Penelope Health's $100M Bet: Fixing Healthcare's Hidden Rules

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-18

Imagine you're a doctor, and you have no idea if a treatment will be covered by insurance. Frustrating, right? That's the reality for many healthcare providers. Penelope Health, a London-based startup, just announced a €87 million ($100 million) funding commitment to change that. They're building a real-time platform that tells you exactly what's covered, and they're partnering with Thoreau to create a shared layer for payments and clinical rules. ### Why This Matters Insurance rules are a mess. They're opaque, fragmented, and constantly changing. Dr. Sohum Patel, CEO of Penelope Health, knows this firsthand. Before founding the company, he worked in the UK's National Health Service, where he saw how administrative complexity gets in the way of patient care. "The rules that determine whether care is covered by insurance are foundational to the healthcare system, yet they remain opaque, fragmented, difficult to interpret, and are constantly changing," he says. Penelope aims to turn that complexity into a dependable, up-to-date reference that healthcare companies can use in real time. ### The Money and the Mission The funding was led by Thoreau, with participation from existing backers Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments (BHI), Twine Ventures, and Seedcamp. The funds will be used to create new products that bring administrative efficiency to navigating payer requirements. Mattijs De Paepe, CTO, adds, "Realising our vision requires a deep technical understanding of constantly evolving payer rules. We are excited to build the infrastructure for AI to power a more efficient healthcare system." ### How It Works Penelope's platform converts the complex web of disparate data into a single infrastructure layer for healthcare. It enables healthcare companies to check coverage requirements, compare policies across payers, and streamline their internal operations. Right now, it covers policies for over 200 million Americans, spanning more than 15,000 procedures and drug codes. That's a huge chunk of the US population. Instead of custom, one-off connections and manual searches, Penelope offers a single connection any system can use. ### The Bigger Picture This funding comes amid a surge in European healthcare infrastructure and AI investment. This year alone, EU-Startups has reported about €182.5 million across comparable rounds. For example: - Tandem Health in Stockholm raised €86.5 million. - Recare in Berlin raised up to €37 million. - Health Force in Barcelona raised €4.2 million for AI agents that handle hospital-insurance processes. - Semble in London raised €34.7 million for its healthcare management platform. - Flexzo AI secured €10.3 million for agentic healthcare workforce technology. Clearly, investors see huge potential in fixing healthcare's administrative headaches. ### The Founders Penelope was co-founded in 2025 by Dr. Sohum Patel and Mattijs De Paepe. Dr. Patel practiced in both inpatient and outpatient settings in the UK's NHS at the Royal Free London and University College London hospital systems. Mattijs previously spent nearly four years at Via Transportation, building machine-learning systems for transit products. Together, they bring a mix of clinical insight and technical chops. ### What's Next? With this funding, Penelope plans to expand its platform and partnerships. The goal is to remove administrative burden for both payers and providers. If they succeed, it could mean less time on paperwork and more time on patient care. And that's something we can all get behind. So, next time you're frustrated by insurance red tape, remember: there are people working to fix it. Penelope Health is one of them, and they just got a big boost.