Munich / Frankfurt am Main — Munich-based telemedicine company TeleClinic has successfully closed its Series A financing and received a capital commitment of seven million euros from Idinvest Partners to expand its market leadership in telemedicine.
Idinvest Partners is a European investment company specializing in the SME segment, with more than eight billion euros in assets under management, which has already completed more than 4,000 financings throughout Europe. As one of the largest European venture capital investors, Idinvest Partners is able to support portfolio companies from seed financing to later financing stages. The company has previously funded digital pioneers such as Allthings, Deezer, Wefox and Withings.
Just in November 2017, TeleClinic had closed a seed financing of two million euros. Now the next big step is about to be taken to scale the business model and provide digital access to medical care for millions more patients. New strategic partnerships and marketing measures are planned for this purpose.
Today, 50 percent of all private patients in Germany already have free digital access to doctors from 30 specialties thanks to TeleClinic. The number of people with statutory health insurance is around nine million. This makes TeleClinic part of standard care. For private patients, e‑prescriptions are possible throughout Germany via TeleClinic. For this purpose, the company cooperates with 7,000 pharmacies. Those with statutory health insurance are to follow suit in 2019 — initially as part of a pilot project. Medical services are available seven days a week, around the clock, and on holidays.
With annual growth of 3.8 percent, the healthcare sector is growing significantly faster than the gross domestic product (source: BMWI Gesundheitswirtschaft Zahlen und Fakten 2016). The healthcare industry is thus a growth sector that is not dependent on economic cycles. The private sector, for example medical products or e‑health applications, accounts for 21.3 percent of value added. Telemedicine is seen as a promising future market.
Katharina Jünger (photo) , CEO of TeleClinicis convinced that telemedicine will play a central role in the German healthcare system in the future: “The digitization of the healthcare system is currently advancing in leaps and bounds. We are actively helping to shape this development and want to use TeleClinic to ensure digital access to high-quality primary care across the country. Germany needs telemedicine to efficiently meet challenges such as demographic change. People are getting older and, as a result, spending is rising. Teleconsultation alone has an estimated benefit potential of 4.4 billion euros. We are pleased to have gained a strong partner in Idinvest Partners to digitally shape the future of health.”
Matthieu Baret, Managing Partner at Idinvest Partners and responsible for Venture and Growth Capital, said: “Idinvest Partners has made a name for itself as one of the highest-profile venture capital investors in Europe with investments in well-known and successful companies in the digital and healthcare industries. The investment in TeleClinic represents another milestone in this strategy. TeleClinic is a pioneer in a promising business area and a market with great potential. In an environment of demographic change and increasing gaps in medical care in rural areas, the company fulfills an important social mission. We are pleased to support TeleClinic in fulfilling this mission.”
About TeleClinic
TeleClinic is a digital health platform and first point of contact for people who have questions about their health. The TeleClinic physicians are available for patients seven days a week and at any time of day — without long waiting times. Only physicians with a German license to practice medicine are admitted to TeleClinic. Medical consultation takes place via modern and nowadays common communication channels. The patient can choose whether the doctor’s conversation takes place via video chat or on the phone, for example. TeleClinic is also a digital pioneer in the area of e‑prescription: e‑prescriptions have been possible for privately insured patients since the beginning of 2018. To this end, the company cooperates with 7,000 pharmacies in private practice. To ensure that patients can use the services of the TeleClinic free of charge, the company cooperates with various payers. Currently, eight private health insurers and four statutory health insurers cooperate with TeleClinic. In addition, as part of the cooperation with the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Baden-Württemberg, all statutory health insurance funds in Baden-Württemberg bear the costs for digital health services via the TeleClinic infrastructure.
Data security is a top priority: the TeleClinic app therefore complies with the requirements of the Medical Devices Act for CE certification. TeleClinic’s mission is to develop digital and efficient alternatives for the German healthcare system that benefit patients, insurance companies, health insurers and doctors. www.teleclinic.com
About Idinvest Partners
Idinvest Partners is a leading European investment firm focused on the mid market. Currently, Idinvest Partners manages assets of around €8 billion with more than 90 employees and has offices in Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Shanghai and Dubai. The company has three business units: Venture & Growth Capital, Private Debt and Private Funds Group. The company was founded in 1997 as part of the Allianz Group and has been independent since 2010. In January 2018, Idinvest Partners merged with Eurazeo. The merger has created a leading investment company in Europe and North America with 15 billion euros in assets under management.