Düsseldorf-based Skleo Health, a German healthtech company, has secured €3M in seed funding. The funding will support the expansion of its eye screening network across the country.
Skleo Health’s goal is to address preventable blindness through broader access to medically validated eye screenings.
The investment was led by Sanoptis, an ophthalmology services provider in Europe, with participation from Antler and several angel investors.
Expanding eye screening network nationwide
Founded in March 2024, Skleo Health offers a platform that enables preventive eye screenings in locations such as opticians, pharmacies, retail stores, and company offices. Each screening takes six minutes and is carried out at a partner site.
The results go through a two-step process: first reviewed by a CE-certified AI system, then confirmed by a licensed eye doctor. This process supports early detection of eye conditions and helps guide individuals toward timely specialist care.
The company’s service aims to address a major gap in eye health in Germany, where 9.7 million people are affected by preventable conditions, including glaucoma, diabetic eye disease, and macular degeneration.
With average wait times for specialist appointments reaching 56 days and 31 per cent of patients receiving care too late, Skleo Health is working to make early detection more available and reduce the pressure on healthcare providers.
Since its founding, the company has expanded to the 50 largest cities in Germany, screening more than 11,000 people and detecting over 3,000 cases requiring medical attention.
Its growth has been supported by partnerships with organisations such as optical chain Mister Spex, a growing network of pharmacies, and corporate partners. A new collaboration with a major retail group is expected to launch soon.
Skleo Health’s approach is backed by support from academic institutions including Charité University Clinic Berlin, UCL London, and Yale University.
Brief about the founders
Skleo Health’s founders met during a founder residency run by Antler in Berlin in late 2023.
The team includes Dr. Steffen E. Künzel, an ophthalmologist and researcher who worked at Charité University Hospital; Fabien Vogl, an engineer with an MBA who worked in healthcare and digitisation at Air Liquide; and Dr. Alex Hein, a mathematician and economist who was a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.
Capital utilisation
Skleo Health will use the funds to expand its partner network and increase screening capacity to 30,000 per month. The company also plans to build a nationwide platform that connects patients with specialist eye doctors.
A partnership with lead investor Sanoptis will support the scaling of this platform and ensure access to treatment. Part of the funding will go toward further development of Skleo’s AI diagnostic system.
Dr. Steffen E. Künzel, co-founder of Skleo Health, says, “Every day in the clinic, I witnessed the profound impact of late-stage diagnosis, where treatment options are often limited and the outcomes are uncertain. We founded Skleo Health to fundamentally change this reality.”
“By bringing certified, medically-validated screenings into everyday life, we are replacing reactive treatment with proactive prevention. This funding allows us to build a new standard of care where early detection is the norm, not the exception, ensuring we can save the sight of millions.”
What do the investors say?
Dr. Volker Wendel, Founder and CEO of Sanoptis, says, “At Sanoptis, our mission is to make excellent eye care accessible to everyone – and we see Skleo Health as a key driver in transforming how preventive care is delivered across Europe. Skleo’s approach, which combines medical expertise with cutting-edge AI and an easily accessible screening infrastructure, is shaping the future of eye care.”
“By identifying diseases earlier and being closer to the patient, they are tackling one of the biggest challenges in ophthalmology today: late diagnosis. We are proud to bring our clinical network and expertise to this partnership, and confident that Skleo’s model represents a new era in proactive, patient-centred eye care.”
Sanoptis operates a network of over 450 ophthalmology locations across Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Greece. Its team of over 4,700 professionals performs around 3.3 million treatments each year, including consultations and surgical procedures. Sanoptis partners with ophthalmologists and supports affiliated clinics and practices with infrastructure, technology, and growth opportunities while maintaining their operational independence.
Alan Poensgen, Partner at Antler, adds, “Skleo Health will radically improve eyecare in Germany and across Europe. The precision and speed with which Skleo Health has built an offering that addresses the exact problems facing patients and doctors only comes from firsthand experience.”
“The founding team combines the medical expertise of Steffen with the technical and business experience of Fabien and Alex. They know their market, they have built a solution, and they are now executing and scaling to deliver their vision. It’s been a pleasure working with the founders from day zero, and I have every confidence in their future success.”
Antler is a global investor that supports founders from the earliest stage. Through residencies in 30 cities across six continents, including Berlin, Bangalore, London, and New York, Antler helps entrepreneurs launch businesses by providing team formation, business model validation, initial capital, and follow-on funding. Since its founding, Antler has supported the creation of over 1,400 startups and aims to back more than 6,000 by 2030.
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