ASX-listed venture capital firm Bailador Technology Investments has backed telehealth startup Updoc with a $20 million investment.
Founded in 2021 by co-CEOs Dylan Coyne and Clifton Hodgkinson, Updoc (think the old Bugs Bunny line) offers online GP consultations to deal with a range of healthcare issues including advice, online prescriptions, specialist referrals, pathology referrals and medical certificates.
It also offers a monthly subscription model it describes as “like Netflix, but for your health”.
The Bailador (ASX:BTI) investment is Updoc’s first external capital, after more than 200,000 consultations over the last three years.
The funds are earmarked for the startup’s tech build, to accelerate development of its product roadmap, and support continued expansion.
Updoc was named the 2023 Deloitte Rising Star winner with 15,924% growth and it also has a London office offering telehealth in the UK as well as partnering with Uber Australia to offer drivers access healthcare.
The telehealth startup is Bailador’s 15th startup investment, with seven exits so far, and the VC already has had a strong focus in online healthcare. It previously backed Access Telehealth, men’s healthcare brand Mosh, and InstantScripts, which last year, just 10 months after Bailador tipped in a $5 million follow-on investment, delivered a 62% IRR (internal rate of return) from $52 million in cash after Wesfarmers paid $135 million for the healthtech startup.
Bailador cofounder Paul Wilson said Australians had “wholeheartedly embraced telehealth as an efficient way to access routine health services”, especially during the pandemic.
“We know the digital health space quite well, and have had success in that industry segment,” he said.
“Updoc provide an exceptional experience for both patients and health practitioners. We are also pleased that by making routine doctor interactions more efficient, the sector is helping to ease the pressure on the Australian healthcare system.”
Coyne and Hodgkinson previously worked at Canva and Uber and cofounded the Sydney e-bikes startup Jot Bikes together.
They said the investment from Bailador “will enable us to move more rapidly towards helping millions of people with healthcare access by accelerating product development and international expansion”.
The duo said it was “just the beginning” for Updoc.
Bailador shares our belief in the potential of our platform to support healthcare delivery, helping to lower costs and improve accessibility for
consumers,” they said.
“We look forward to continuing to grow with the support of Paul Wilson and the Bailador team.”
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