Backed by Mark Cuban-led $2.4 million round, TransCrypts uses blockchain to help Ukrainian refugees secure access to health records
TransCrypts is also expanding to help those affected by the earthquake in Turkey.
A Canadian-founded startup is helping Ukrainian healthcare organizations and thousands of refugees with secure access to medical records using blockchain technology.
Founded by Scarborough natives and cousins Zain Zaidi (CEO) and Ali Zaheer (CTO), TransCrypts works with grassroots organizations in Ukraine to allow hospitals and refugees to upload, access and share medical records while the country’s healthcare system remains unstable due to ongoing war.
TransCrypts has helped more than 4,000 refugees access medical records, and found a nearly 40 percent increase in the quality of healthcare.
About a year after the project started in 2022, TransCrypts raised $3.2 million ($2.4 million) in pre-funding in January 2023 to expand its records management platform to other types of documents that need to be verified, including legal and financial records.
The round, which was raised on a SAFE note, was led by Mark Cuban and Protocol Labs, with participation from Techstars, Alumni Ventures, One Piece Ventures, The Fund, Global Millennial Capital, Underdog Labs, Atland Ventures, Asymmetry Ventures, Decentralized VC, and a “number” of undisclosed angel investors.
Recently, TransCrypts went live in Turkey to help recent earthquake victims. Similar to the initiative in Ukraine, Turkish hospitals have been put out of business due to infrastructure damage. As a result, patients receiving care at these facilities could not access medical records.
By partnering with the city of Adana, TransCrypts’ platform would give patients full access to their verified medical history, which they can share with the new hospital.
“We hope to continue giving back through initiatives like this as we scale the business,” Zaidi and Zaheer said in a joint statement to BetaKit.
According to TransCrypts, the project in Ukraine has helped more than 4,000 refugees gain access to medical records, and found an almost 40 percent increase in the quality of healthcare.
TransCrypts’ API-enabled platform also connects to existing HR and payroll databases for income verification forms. Using blockchain technology, TransCrypts breaks the files into thousands of pieces, or blocks, and stores them on computers around the world.
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“Not only does this make lending, leasing and hiring much more efficient, but also fairer, by removing the need for background checks, which have a proven history of aiding discrimination,” Zaidi said. “Our platform puts the individual consumer in the driver’s seat, where they have full control over their information and how it is shared.”
TransCrypts said employees have shared over 1.1 million employment and income verification documents through its platform. Currently home to over 140 different businesses, its customer base includes Zoom, Urban Outfitters, and Spirit, among others.
TransCrypts was established in 2020 and incubated at The Hub at the University of Toronto’s (U of T) Scarborough campus. The startup won a pair of 2022 startup competitions, securing $5,000 from The Hub and $10,000 from U of T Entrepreneurship.
TransCrypts, with dual headquarters between California and Whitby, Ontario, noted that it has three Canadian employees on the team’s nine-person staff. It currently makes about $70,000 in revenue per month and aims to triple that in the next 18 months by scaling its team and offerings.
Featured image courtesy of TransCrypts.
