Founder Martin Lindman | Image credit: Doktor.se
In the current scenario, there are too many healthcare apps available in the market. And in order to stand out from the crowd, one has to keep track of what the users want and expect. And that’s what Swedish startup Doktor.se does.
Doktor.se claims to be one of Sweden’s largest providers of digital healthcare, with physical healthcare clinics across the country, and digital platform operations across the world. In 2020 over 1.2 million patient consultations were carried out through its app or its physical clinics.
Recently, the winners of the 2021 Future Hamburg Award were announced.
Doktor.se raises fresh capital
In a recent development, the Stockholm-based healthcare company announced that it has secured €29.5M in its new funding round. This fundraise comes on top of an earlier round when Doktor.se raised €50M from institutional investors Consensus Asset Management, Norron, and Skabholmen Invest, among others.
The investment in the current round came from Tencent Holdings, as an extension of the earlier round and on the same terms. It is investing €29.5M, out of which €23M will be new capital and €6.5M will be from existing shareholders.
Speaking on the development, Martin Lindman, CEO & co-founder of Doktor.se, says, “We are excited to welcome Tencent Holdings in our mission to provide the technology which enables safe and accessible healthcare for everyone, making the experience frictionless and efficient. Tencent shares our belief that we can give patients faster, better care in our unique combination of physical and digital healthcare. We look forward to working with them as we expand internationally.”
Physical and digital care
Founded in 2016 by Martin Lindman, Doktor.se aims to improve healthcare worldwide, making it more efficient, more accessible, and more affordable. The company believes it can do this by making the first care contact – digital; this can save both space and resources for the individual and society at large.
Moreover, the company also believes it can help more patients receive care faster, while the traditional care is relieved, which frees up resources for patients who really need physical visits.
To provide better care, the company employs dedicated nurses, specialist nurses, general practitioners, specialist doctors, psychologists, counsellors, and physiotherapists at its digital and physical healthcare centres. Currently, the company has about 700 employees working within the Doktor.se group.
Besides, the company also has a telemedicine platform that is used in multiple countries across Europe through veterinary care chain AniCura; in Belgium through a partnership with telecommunications group Proximus; and in Brazil with the digital healthcare provider ViBE.
Seven countries by 2021
During the pandemic, the demand for digital healthcare increased, and this made Doktor.se the second most downloaded doctor app in Europe, according to app analytics tool Appfigures.
Back in April, Doktor.se appointed Thomas af Bjur in the role of Head of External Affairs, with the aim of promoting collaborations with health care, political actors, and other decision-makers and opinion leaders. And, by the end of 2021, the company aims to be operating in more than seven countries.
Capital utilisation
The proceeds from this round will help the company to expand internationally as well as follow its success in Sweden where it is used by one tenth of the population. Besides, the funds will also help Doktor.se to further expand its digi-physical services by acquiring physical healthcare services to integrate into its digital platforms.
The current funds will also be used to develop Doktor.se’s technical platform in order to offer new and improved services for mental health and chronic illnesses and to expand its digital operations and physical clinics to meet growing demand.
