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Irish-founded healthcare company LetsGetChecked has been named as the official partner of the Irish Olympic team, providing home-collection Covid-19 testing for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The company will provide pre-travel tests to 260 athletes and staff before they fly to Tokyo on July 1st. LetsGetChecked will also test the athletes further on their return to Ireland. The team includes top professional golfer Rory McIlroy, who will represent Ireland at the Olympics for the first time.
"We are delighted to partner with Team Ireland to provide athletes and staff with coronavirus [Covid-19] tests before and after the Tokyo Games," said Peter Foley, chief executive of LetsGetChecked. "The health and safety of all members of the team is a top priority and we're incredibly proud to serve as their official partner."
Team Ireland's tests will be processed in LetsGetChecked's Dublin laboratory, which was opened in February and is the company's first owned and operated lab in Europe.
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Catherine Tiernan, commercial director for the Olympic Federation of Ireland, said this year's Olympic Games would be unique. "LetsGetChecked will play a key role in ensuring that athletes have easy access to a reliable and fast testing service ahead of travel and when they return," she said.
The announcement comes only weeks after LetsGetChecked raised $150 million in a Series D funding round that pushed the company to a $1 billion valuation, making it the latest tech company to achieve unicorn status.
LetsGetChecked was founded by Mr Foley in 2015 and has seen its business grow significantly during the pandemic, with year-on-year growth hitting 1,500 per cent.
The company, which has offices in Dublin and New York, has delivered more than two million tests for a wide range of health conditions.
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