Preventative health seems to be something of a theme with some of the startups we’ve looked at lately, and it’s apparent in today’s, too.

We’ll be moving completely away from healthcare for our next startup on Thursday - get ready to enter the world of computer vision for ecommerce. But that’s then! Today, let us introduce you to QuestPrehab.

But first:

• Praetura Ventures has opened applications for the second run of its Praeseed programme aimed at super-early-stage startups. Find out more

• Neuroscience startup Monument Therapeutics has announced £850,000 in funding led by ACF Investors, with participation from Wren Capital, o2h Ventures, and angel investors.

Also, we’re partnering with the upcoming Connected North event…

• 🔌 Showcase your startup at Connected North 2025 in Manchester on April 23-24.

• 🔌 Pitch your ideas, meet VCs and investors, and network with 2,500+ professionals across the digital economy ecosystem. Plus, enter the Pitching Competition for a chance to win a free booth at Connected Britain 2025. ✨ Apply now ✨

– Martin

QuestPrehab is on a quest for better preventative healthcare

You’ve heard of rehabilitation after a medical procedure - but what if ‘prehab’ (prehabilitaton) before that procedure led to better outcomes?

There’s plenty of research and guidance to say that’s the case. As Scotland’s NHS Inform notes:

Various prehab services are available from healthcare providers such as the NHS, but QuestPrehab is a startup that wants to take the concept further.

Founder Professor Tara Rampal gives the example of a lung cancer patient awaiting surgery. Given the likelihood of them being elderly and a heavy smoker with other health conditions such as high blood pressure, the risk of complications from this vital surgery is high.

In this case, prehab might involve targeted physical exercise, nutritional changes, and psychological care such as anxiety management tools.

But while prehab could benefit many patients–and save money on healthcare treatments–it’s currently not available widely.

Rampal identifies cost, accessibility, and workforce as the main barriers to prehab being used more widely. Is the service available in a particular location? Does the patient have time to devote to attending appointments? And are there enough trained staff available to treat everyone who needs or wants prehab?

And so QuestPrehab has been developed as what Rampal describes as “an AI-enabled and scalable prehabitation service to optimise people's readiness before any major medical interventions, such as cancer treatment or major surgery.”

A patient is onboarded onto the platform via a mobile app and asked a bunch of personalised questions to assess their capabilities, needs, and goals. This results in a personalised plan that patients can follow and get help with in the app, while clinicians working for QuestPrehab can use the platforms to monitor each patient’s progress.

“We leverage AI to create fully customised programmes that evolve as the patient progresses. They are not static programmes,” Rampal explains.

QuestPrehab ‘interventions’ typically last anywhere from two to eight weeks, and can continue into the rehabilitation process too, Rampal says.

Rhiannon Milsom, QuestPrehab’s marketing manager, is keen to emphasise the blend of digital and traditional healthcare here:

“It's not just a matter of someone hearing about prehab and downloading an app. They actually speak to a very qualified person, they have a really decent introduction. As much as we rely on the technology, there is such a human element to it. So it gives reassurance that, yes, you're going to go on this digital pathway, but you're not left on your own.”

The story so far

Rampal is a consultant anaesthetist in Kent, who says she first saw the potential advantages of prehab first-hand when her mother had cancer treatment.

“I saw the benefits she could have gained with prehabitation, because she used to often, on many days, say that ‘the cure is worse than the disease’ because of the devastating impact that chemotherapy can have on a person's quality of life. And I saw the same sentiment sometimes being again repeated in some of my patients, because I've seen hundreds of patients go through this journey.”

And while there were already prehab services operated by some hospitals, they weren’t scalable to the point of being able to serve every patient who might need them.

“Rather than sit there and hope that this gap would be addressed, I thought, why don't we drive a cost-effective solution that can address this gap, help the patients access the treatment, show substantial cost savings, and design a programme that gives them the confidence to stick to healthy habits?,” Rampal says.

To lend credibility to her approach, Rampal has co-authored multiple research papers published by medical journals, that show prehabilitiation has a positive outcome for patients’ quality of life.

Rampal says that since QuestPrehab was founded in 2021, the company has served over 2,000 patients, including NHS patients undergoing cancer treatments and liver transplants.

“We have very much established a proof of concept and proof of principle within a very high standard and tightly regulated market, which is our National Health Service, and we are now firmly placed to look at our international expansion,” Rampal says.

Rampal says QuestPrehab has already started that international expansion, with deals in China and the Middle East already in place, and the USA a target for the near future.

“There's still a lot to do in the UK as well,” adds Milsom. “It started with cancer, and now it's developed to multiple operations. There's always kind of somewhere else to develop to.”

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