Asterix Health pre-seed backs remote UK‑registered GPs to ease NHS GP shortages
This article covers Asterix Health, a healthtech startup that has closed a pre-seed funding round of £2.1m led by Triple Point. The funding will support rollout of its DoctorOS platform, which connects UK-registered GPs working remotely to NHS primary care and aims to expand clinical capacity and relieve pressure on GP services.
Asterix Health, a healthtech startup that hires UK-registered GPs working remotely to support NHS primary care, has closed a pre-seed funding round of £2.1 million led by Triple Point. The round, which also includes participation from D2, Entrepreneurs First, Basis Capital and a group of angel investors, funds the further rollout of its DoctorOS platform that connects practices to remote clinicians — a model the company says can relieve pressure on strained GP services.
Why it matters
Primary care in England is under long-running pressure from workforce shortages: the number of patients per fully qualified GP has risen around 15% since 2015 and surveys suggest around two in three doctors have considered working abroad. Asterix aims to expand the pool of clinicians available to NHS practices by hiring General Medical Council‑registered GPs who are based overseas to undertake clinical administration and telephone consultations for UK patients. If the approach scales, the company estimates annual savings to primary care of between £250 million and £300 million.
Inside the product
Asterix’s DoctorOS platform integrates with core Electronic Patient Record systems including EMIS and SystmOne, allowing remote clinicians access to patient records and task lists so they can complete clinical admin and consultations with the necessary context. The startup says it is already live with GP surgeries serving about 250,000 patients and that more than 3,000 hours of care have been delivered through the platform to date.
According to the company, the model typically frees up around one GP session per practice each day. That reclaimed time is being allocated by partner practices to proactive care services rather than routine administration, the founders say.
Who are the investors?
The pre-seed round was led by Triple Point. Other named participants include D2, Basis Capital, Entrepreneurs First and a syndicate of angel investors.
In the announcement, Matt Clifford, Co-founder at Entrepreneurs First, said:
Julian and Max are exactly the kind of founders EF exists for, people who've lived the problem and have the depth to fix it at scale. The NHS workforce crisis isn't going away, and this is the most credible solution I've seen. Asterix has the potential to be a defining company in UK Healthtech.
In the announcement, Jamie Tomalin, Investor at Triple Point, said:
Every time healthcare gets more productive, demand grows to meet it. Unfortunately, there's no fixed amount of medicine to be done. Asterix is unlocking a pool of brilliant doctors who couldn't otherwise reach NHS patients, and creating a new model of care that unlocks the capacity expansion the system actually needs. Asterix is taking a meaningful step towards greater healthcare abundance in the UK.
The investor line‑up combines venture and specialist healthcare backers with early‑stage programme ties, reflecting investor interest in workforce and remote care models that can bridge staffing gaps in the NHS.
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Founder perspective
Asterix was founded in 2024 by Julian Titz and Max Thilo after both endured serious personal health problems and identified delays in access to care linked to staffing shortfalls. The founders met through the Entrepreneurs First programme in London. Clinical leadership has been strengthened by the appointment of Dr Mike Bewick, former Deputy Medical Director at NHS England responsible for Primary Care.
In the announcement, Julian Titz, Co-founder & CEO, said:
For the first time in decades we are actually growing the pie, increasing the number of highly qualified GPs available to deliver primary care rather than simply moving existing GPs around the country. Our early partners are already seeing significant productivity gains and reallocating the saved time into new proactive care services for patients as a result.
In the announcement, Mike Bewick, Strategic Medical Lead at Asterix Health, said:
The NHS has the talent, it just needs the infrastructure to deploy it properly. Asterix has built that. There are thousands of GMC-registered GPs who left not because they wanted to stop practising, but because the system didn’t work for them. I joined Asterix as they are creating a more sustainable workforce that meets the needs of modern primary care, with a relentless focus on quality and governance.
The bigger picture
Asterix’s approach touches several broader debates in UK health policy and healthtech: how to expand clinical capacity without simply redistributing existing clinicians, and how to use digital platforms to make remote working safe and auditable. The company points to the NHS 10 Year Plan as a context for workforce and access reforms, and its focus on integration with EMIS and SystmOne reflects the practical interoperability challenges any platform must solve to win NHS partnerships.
The model also raises questions about regulation, supervision and longer‑term workforce planning — issues that will determine whether remote overseas‑based clinicians can become a persistent complement to UK primary care rather than a short‑term fix.
This deal is another signal that investors are exploring healthtech companies focused on workforce and operational capacity in the UK. As primary care continues to strain under demand, backers and policymakers will be watching closely to see if models like Asterix’s can deliver measurable improvements at scale across the NHS and in neighbouring European health systems.
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