Frontier Health s leveraging AI to carry out administrative tasks which burden the NHS.
A London-based startup founded by a former Palantir healthcare executive who worked in NHS hospitals during Covid has raised £9.7m in a funding round.
The funding round in Frontier Health was led by Atomico, the European VC firm, with participation from XYZ Venture Capital and Firstminute Capital.
Frontier Health, which has raised £11.9m in total, is leveraging AI to carry out administrative tasks which are burdening patient care in the NHS.
The startup, founded in 2024, points to projected figures showing healthcare systems facing a 10m worker shortfall by 2030, saying that fixing the administrative burden behind patient care can reduce this worker shortfall. It was founded by Rachel Finegold, who worked as Palantir healthcare lead at 40 NHS hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said she spent years working alongside NHS teams and saw first-hand how administrative bottlenecks impact patient outcomes.
Finegold, its CEO, told The Times: “There physically weren’t enough administrators to support this integral machinery that needs to happen to keep patients moving through the system and to get patients their care.”
Frontier Health has developed an AI agent, called Juno, which works with NHS administrative staff, helping teams navigate systems, complete routine tasks, such as booking appointments, identify risks, and keep patients moving safely through care.
The tech will call on a human during a case if it does not understand something. According to its website, one client is East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.
The startup will use the funding to try to increase its presence across NHS trusts and increase the size of its 12-strong team.
Over 50 per cent of NHS trusts in England are using Palantir software to reduce waiting lists. However, the BMA has called for the NHS to ditch Palantir, citing its use by the US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Atomico said: “As healthcare systems face growing demand and limited resources, we believe supportive AI can become critical infrastructure, augmenting frontline teams and improving care delivery.”