Cavell, a digital HealthTech startup based in Ghent’s Wintercircus, announces that it has raised €1.5 million in a pre-Seed funding round in order to bring several strategic investors on board to accelerate growth in Belgium and across Europe, both in primary and secondary care.
Co-founder Louis Verdonckt sees the funding as a key milestone: “Several promising partnerships are in the pipeline to bring Cavell to many healthcare providers in Belgium. But our ambition goes beyond Belgium — we want to improve healthcare across Europe. Thanks to the trust of our investors, we can now scale faster and increase our impact. We’re incredibly excited to keep building a care system that truly revolves around the patient.”
Cavell was founded in 2024 by Anthony Rathé, Pieter Olivier, and Louis Verdonckt to tackle what they believe to be one of the biggest pain points in healthcare: administrative overload and poor medical data quality.
Pieter Olivier, a neurologist at AZ Sint-Lucas and Co-founder, saw the need firsthand every day: “As a physician, I noticed how much time was lost to reporting and admin. It was frustrating to see how much that took away from real patient care.”
Cavell’s software listens during consultations, surgeries, or nurse rounds, and automatically generates a medical report — coded when necessary — that goes straight into the patient’s file.
At AZ Sint-Lucas in Ghent — a hospital closely linked to Cavell’s founding — CEO Thierry Freyne emphasised the importance of empowering internal talent: “We don’t just want to rely on external tech — we want to foster innovation and entrepreneurship within our staff and physicians.”
For frontline practitioners, the benefits are immediate. Pieter Vanderschaeve of Medined GP Practice noted that Cavell streamlines his workflow and enhances patient interactions: “Thanks to Cavell, I can fully focus on the patient and their story. Cavell gives me a clear summary of the anamnesis. It saves me time, improves patient interaction, and results in complete notes in my EHR.”
Hospitals across Belgium are embracing Cavell as part of broader digital health strategies. AZ Oostende, for instance, is advancing its AI initiatives through its innovation cell HiTide. According to Brecht Dekeyser, Director of Data & IT, the tool supports their mission to reduce screen time for caregivers and improve face-to-face engagement: “The nurses, doctors, and paramedics using Cavell are very enthusiastic about the immediate impact it has on their work.”
At the European Hip Center, Cavell is helping turn routine consultations into opportunities for structured data capture, feeding directly into electronic records and backend systems. CEO Stijn Roose highlighted the value for precision medicine, stating: “While we give our full attention to the patient, structured data points are immediately entered into the patient record and even our backend data warehouse. A huge leap forward in data-driven precision medicine.”
AZORG’s Director of Care Innovation, Frank Staelens, also sees Cavell as a cornerstone of their digital transformation: “By integrating Cavell into our hospital, we’re taking a major step toward care innovation. This tool reduces workload for our healthcare professionals, optimises data entry, and helps deliver higher quality care to our patients.”
With the funding, the Cavell team aims to further develop the company into the standard for capturing, structuring, and processing medical data — in every clinical setting, for every user.
The focus is on building reliable, scalable technology that fits seamlessly into the daily reality of healthcare providers and integrates with existing software systems.
“Our goal isn’t just to be a digital health tool,” adds Rathé, Co-founder. “We’re building technology that truly works for people in healthcare — robust, user – friendly, and integrated. Only then can we make a lasting difference.”
The capital will also support Cavell’s international rollout.