Why We Invested in Synthax: Automating healthcare admin so Doctors can focus on the patient

Healthcare documentation creating a crisis of wasted resource and burnout

In the UK alone, £9 billion is lost annually to doctors doing paperwork. The average clinician spends 3.2 hours per day on tasks such as documentation, referrals, and handovers. This isn’t just a cost issue - it’s also a human one - as 70% of UK doctors report regularly working late, and half of them are facing burnout. As a result, by 2030, there is expected to be a shortfall of 10 million healthcare workers. Retaining the current workforce, giving them back their time, and maximising their impact on patients is one of the most urgent problems to solve in healthcare.

Meet Synthax: automation that’s truly fit-for-purpose for healthcare use cases

While most healthcare software has historically added complexity, Synthax simplifies. Their product isn’t just another scribe - it’s an AI agent that creates custom automations that slot seamlessly into existing workflows, without requiring hospitals or clinics to “rip and replace” their legacy tech and platforms.

At its core, Synthax is a mobile-first, agentic workflow system that understands context, turns notes into structured information, and translates that into actionable steps - whether that’s referring a patient, completing a form, or coordinating care. Think of it as a digital assistant that relieves doctors of needing to log in, click through clunky interfaces, or chase down information.

Synthax’s vision is bold: in tomorrow’s healthcare systems, legacy platforms like EHRs and hospital IT systems simply become backend data sources. The new front line will be intelligent agents that clinicians interact with via smart, streamlined workflows. It’s a vision of a future where doctors spend less time with screens and more time delivering care to patients.

Fully compliant, now growing fast with their workflow-first mindset

The team prioritised safety and compliance from day one, securing approvals for DTAC (UK) and HIPAA (US) regulations. Now, their first agent is already being used by across 20+ organisations, and has recently seen 10x month-on-month growth in terms of users.

Unlike medical scribes or one-off AI tools, Synthax is building agentic workflows that mirror how doctors actually work. Their edge lies in deep integration with clinical handovers, task management, and patient communication - pain points that are critical, but often overlooked by existing solutions.

Strong founder-market fit, and great team dynamic 

Synthax’s founders bring a strong combination of deep clinical understanding and technical expertise.

Shaheer (CEO) spent five years working as a doctor across the NHS. Left frustrated by the inefficiencies he encountered daily, he began building digital tools to solve them - most notably a medical education platform that reached over 60,000 clinicians and collected over 16,000 feedback forms to address learning gaps. He’s a published researcher, a nominated surgical trainer, and a recognised voice in the healthcare community, with a strong digital following among UK doctors.

Mark (CTO) is a seasoned software engineer with a track record of delivering high-impact consumer products. He has held key roles at VC-backed companies like Skyscanner and Freetrade, where he built and shipped scalable features to millions of users in highly regulated environments. Mark holds degrees in computer science and has published research in machine learning.

Why we invested

Shaheer and Mark stood out by how effectively they work together - quickly validating the problem through over 100 interviews with clinicians. In just two months, they launched a closed beta used by 60 clinicians across the UK and US - gathering meaningful feedback and seeing early signs of virality among power users.

We also appreciated their thoughtful go-to-market strategy: starting with an initial B2C wedge to build trust and distribution among doctors, then expanding into B2B partnerships with hospitals once there was clinician buy-in. 

Since our investment, they’ve only accelerated. They’ve signed six letters of intent for commercial rollout, secured a pilot with a leading regional US hospital, and partnered with a major UK locum agency with access to over 75,000 registered clinicians.

Synthax is building the future of clinical work that’s seamless, intelligent, and human-centered. We're proud to be backing them on that journey.

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