How this Singapore Healthtech Startup Caught Hong Kong's Attention New investment from Cyberport Macro Fund brings DocDoc's total funding to US$18.5 million
By Pooja Singh
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Singapore is one of the world's healthiest countries. Still, the struggle to achieve work-life balance often results in people making uninformed healthcare choices. Perhaps that's why the region is witnessing a steady growth in healthtech startups, with many drawing hefty investment and plenty of interest.
The island nation's government too is big on healthtech. It has allocated S$4 billion (US$2.95 billion) for research and development in health and biomedical sciences for the 2016 to 2020 period.
Among the several startups in the healthtech sector which are fast growing is DocDoc. The Singapore-based healthcare technology startup believes that data-driven digital healthcare is the answer to help people with such conundrums.
Operating in eight countries with more than 23,000 doctors and over 700 hospitals and clinics—the largest in Asia, DocDoc enables patients to find the right care at the right time. The company combines deep expertise in clinical informatics, artificial intelligence, and healthcare quality assessment to deliver simple yet powerful patient solutions.
Money Matters
The company, which has created a large network of doctors using a powerful AI-powered doctor discovery platform, is now entering Hong Kong. It has secured a strategic investment from Cyberport Macro Fund (CMF), following which it will open a new office in Hong Kong's Cyberport. This recent investment from CMF brings the total funding DocDoc has raised to date to US$18.5 million. In March last year, it had raised US$5.5 million from Adamas Finance Asia.
DocDoc plans to leverage the Cyberport facilities, infrastructure and its network to continue to expand its insurance footprint in the region, providing data-driven doctor discovery services to insurance policyholders.
Government Support
Cyberport, a wholly owned entity of the Hong Kong SAR government, is an innovative digital community in Hong Kong, with over 1,200 technology companies, and has accelerated the growth of the city's vibrant technology community. The innovation hub combines world-class facilities, capital investments, and a vision to develop the digital technology industry as a key economic driver for Hong Kong.
"The investment from CMF reflects Cyberport's commitment to empower leading health technology companies. By putting the patient first within our product suite of doctor discovery, telemedicine, and cashless settlement, we seek to deliver a fundamentally better experience to our users and offer our insurance partners an unrivalled competitive edge," plugs Cole Sirucek, the co-founder and chief executive of DoDoc.
Digital Development
George Lam, chair of Cyberport, believes it is important to provide funding to tech start-ups with high growth potential, especially DocDoc, as it can bring new momentum and innovation to the insurance market in Hong Kong and Asia.
"I believe this co-investment fund can help to connect start-ups with suitable investors and open up more funding opportunities for entrepreneurs to grow their business," says Lam. "DocDoc is a member of the Cyberport community. The company combines an artificial intelligence-powered doctor discovery platform with great customer service to effectively connect patients to high quality care based on the patient's unique medical needs," the expert adds.
