. As an example, Tandem Health raised $50 million in a Series A round last year to develop AI solutions across multiple medical specialties. This high pace of change points to an emerging industry space characterized by rapid innovation.
“We spend a lot of time developing a deep understanding of specific markets and knowing where innovation is emerging. In Sweden, that has meant closely tracking ecosystems like SSE Labs — the startup incubator of the Stockholm School of Economics — and the companies coming out of it,” – Gabriel Vasquez, a partner at a16z.
This ongoing interest from US venture capitalists, and in particular a16z, signals Dentio’s acceleration potential. The firm has had notable success with Swedish companies such as Skype. This strong track record is a testimony of their belief in the Nordic region’s capability to foster the most meaningful tech solutions.
Dentio is in the process of expanding its product offerings and maturing its market strategy. It’s at the forefront of an exciting new movement which uses AI to make healthcare more efficient. The founders are pleased, and rightfully so, about their prospects. They are committed to fostering economic opportunity through mutual respect and collaboration within the industry.
For all their ambitious plans, Afrasiabi explained that their initial journey was one filled with insufficient outreach.
“I went to zero meetups. I reached out to zero investors,” – Afrasiabi.
Instead, they focused on building connections through referrals and word-of-mouth to attract prospects to their new venture. It was this grassroots approach that long ago proved to be the right play as they successfully lured billions of dollars and interest from major players.