Carewell raises CHF 1.5 million to manage healthcare staff shortages

Carewell has raised CHF 1.5 million in a seed round led by Lucian Wagner for StartAngels Network, with participation from SICTIC, Kickfund and business angels. Founded in 2024, the company operates a platform used by more than 50 hospitals, nursing homes and home-care organizations across Switzerland to manage staff replacements.

Switzerland faces a structural shortage of healthcare professionals, with around 300 people leaving the sector every month. The resulting absences and unfilled shifts create a self-reinforcing cycle: when gaps are not covered, the core team absorbs the strain, burnout rises and more staff leave. Building schedules and handling replacements can absorb up to 60 percent of a healthcare manager’s time.

Carewell’s platform helps institutions cover staffing gaps in two steps. It first activates each institution’s own internal pool of nurses, caregivers and other professionals, and, when that is not enough, opens access to a marketplace of healthcare professionals looking to work flexibly. At its core, a proprietary matching algorithm aims to place the right person at the right time, protecting the core team while allowing professionals who might otherwise leave the sector to stay on their own terms.

Carewell has won all three stages of Venture Kick, took the grand prize at the 2025 PERL (Prix Entreprendre Région Lausanne), and is the first Swiss start-up to complete the full FIT Digital track (Grant, Seed and Growth) from the Foundation for Innovation and Technology. The new capital will fund its commercial expansion across Switzerland, with a particular focus on the German-speaking market, continued investment in its matching technology and mobile app, and the growth of its engineering, operations and sales teams.