Innovator Spotlight: PocDoc 

Founded in 2020, PocDoc was built to transform access to diagnostics for cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases. In conversation with Anna King, Commercial Director at the Health Innovation Network South London (HIN), CEO and Co‑Founder Steve Roest reflects on how investment is enabling the company to deliver prevention at scale.

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Fundraising is often framed as the end goal for founders. For Steve Roest, CEO and Co‑Founder of PocDoc, investment has always been something else entirely: an enabler. Capital has been the means to build product, scale delivery, and help the NHS to shift from sickness to prevention. 

Founded in 2020, PocDoc was built to transform access to diagnostics for cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases. Its Healthy Heart Check, for example, enables people to test their cholesterol and spot the early signs of cardiovascular disease. It uses smartphone‑based technology to enable clinically robust health checks in the home, workplace and community.  

From the outset, the ambition was not to run isolated pilots, but to deliver prevention at scale. Over the past two years, that ambition has been accelerated by more than £10 million in investment, including a heavily oversubscribed pre‑A round backed by MMC Ventures, Molten VC, Simplyhealth Ventures, and KHP Ventures, the UK’s first NHS‑anchored venture fund. That investment is beginning to show impact at scale, as the volumes of community based cardiovascular screening is growing month-on-month.   

Building for prevention 

The NHS faces a stark reality. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects over 7.4 million people in the UK, yet The World Heart Federation reports that around 80% of CVDs, including heart disease and stroke, are preventable. 

Traditional GP‑led delivery models are under severe strain, and preventative services, such as National Health Service Health Check (NHSHC) programme in England, face low uptake.  

PocDoc was specifically designed to address this gap. Its flagship Healthy Heart Check is a point‑of‑care diagnostic that delivers a full cholesterol profile, heart age, BMI score, and ten‑year cardiovascular risk assessment in 10 minutes. This simple five-step process removes the need for lab processing or multiple GP appointments. Results integrate directly into the NHS App and patient records, preserving continuity of care while removing friction. 

For Roest, this focus on prevention had to be matched with operational realism: “Prevention only works if you can deliver it repeatedly, reliably, and at scale.” 

Investment Unlocks Scale and System Impact 

The impact of that scalability is now tangible. Last month, PocDoc delivered 3,442 heart health checks across eight partners, spanning GP practices, community pharmacies, employers, and local outreach programmes. It was the company’s largest month of screening to date, and a clear demonstration of what community‑based prevention looks like in practice. 

PocDoc is reaching populations who might otherwise never receive a cardiovascular risk assessment, particularly in rural areas or underserved populations. By delivering digital health checks outside of GP surgeries, they are at-risk patients can be identified earlier, without the cost or difficulties associated with travelling to GP surgeries.  

To date, PocDoc’s Healthy Heart Check has been used by tens of thousands of patients across the UK, with 97% saying they would recommend the service to a friend or family member. This level of uptake and satisfaction has been critical in moving from local pilots to commissioned, repeatable programmes. 

Aligning With NHS Priorities 

Investment has also enabled PocDoc to align closely with the 10 Year Health Plan for England, including the long-term strategic shifts from sickness to prevention; hospital to community; and analogue to digital.  

In 2024, PocDoc reached a major milestone by becoming one of the first point‑of‑care diagnostics to integrate directly into the NHS App, enabling real‑time results and structured data flow into existing care pathways. Combined with national and regional NHS commissions, this has allowed PocDoc to move beyond pilots and into system‑level delivery. 

The participation of KHP Ventures in PocDoc’s pre‑A round was particularly significant. As an NHS‑anchored fund, its investment signalled confidence not just in the technology, but in PocDoc’s ability to deliver meaningful outcomes for patients and health systems alike. 

From Capital to Capability 

For Roest, investment has never been about growth for growth’s sake. “Capital has been used to strengthen clinical evidence, expand delivery partnerships, build a robust business to business (B2B) sales and commissioning capability, and develop the infrastructure required to operate at NHS scale.” 

With CVD costing the NHS billions each year, the ability to offer rapid, accessible screening in communities, workplaces, and homes has profound economic and clinical implications. It also explains why investors have backed PocDoc’s patented diagnostic platform, and why the company is now positioned for further expansion across the UK and beyond. 

“We’re already making a meaningful impact,” Roest says. “But the shift from sickness to prevention doesn’t happen overnight. Investment gives us the ability to build for the long term — and that’s exactly what the NHS needs.” 

Learn more about PocDoc and the Healthy Heart Check by visiting their website and connecting on LinkedIn. 

PocDoc is an alumnus of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme, which is delivered by the Health Innovation Network South London. 

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