Berlin-based healthtech startup doctorly, announced that it has secured a $7.2M (nearly €6.72M) extension to its Series A funding round, increasing the total Series A funding to $17.2M (nearly €16M), which includes the $10M (then, nearly €9.39M) announced in February 2023.
Investors supporting doctorly
The round was led by Dusseldorf-based Simon Capital, a VC fund backed, among others, by the entrepreneurial family behind the Bitburger Group.
Other investors in this round include Geschwister Oetker Beteiligungen KG, UNIQA ventures, and other family offices with a focus on healthcare innovation in Germany and Asia.
Jan Leicht, partner at Simon Capital says, “It remains striking to see how strong the dislike for existing solutions is across doctors and healthcare operators. Ironically, everyone agrees that digitisation in German healthcare is desperately needed, yet the core software piece used in practices today runs local and on-prem with a myriad of structural issues.”
“We see great potential that doctorly is building the next generation of healthcare infrastructure software improving the lives of millions and becoming the platform needed to drive the inevitable digital change. The team, the product and feedback from doctors have truly impressed us,” adds Leicht.
HealWELL, a data science and AI company specialising in preventative care and part of the WELL health technology group, has also backed doctorly. HealWELL plans to collaborate with doctorly on AI-driven health data initiatives in Germany.
“Practice software, reimagined.”
doctorly was launched in 2022 and was founded by Samir El-Alami, Nicklas Teicke, Anna Von Stackelberg, Sebastian Lau, Alexandru Boghean, with Julian Teicke as the founding investor.
The startup aims to revolutionise the regulated medical practice software industry. Focusing initially on the outdated German market, the startup has developed a new regulated operating system, reducing administrative time within practices by up to 50 per cent.
Through its B2B and B2C models, doctorly offers complete digital solutions, enabling doctors to manage their practices and engage with patients using a unified system.
doctorly claims to be the only VC-backed company in Germany authorised to sell into the legacy practice management software industry, giving it an advantage for substantial market share growth in the next 18-24 months.
Co-founder Samir El-Alami says, “We are very pleased with our commercial trajectory. So far, in 2023, just under 20 per cent of the practices we have spoken to have gone on to sign a sales contract with us, and this conversion rate has been increasing quarter over quarter.”
“…more and more doctors are actively seeking us out and looking to switch over to us. Almost every doctor we speak with is extremely unhappy with just how time-consuming and difficult their administration work is, and with doctorly, we are able to cut this admin time by 50 per cent, it’s a big selling point.”
El-Alami adds, “Over the past years, we have spoken with hundreds of Healthcare Professionals and it’s clear to see that they are very open to digitisation. However, practice management software is central to how they do all of their work, from creating and storing health records to billing, insurance management, calendar & waiting room management, prescription of medications, and multitudes of highly specific forms.”
“It’s all very highly regulated and all mandatory, so HCPs simply haven’t had a modern option to switch to, until now. We invested years into product development & regulatory processes in order to deliver a modern, cloud-based, intuitive and secure practice software fit for healthcare professionals in the 21st century.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, this is a 100 per cent replacement for the existing legacy software, not an ‘add-on’ service, as is normally seen within the health-tech community,” adds El-Alami.
How will the additional funds be used?
The company plans to utilise the capital to fuel its growth in Germany, enhance its platform with new features, and reduce administrative costs for healthcare professionals, thereby saving time.
Co-founder Samir El-Alami says, “While overhauling the highly regulated and entrenched practice management industry is not an easy task, we consider this software to be the single biggest blocker for digitisation within German healthcare.”
“Practice software is mandatory for all state practices, it’s used for almost all of the work that happens within the practice, and the standard of what is available is not ok,” adds El-Alami.
doctorly is also actively recruiting for various roles to support its commercial expansion efforts.
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