# Patient21
Patient21 is a Berlin-based healthtech company, founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneurs Christopher Muhr and Nicolas Hantzsch, that combines proprietary clinic software with a network of outpatient clinics it owns and operates across Germany, with dentistry as its largest specialty. As of the last recorded funding event, a €100 million Series C in May 2023, the company was active and planning expansion beyond Germany.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2019, Berlin, by Christopher Muhr and Nicolas Hantzsch[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) • [2](https://www.bertelsmann.com/news-and-media/news/bertelsmann-investments-invests-in-europe-s-fastest-growing-digital-health-start-up.jsp) |
| Legal form | Patient 21 SE (converted from Patient 21 GmbH), AG Charlottenburg HRB 234032 B[3](https://www.northdata.com/Patient%2021%20SE,%20Berlin/Amtsgericht%20Charlottenburg%20(Berlin)%20HRB%20234032%20B) |
| Model | Owned outpatient clinics run on proprietary clinic-management and patient-engagement software[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) |
| Network (May 2023) | 53 outpatient clinics in Germany, 43 of them dental; over 300,000 patient visits a year[2](https://www.bertelsmann.com/news-and-media/news/bertelsmann-investments-invests-in-europe-s-fastest-growing-digital-health-start-up.jsp) • [4](https://www.businessinsider.com/patient21-hybrid-healthtech-raises-108-million-series-c-2023-5) |
| Funding | ~€66 million before May 2023; €100 million Series C led by Pitango; roughly €166 million total[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) |
| Status | Active as last recorded; no newer funding event listed as of 13 July 2026[5](https://funding.tech.eu/deals/790AAC99-258B-497B-8509-CEDB8CBBC724) |
## What Patient21 does
Patient21 runs a hybrid "digi-physical" model: it builds software and buys clinics, then uses the software to run them. Its platform tracks the patient journey from online appointment booking through check-up, diagnosis, and treatment schedule, and lets patients monitor their own clinical data.[4](https://www.businessinsider.com/patient21-hybrid-healthtech-raises-108-million-series-c-2023-5) The software stack spans online booking, digital case history, check-in, diagnosis, treatment planning, and clinical quality control, developed with its own practitioners, and the company has started work on AI-driven diagnostic support.[6](https://techfundingnews.com/german-healthtech-platform-patient21-sets-record-with-largest-fundraising-round-of-2023-with-e100m-what-about-competition/) The stack includes a patient-facing app, a doctor app, and a clinic management system.[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/)
The clinic network is dentistry-led: more than 80% of its clinics target oral health, with the rest split between gynecology and GP practices.[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) Unlike the US company Carbon Health, Patient21 does not offer remote telemedicine; care is delivered in person.[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) The company describes its mission as building a digital platform that runs and connects clinics to make value-based healthcare a reality and unburden doctors from paperwork.[7](https://patient21.com/en/company)
## Founders
According to the company's own site, [Christopher](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher) (Chris) Muhr, co-founder and CEO, was previously COO of Auto1 Group, overseeing its international expansion; Auto1's 2021 public offering valued the company at €8 billion. Earlier he co-founded Citydeal, which was sold to Groupon in 2010, and was involved with McMakler, HeavenHR, and Endy Sleep.[7](https://patient21.com/en/company) Co-founder Nicolas Hantzsch worked in investment banking at NIBC N.V. in [Frankfurt](https://www.edgepedia.org/frankfurt) before moving into startups. According to the company's own site, he beat cancer in 2010 and again in 2015, and says he started Patient21 in 2020 out of that experience; the company's founding, however, is dated to 2019 by [TechCrunch](https://www.edgepedia.org/techcrunch), Bertelsmann, and Business Insider, and the sources do not reconcile the two dates.[7](https://patient21.com/en/company) • [1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) The commercial register shows the company converted from Patient 21 GmbH to Patient 21 SE, with Hantzsch and Muhr on the executive board and Hantzsch as managing director.[3](https://www.northdata.com/Patient%2021%20SE,%20Berlin/Amtsgericht%20Charlottenburg%20(Berlin)%20HRB%20234032%20B)
## Funding
Before the Series C, Patient21 had raised around €66 million ($71 million).[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) In May 2023 it raised a €100 million ($108 million) Series C, a mix of equity and debt led by the Israeli venture firm Pitango.[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) More than 70% of the round was equity; participants included [PICO Venture Partners](https://www.edgepedia.org/pico-venture-partners), Bertelsmann Investments, Artian, Target Global, Piton Capital, and angel investors, with debt provided by IPF Partners.[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) Bertelsmann Investments put in €10 million of that total.[2](https://www.bertelsmann.com/news-and-media/news/bertelsmann-investments-invests-in-europe-s-fastest-growing-digital-health-start-up.jsp) Trade press reported it as the largest European healthtech funding round of 2023 at the time.[6](https://techfundingnews.com/german-healthtech-platform-patient21-sets-record-with-largest-fundraising-round-of-2023-with-e100m-what-about-competition/) The aggregator PitchBook, an unverified directory source, separately lists a $3.39 million seed round dated April 2019 and dates the Series C at 22 May 2023 at $110 million.[8](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/482626-27) Together the journalism and the company's statement imply roughly €166 million raised in total.[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/)
## Business and traction
Patient21 makes its money through in-person services at its clinics, with long-term plans around partnerships and a franchise model for running clinics.[4](https://www.businessinsider.com/patient21-hybrid-healthtech-raises-108-million-series-c-2023-5) As of May 2023 it operated 53 outpatient clinics across Germany, 43 of them dental, handling more than 300,000 patient visits a year, and had become the fourth-largest dentistry provider in Germany by number of clinics operated since its 2019 inception.[2](https://www.bertelsmann.com/news-and-media/news/bertelsmann-investments-invests-in-europe-s-fastest-growing-digital-health-start-up.jsp) • [4](https://www.businessinsider.com/patient21-hybrid-healthtech-raises-108-million-series-c-2023-5) PitchBook, again unverified, records a merger or acquisition of Klinik Sankt Elisabeth by Patient21 on 18 March 2021.[8](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/482626-27)
CEO Muhr said the clinics became operationally profitable quickly, so most funding goes toward software development rather than clinic rollout; this is the company's own claim, not independently audited.[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) Muhr also argued that owning physical clinics gives Patient21 "end-to-end control" of the patient journey that a digital-only product cannot achieve.[4](https://www.businessinsider.com/patient21-hybrid-healthtech-raises-108-million-series-c-2023-5)
## How it compares
Patient21 occupies a different slot from two leading European digital health platforms. Doctolib, a Paris-based booking, telemedicine, and practice-management platform, raised €500 million at a €5.8 billion valuation in 2022. Kry (Livi), a Swedish telehealth platform offering video consultations, raised its largest round, $155 million, in 2019.[6](https://techfundingnews.com/german-healthtech-platform-patient21-sets-record-with-largest-fundraising-round-of-2023-with-e100m-what-about-competition/) Patient21's clinic ownership buys end-to-end control of care delivery, per its CEO, at the cost of the capital intensity of running physical facilities.[4](https://www.businessinsider.com/patient21-hybrid-healthtech-raises-108-million-series-c-2023-5)
## Current status
At the Series C, Muhr said Patient21 expected to launch in two new European markets within 12 months.[1](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/) tech.eu's funding record, as of 13 July 2026, lists the May 2023 Series C as the company's most recent round, with investors including Artian, Bertelsmann Investments, and Maria Raga; the company's status is active as last recorded.[5](https://funding.tech.eu/deals/790AAC99-258B-497B-8509-CEDB8CBBC724)
## References
1. TechCrunch, "Patient21, a digital healthcare startup with brick-and-mortar clinics, raises $108M to grow beyond Germany", https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/21/patient21-a-digital-healthcare-startup-with-brick-and-mortar-clinics-raises-108m-to-expand-beyond-germany/
2. Bertelsmann, "Bertelsmann Investments Invests in Europe's Fastest-Growing Digital Health Start-Up", https://www.bertelsmann.com/news-and-media/news/bertelsmann-investments-invests-in-europe-s-fastest-growing-digital-health-start-up.jsp
3. North Data, "Patient 21 SE, Berlin, AG Charlottenburg HRB 234032 B", https://www.northdata.com/Patient%2021%20SE,%20Berlin/Amtsgericht%20Charlottenburg%20(Berlin)%20HRB%20234032%20B
4. Business Insider, "Patient21: Hybrid Healthtech Raises $108 Million Series C", https://www.businessinsider.com/patient21-hybrid-healthtech-raises-108-million-series-c-2023-5
5. tech.eu Funding Explorer, "Patient21 raises €100M — Series C", https://funding.tech.eu/deals/790AAC99-258B-497B-8509-CEDB8CBBC724
6. TechFundingNews, "German platform Patient21 raises €100M, sets record with largest healthtech funding round of 2023", https://techfundingnews.com/german-healthtech-platform-patient21-sets-record-with-largest-fundraising-round-of-2023-with-e100m-what-about-competition/
7. Patient21, "We're building the healthcare platform of the future", https://patient21.com/en/company
8. PitchBook, "Patient21 2026 Company Profile", https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/482626-27
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Business and work › Business and work overview › Companies and corporations › Venture-backed startups and growth companies › Health, biotech, and medtech startups › Healthcare services and clinic operators*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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