DoctorPage, a two-month-old eHealth service started by now-Google-owned DailyDeal co-founder Max Scheichenost, has scored a dose of seed-stage funding that will see the Singapore-based doctor-patient connecting service expand overseas, E27 reports.
The value of the round has not been disclosed but the collection of investors is certainly significant, and it includes a series of well-known figures from the international ecommerce space. Rebate Networks founder Michael Brehm and Damian Doberstein, co-founder of Russian giant KupiVP are among its new investors.
Christian Gaiser, founder of location-based shopping network Bonial International, and German angel investor Tim Marbach, are two further high-profile backers. Scheichenost’s own Alps Ventures VC and a collection of local Singaporean investors also put in to the round.
The online appointment service is currently only active in Singapore, but it is aiming to simplify the doctor-patient process by providing benefits to both sides. Not only does the platform make it easy for patients to schedule appointments at the last minute, or days in advance, but also doctors can better management their appointments and fill last minute cancellations using an paid-for, real-time feature.
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The service went live in September, as SG:IO reported, so it is still very early stage. It began with a database that includes close to 12,000 doctors and Scheichenost told TNW that service has 15,000 subscribers and 120 doctors are using the real-time appointment booking system.
The service placed great emphasis on mobile from day one, which makes sense given that many services in Singapore, such as booking taxis, are already done from phones. An iPhone app has been available for free since the September launch — Scheichenost says it has clocked up more than 8,000 downloads — and a version for Android expected soon.
The news of funding is interesting for a couple of reasons. As well as highlighted that the overall ownership and consumer use of smartphones is more advanced in parts of Asia, such as Singapore and Japan, than the West, it also shows that proven entrepreneurs are increasingly seeing potential in Asia.
It therefore follows that investors are also turning their sights to Asia, as Brehm explained:
“We analyzed more than two dozen e-health companies worldwide and ultimately decided to invest in DoctorPage, the most promising one. In only a few weeks, the team has made DoctorPage.sg the market leader in Singapore, which already shows the excellence of the management.”
Curious to find out more about the service and its future plans, TNW reached out to Scheichenost for more details. On the subject of expansion plans, he explains that the company has agreed to deals with a number of partners that will see it launch in two new markets imminently:
“Thanks to our exclusive partnership with some of the largest e-commerce players throughout Southeast Asia, we are finalizing our go-to-market strategy and will be launching in two more countries soon. We are also in the midst of evaluating our options with various strategic partners and investors and are open to exploring collaboration opportunities with interested parties in Southeast-Asia.”
When asked why he chose to locate his next project in Singapore, Scheichenost cites the country’s strong development and business opportunities, saying:
“Singapore was chosen as an ideal base for DoctorPage because of various factors including the well developed healthcare infrastructure, high Internet and smartphone penetration rate, growing affluence and ease of doing business. I have also personally developed a love for the country and it’s people and I’m very excited to be based here for the next few years.”
DoctorPage’s founding team has a particularly strong blend in startups, business, investment and, importantly, the medical industry. Aside from Scheichenost, COO Daniel Endres — who was part of the DailyDeal team — has spent time at Rocket Internet-backed Home24 (in Germany, not the now-closed Singapore operations).
Also on the founding team is Dr Dawn Soo, its chief information officer, whose own background in medicine provides an ideal balance to the business and investment background of the other two.
Image via Pressmaster / Shutterstock
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