A UK healthcare startup that helps the NHS to find cheap doctors has raised £5.3 million

Healthcare startup Network Locum has raised a £5.3 million funding round, showing that it's still possible for young UK technology companies to raise significant sums of money post-Brexit.

Network Locum's workplace management software aims to help NHS practices and hospitals find self-employed locum doctors when they need them. The software gives practices and hospitals access to a bank of up to 40,000 doctors that are looking for work and removes the need for potentially expensive recruitment agencies.

English NHS providers spent an estimated £3.7 billion on locum doctors and nurses in 2015-16. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has criticised "rip-off staffing agencies" for charging extortionate rates.

The latest funding round for the Shoreditch-based company came from venture capital firms BGF Ventures, Beringea, Piton, Samos, and Playfair Capital, bringing total investment in Network Locum up to £8.5 million.

Melissa Morris, cofounder and CEO of Network Locum, told Business Insider: "We had more than one offer but I was terrified we would be affected by Brexit."

The former NHS worker added: "We got more than we wanted and more than doubled our valuation from our A round, which was only eight months ago."

Morris, who employs 45 people, said she plans to use the funding to drive sales and marketing, as well as to accelerate Network Locum's product roadmap. "We just hired the head of UK sales from Just Eat, David Warburton," she added.

Simon Calver, founding partner of BGF Ventures, said in a statement: "The fact that BGF Ventures was confident enough to make this significant investment just a week after the unexpected vote to leave the EU underlines the fact that the UK has a network of tech investors who are still ready and willing to commit to the best ideas and entrepreneurs in the UK's tech scene.

"Leaving the EU raises lots of challenges for the tech community but it does not distract us from our primary purpose of investing in the most promising companies and individuals with global ambitions that we can find."

Several other UK tech companies have also raised funding since the UK voted to leave the European Union on June 23 but this is one of the largest deals that we've come across.