By Business & Finance 
LetsGetChecked has formally announced the opening of their lab in Calmound, Dublin 12, to facilitate the provision of increased COVID-19 testing in Ireland and around Europe
Irish-founded health insights company LetsGetChecked has officially announced the opening of their Dublin lab as they scale up their European operations.
The lab, situated in Calmount Business Park, Dublin 12, will initially be used to increase facilities for LetsGetChecked’s at-home Coronavirus test for Irish consumers. The opening comes after the company announced 140 new jobs in Dublin. Ten hires have already been made on the laboratory team with more to follow.
The lab will begin solely with analysis of COVID-19 test samples, before branching out to the company’s other services. It will serve 19 markets, and be overseen by Lorna Ingoldsby, Director of Laboratory Operations at LetsGetChecked. Construction of the lab was expedited due to the pandemic: the company partnered with Ardmac, which oversaw the build of the facility.
Peter Foley, CEO and Founder of LetsGetChecked, said the new lab has been long in the pipeline and is an exciting next step for the company: “Owning the whole supply chain has been a major priority for us since the beginning. We want to ensure our customers have the most reliable and efficient service possible, especially now amid a global pandemic. Building this lab has been a crucial part of our scaling up of COVID-19 testing, as Ireland begins on the road back to normality. Testing will remain important to ensure safety in workplaces and for essential travel as the vaccine ramps up.
Owning the whole supply chain has been a major priority for us since the beginning. We want to ensure our customers have the most reliable and efficient service possible, especially now amid a global pandemic.
“Beyond this pandemic, we’ve seen a huge rise in demand for quality telehealth services. Customers have seen that they can access effective medical care from the comfort of their home. This lab will also help us expand this testing of other conditions such as diabetes, cholesterol, and colorectal cancer screenings.”
Founded in 2015 by Peter Foley, LetsGetChecked experienced significant growth in 2020, with sales increasing by over 800% year-on-year. The company has also shipped more than 1 million coronavirus tests since the beginning of the pandemic. LetsGetChecked is currently working alongside American Airlines, British Airways, and oneworld to launch a transatlantic Coronavirus testing trial to demonstrate how testing can re-open travel routes and remove the need for quarantine periods.
LetsGetChecked’s tests cover general health, men’s health, women’s health, and sexual health, and are available in Ireland and other European countries, as well as nationwide in the United States. By combining health data and diagnostic results, LetsGetChecked provides rich health insights to enable better healthcare decision making.
In May 2020, LetsGetChecked announced a $71 million funding round, co-led by Illumina Ventures and HLM Venture Partners, to fuel their expansion and the supply of their at-home Coronavirus tests. The oversubscribed Series C round brought their funding total to $114 million.
