31.8.2021
Helsinki-based startup Plain Complex has raised 150 000 € on its first angel
investment round to develop and commercialize its new fully automatic roster
planning software for healthcare shift work. Using artificial intelligence makes it
possible to plan full rosters of unprecedented quality in just minutes.
Plain Complex is a Finnish startup company founded in 2021, although the initial product
development started already three years ago. Anaesthesiologist Sasu Liuhanen repeatedly
faced the challenges of planning nurses’ shifts (rostering) in his daily work; the process was
slow, required a lot of manual work and the quality of the rosters left all too often a lot to
desire. Bad rostering was a recurring theme in discussions with colleagues.
To develop a solution to the problem, Sasu Liuhanen, an experienced anaesthesiologist and software
developer, Tuomo Peltola, a seasoned professional in healthtech sales and marketing and
Stefano Campadello, a professional in business development and information technology
founded a new company, Plain Complex. Now the company is commercializing its artificial
intelligence based roster planning software.
The chronic lack of resources and the employees’ challenges in finding a proper work-life
balance while doing demanding shift work have been a long standing issue. The problems
are not new, but COVID-19 has made them worse and brought them into the awareness of
the general public. Plain Complex was founded to solve these issues.
– One of the inherent challenges of shift work is the difficulty of combining work and personal
life. A good roster needs to comply with all applicable laws, collective agreements,
organizational requirements, good shift ergonomy and the employees’ personal wishes and
preferences. Such a puzzle is often extremely difficult to solve and often it is the employees’
wishes that need to give in. Artificial intelligence can change all this and solve the puzzle in a
way that everyone wins. A plan that takes all the aforementioned aspects into account is
ready in minutes, says Sasu Liuhanen, CEO and co-founder of the company.
An ongoing pilot in a large Finnish hospital has already proven that artificial intelligence can
plan rosters where employees can combine shift work and personal life in a way that has not
been possible before. Both employees and roster managers have been amazed by the
quality of the rosters. Transforming the previously long and tedious planning process from
days or even weeks into a few minutes opens up new and unseen opportunities.
The first angel investment round of the company was completed with four renowned angel investors. Ali Omar (FiBAN business angel of the year 2019), Reima Linnanvirta (chair of the board, FiBAN), Henry Nilert (founder of IoBox, FiBAN angel investor) and Pekka Ylitalo (Dimerent) made a 150 000 € seed investment into the company.
– Roster planning affects a great number of nurses and their families. Hence, the quality of the rosters has an immense effect on employees’ work-life balance and their well-being. Artificial intelligence is a true game-changer and enables finding optimal shifts for each employee, says Ali Omar.
– Well-being employees are the focus of Plain Complex, but at the same time, an organization can achieve significant cost savings brought by the uniform quality and fairness of the rosters. Using artificial intelligence is a true win-win, says FiBAN’s chair of the board, Reima Linnanvirta.
Contact:
Sasu Liuhanen
CEO, Co-Founder
+358 40-516 6467 / sasu.liuhanen(at)plaincomplex.com
plaincomplex.com
linkedin.com/company/plaincomplex
DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE IN PDF-FORMAT HERE: Press Release 31.8.2021 Plain Complex Oy
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