Investment & Fund Management

SWORD Health, a healthcare technology company based in Portugal, addresses the significant challenges associated with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, which affect two billion people globally each year. The CEO, Virgilio Bento, highlights the difficulties patients face in accessing traditional physiotherapy, including the high costs and time constraints that often lead to treatment abandonment. This abandonment can result in patients resorting to opioids for pain relief or undergoing unnecessary surgeries, which frequently do not resolve their issues.

To combat these challenges, SWORD Health developed a virtual physical therapy solution that allows patients to engage in therapeutic sessions from the comfort of their homes at their convenience. The service utilizes wearable motion tracking devices that communicate with the cloud, providing therapists with real-time feedback on patient progress. This innovative approach has shown that 30% of patients recover faster and achieve better outcomes compared to traditional onsite therapy.

In 2020, SWORD Health expanded its operations to the USA after receiving crucial equity investment from Faber, a venture capital firm supported by the European Investment Fund (EIF). This funding enabled SWORD Health to enhance its research and development efforts and further commercialize its product. The company has successfully established itself as a leader in the virtual physical therapy space, serving a diverse client base that includes health systems, healthcare services, insurance companies, and self-insured employers in the United States, all seeking to provide cost-effective, high-quality care.