he founders of a London-based doctor recruitment platform aimed at plugging NHS staffing shortages are in line for a major payout after the firm was acquired by a Japanese investor.
Christopher Kurwie, a former M&A solicitor, and Abrar Gundroo, a former intensive care doctor at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in Westminster, today said they had sold their business to Tokyo-based healthcare investment firm M3 for an undisclosed fee.
The pair, who become friends at secondary school before both going to Cambridge University, jointly control just under 50% of the share capital of the company, which they founded in 2017.
The Fulham-based business operates as recruiting marketplace platform for U.K. doctors, for surgeries and hospitals to hire locums, or temporary doctors, at short notice.
The deal highlights the scale of opportunities available to businesses seeking to address chronic staffing shortages in the NHS, the UK’s single-biggest employer. The shortages, which currently stand at some 154,000, could rise to as many as 570,000 staff by 2036, according to internal NHS documents seen by the Guardian.
M3, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, already owns a number of UK businesses focused on NHS staffing, including Remedium, an international physician recruiting company and Rotamaster, a rostering and workforce management software for medical institutions.
The company said in a statement: “This acquisition will strengthen M3’s position in providing solutions for the doctor shortages in the U.K. Together with its other M3 group companies in the U.K. …M3 aims to answer the staff shortage issues in NHS.”
Around 70% of trainee doctors in the UK have registered with Messly, according to M3. The firm previously completed a £400,000 funding round in February 2020.