Darshak Shah

Darshak Shah is the Co-Founder of Paloma Health, a London-based digital healthcare company on a mission to reduce NHS waiting times for children needing autism assessments. An economist by education and management consultant by training, Darshak brings deep experience in healthcare entrepreneurship to Paloma Health, having previously co-founded Newmedica — an NHS ophthalmology provider that has delivered high-quality eye care to over 500,000 patients since its inception in 2007. His personal experience with an eye condition has shaped a lifelong commitment to improving specialist care access within the NHS.

At Paloma Health, Darshak and co-founder Dr Mark Jenkins are leveraging technology and service redesign to transform NHS children's autism assessment pathways, targeting delivery of assessments within four weeks compared to the current NHS average of three to five years. The company uses AI-enabled clinicians, workflow automation, and care pathway innovation to make this possible at scale.

Paloma Health raised £2 million in pre-seed funding from Triple Point Ventures, Heal Capital, and prominent angel investors to launch its first NHS service. The company's founding team collectively has over 15 years of experience building technology-driven NHS providers, having treated over one million patients across obesity, diabetes, and ophthalmology programmes.