For many people, the first sign of a health issue is a symptom. For a growing cohort in the UK, it’s a data point from a small vial of blood, collected at home and mailed to a lab. Thriva, a London-based healthtech company founded in 2015, has built its business on the premise that giving people easier access to their own biomarker data can shift healthcare from reactive to proactive, one finger-prick test at a time. By March 2025, the company reported it had performed more than 650,000 tests, a metric that speaks to a quiet but steady adoption of its model [Forbes, March 2025].
This is not about replacing a doctor’s visit. It’s about creating a new entry point. The standard of care for checking cholesterol, vitamin D, or thyroid function typically requires a patient to notice a problem, secure a GP appointment, get a referral, and visit a clinic. Thriva’s core product removes the first three steps: a user orders a kit online, collects a capillary blood sample at home, and sends it to a partner laboratory for analysis, with results and plain-English insights delivered via a digital dashboard within 48 hours [startups.co.uk, 2018]. The company’s bet is that convenience and clarity will empower a population of health-conscious, but time-poor, individuals to monitor their wellness long before a clinical need arises.
The Proactive Health Wedge
Thriva’s initial wedge was straightforward: make routine blood testing as easy as ordering a book online. The company started with tests for markers associated with areas like thyroid function, iron levels, and liver health, positioning them not as diagnostic tools but as windows into how lifestyle impacts the body [Forbes]. This framing is crucial. By avoiding diagnostic claims and focusing on wellness and monitoring, Thriva navigates a complex regulatory landscape, operating as a provider of health information rather than a medical device company. Every test is reviewed by a Thriva doctor, according to the company, which adds a layer of clinical oversight to the consumer-facing model [Thriva].
The model proved sticky enough to build a subscriber base. By 2018, Thriva reported 20,000 subscribers across the UK [startups.co.uk, 2018]. That figure grew to over 100,000 people using its kits by August 2019 [Forbes, August 2019]. This traction was built on a classic direct-to-consumer playbook, but with a highly sensitive product where trust is paramount. The company’s growth, reported at 100% year-on-year in May 2020, suggests it found a product-market fit among a segment eager to take a more data-driven role in managing their health [TechCrunch, May 2020].
Funding a Decade-Long Build
Thriva’s journey has been funded incrementally, reflecting a capital-efficient build in a sector known for burn. The company has raised a total of approximately $15.7 million across several rounds since its 2015 founding [welcometothejungle.com]. Its investor list includes a mix of European venture firms and notable angel investors like Taavet Hinrikus (Wise) and Alex Chesterman (Zoopla), who backed a £1.5 million seed round in June 2017 [TechCrunch, June 2017].
A £6 million ($7.3 million) Series A in 2019 from investors including Pembroke VCT and Guinness Asset Management helped the company scale its operations [Forbes, August 2019]. A further £4 million extension in May 2020, led by Target Global, provided crucial capital during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period when at-home health testing became both more relevant and more scrutinized [TechCrunch, May 2020]. The funding history shows a company that has grown in step with its market validation.
| Date | Round | Amount | Key Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2017 | Seed | £1.5M (~$1.9M) | Alex Chesterman, Simon Franks, Taavet Hinrikus, Seedcamp, 500 Startups, London Co-Investment Fund [TechCrunch, June 2017] |
| August 2019 | Series A | £6M (~$7.3M) | Pembroke VCT, Guinness Asset Management [Forbes, August 2019] |
| May 2020 | Series A Extension | £4M (~$5M) | Target Global (lead) [TechCrunch, May 2020] |
Evolving Beyond the DTC Kit
While the consumer kit remains the flagship, Thriva has been methodically building a second engine for growth: partnerships. This B2B2C motion expands its reach beyond individuals who seek it out. The company has partnered with employee benefits platform Heka to offer testing as a workplace wellness perk [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026]. A two-year nationwide partnership with pharmacy chain Superdrug to offer in-clinic health testing and personalized reports represents a significant physical retail footprint [thembsgroup.co.uk, retrieved 2026]. The company also offers white-label at-home testing solutions for other partners, suggesting an asset-light approach to scaling its laboratory and logistics network [Thriva].
This diversification is prudent. The direct-to-consumer wellness market is crowded and subject to shifting consumer trends. By embedding its service within established healthcare and wellness ecosystems,from employers to pharmacies,Thriva gains more predictable distribution and aligns itself with entities that have existing trust relationships with patients.
The founding team, led by CEO Hamish Grierson, brings operational experience from fintech rather than healthcare. Grierson was previously at Travelex and an early employee at Tandem Bank [TechCrunch, June 2016]. Co-founders Eliot Brooks (COO) and Tom Livesey (CTO) round out a trio that approached healthcare as a logistics and consumer experience problem first. Their background in payments and technology may have been an advantage in building a smooth e-commerce and data delivery platform, even if it meant building clinical credibility from the ground up.
The Limits of Lifestyle Data
For all its traction, Thriva operates in a nuanced space where consumer health information meets clinical care. The company’s risks are inherent to its category.
- Clinical Utility. The greatest challenge is translating data into meaningful action. A user learns their vitamin D is low,what then? Thriva provides insights and can facilitate follow-up with a GP, but the onus remains on the individual to seek care. The value proposition hinges on this data motivating behavioral change or early clinical consultation, an outcome that is difficult to measure at scale.
- Regulatory Scrutiny. While Thriva avoids diagnostic claims, the line between wellness information and medical advice is fine and closely watched by bodies like the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Any shift in regulatory interpretation of direct-to-consumer lab testing could impact its business model.
- Market Saturation. The at-home testing market has seen an influx of players, from large diagnostic labs to pure-play digital health apps. Thriva’s differentiation rests on its brand trust, doctor-reviewed process, and growing partnership network. Maintaining that edge requires continuous investment in customer experience and clinical rigor.
The company’s answer to these risks appears to be a focus on integration and credibility. Partnerships with entities like Superdrug bring a clinical adjacency. The doctor review of every result, as the company states, is a key compliance and trust feature. The long-term bet is that by becoming a reliable, habitual part of people’s health routines, Thriva becomes the default brand for proactive monitoring.
The Next Phase of Proactive Care
The trajectory for Thriva over the next twelve months will likely involve deepening its existing channels rather than dramatic pivots. Key milestones to watch include the rollout of the Superdrug partnership and any new white-label deals that use its testing infrastructure. Having served an estimated 2 million people, the company’s next challenge is increasing the lifetime value of each user, potentially through more specialized panels, like its women’s health packages for fertility and menopause support, or recurring subscription plans [tryterra.co, 2025] [Thriva].
Financially, with its last major round in 2020 and a team that had expanded to 50 in London by that point, the company may be approaching a point where it seeks further capital to accelerate its partnership strategy or expand geographically within Europe [TechCrunch, May 2020].
For patients managing conditions like hypothyroidism or iron-deficiency anemia, the standard of care today often involves periodic clinic visits for blood draws, followed by a wait for results and a follow-up consultation to adjust medication. It’s a fragmented, time-consuming process. Thriva’s vision offers a glimpse of a more continuous alternative: a world where stable, monitored patients can conduct necessary tests at home, seamlessly sharing data with their clinician to inform care. It’s a humane vision that puts patient convenience and data ownership at the center. The company’s journey from a simple DTC kit to an integrated health partner shows how that vision is being built, one mailed vial at a time.
Sources
- [Forbes, March 2025] Thriva profile and test metric | https://www.forbes.com/profile/eliot-brooks/
- [startups.co.uk, 2018] Thriva startup profile | https://startups.co.uk/startups-100/2018/40-thriva/
- [Forbes, August 2019] Thriva secures $7.3M Series A | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamessomauroo/2019/08/01/thriva-secures-73m-series-a-for-proactive-healthcare/
- [Thriva] Company website claims | https://thriva.co/
- [TechCrunch, May 2020] Thriva raises £4M from Target Global | https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/22/thriva-raises-4m-from-target-in-an-era-when-at-home-blood-testing-is-more-crucial-than-ever/
- [welcometothejungle.com] Thriva company profile and funding total | https://app.welcometothejungle.com/companies/Thriva
- [TechCrunch, June 2017] Thriva raises £1.5M seed round | https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/13/thriva-raises-1-5m-from-angels-seedcamp-500-and-lcif-to-scale-blood-testing/
- [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] Partnership with Heka | https://www.linkedin.com/company/thriva/posts/
- [thembsgroup.co.uk, retrieved 2026] Partnership with Superdrug | https://thembsgroup.co.uk/
- [TechCrunch, June 2016] Early Thriva profile and founder background | https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/19/thriva/
- [tryterra.co, 2025] Podcast with Thriva CTO and estimated user count | https://tryterra.co/podcast/thriva-cto-tom-livesey