TurnUp, the AI platform tackling no-shows and last-minute cancellations at dental and medical practices, has raised €2 million in a seed round led by Newion. The Ghent startup will use the capital to accelerate its commercial activities, strengthen its technical team and push further into the UK.
Every day, care goes undelivered. Globally, no-shows cost the healthcare sector €350 billion a year. Per 100 patients, 7 cancel at the last minute and 4 simply don't show up. One empty chair per day adds up to thousands in lost revenue each month. Receptionists try to fill those gaps manually, working through call lists and leaving voicemails. Even so, chairs at dental and medical practices go empty far too often.
"I see it every day with our clients: a receptionist calls through a list of twenty patients, twelve don't pick up, four can't make it, and then the rest call back asking why they were contacted in the first place," says Koen Lepez, CEO of TurnUp. "A group practice with 18 dentists left up to €250,000 in profit on the table last year, purely through no-shows and late cancellations. Which is a shame, especially when you consider the long waiting lists of patients who need care."
Rain or shine
To solve these problems, TurnUp built an AI platform that predicts no-shows two weeks in advance and resolves them automatically. The system connects to existing practice management software, reads the schedule and calculates the likelihood that each patient won't show up. To do that, it combines historical patient data, location, age group and external factors.
Weather alone accounts for up to 30% of attendance. On a sunny Friday afternoon, some patients choose a terrace over the dentist's chair. When snow or heavy rain hits, others prefer to stay home. TurnUp looks two weeks ahead and adjusts its per-patient prediction as the forecast changes. Patients with a high no-show probability automatically receive a series of targeted reminders, from email and SMS to a personal confirmation call. If a patient does cancel, the platform immediately sends the freed-up slot to a waiting list. In 90% of cases, someone else is quickly in the chair.
TurnUp goes further than prediction alone. Elissa, TurnUp's AI receptionist, calls patients for confirmations, including evenings and weekends, in any language. She confirms, cancels and asks to reschedule where needed, and gives the front desk a clear picture of the day ahead. Step by step, the platform takes over the most repetitive tasks: from no-shows to last-minute cancellations, from confirmation calls to waiting list management.
2,500 dentists
TurnUp was founded in 2022 by Nicolas De Bruyne (CRO) and Jona Decubber (CTO). Koen Lepez (CEO) initially came on board as an investor before joining the team as CEO in September 2024. Koen previously founded cloud company Direct, which was sold to IT provider Easi in 2021. Today, TurnUp serves more than 250 practices across Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK, covering more than 2,500 dentists. Clients include UZ Gent, MOND Dental Practices and Dentius. Together, the platform has already prevented more than half a million no-shows, saved receptionists and practice managers over 65,000 hours of work, and helped nearly 70,000 patients receive care that would otherwise have been lost.
Seed round
To fund its growth, TurnUp is now raising €2 million in an equity seed round led by Newion. RDY Ventures completes the round. The capital will go towards scaling up commercial activities and client services, and expanding the technical team. A pilot with a group of 400 practices is already running in the UK.
"We always start from the same question: how do we make sure every chair in a practice is filled? No-shows are the biggest obstacle to occupancy. In Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK, we've shown we can solve that problem. Now we want to do the same for every care practice in Europe and then the US. The scale is there," concludes Koen.