European digital physical therapy and patient engagement company Physitrack went public on the Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market earlier this month with an original offering of SEK 40 ($4.69) per share.

The company's IPO included just under 4.4 million newly issued shares worth approximately SEK 175 ($20 million).

Founded in 2012, Physitrack works primarily with the employer market to offer digital physical therapy, telehealth and patient engagement tools.

"The IPO of Physitrack is the next step in our growth journey to continue bringing our solution to even more healthcare providers and patients around the world," wrote Physitrack CEO and cofounder Henrik Molin in an email to MobiHealthNews.

"The strong interest in the IPO is proof of the support we see among investors. We are pleased to have attracted strong institutional names among our new shareholders, as well as a diverse base of investors among the general public in Sweden and Finland."

In 2017 news broke that Physitrack planning an IPO on the Nasdaq First North in Q1 of 2018. However, Molin notes that this current offering is a completely new filing, compared with what the company was working on three years ago, and that the company is now much larger.  

WHY IT MATTERS

As the world population continues to age, so does the need for physical therapy. According to the American Physical Therapy Association, there could be a shortage of physical therapists of 26,000 in the U.S. by 2025.

Several companies like Physitrack are looking to innovate in this space and cater to remote care needs. The new IPO will also provide the company with roughly $20 million that is intended to be used for M&As.

THE LARGER TREND

In December Physitrack purchased competitor Physiotools, a Finnish company that provides physical therapy software and digital health tools. At the time, Molin hinted to MobiHealthNews that the company would be looking to the M&A space to expand.

"There are other companies that we're looking at that have tech that's really interesting, that can really help us with the innovation side of things and fast-track some things we were looking at in the past," he told MobiHealthNews in December.

"So, ideally, the next company we buy will be more [focused on that], but hopefully we can combine the tech side of things with some of the financial upsides as well."

In 2018 the company launched two new enterprise-focused offerings for current customers, including an updated version of its patient-facing physical therapy app and a tool for enterprise companies to collect data to manage their patient populations.

Physitrack isn't the only digital physical therapy tool on the market. In May of 2020, chronic care management company, Omada Health announced the acquisition of musculoskeletal care company Physera. Others in the digital-physical therapy space include Sword Health, Hinge Health and Reflexion Health.