Okadoc, maker of a doctor booking platform, has raised $10 million from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Ithmar Capital Partners and other institutional and private investors, the startup announced earlier this month.

WHAT THEY DO

Okadoc previously secured $2.3 million in a seed funding round in 2018, the year it was founded. Its platform, which is free for patients, can be used to book and reschedule appointments. 

Since 2018, the startup has engaged a number of healthcare providers in the UAE, including Aster Hospitals and the Emirates Healthcare Group, and inked a strategic partnership with the Dubai Healthcare City.

Now, it plans to move into telemedicine and launch a service allowing doctors to carry out virtual consultations.

Fodhil Benturquia, founder and chief executive of Okadoc, said the platform was integrated with “most” of the hospital information systems in the region. According the CEO, since being introduced, the service has helped reduce appointment ‘no-shows’ by “up to 75%”.

WHAT IT’S FOR

Okadoc said the new funding would drive its expansion into Saudi Arabia and other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The startup recently launched a similar version of its platform in Indonesia, where half of its team is based.

“We launched our instant booking feature in the UAE a year ago, and in this short time we have managed to on-board over 1,000 bookable doctors from 70 specialties in healthcare facilities across all seven emirates,” Benturquia said.

“We wanted to continue this great momentum, expand in other markets and introduce new functions, so we felt that the time is right to raise more capital to enable us to do so.”

THE LARGER TREND

Meddy, another startup in the region that has created a doctor search and booking platform, scored $2.5 million in Series A funding towards the end of 2019. Its platform is currently up and running in Qatar and the UAE.

Other players in the digital health space are also targeting the Gulf region. In January, Polish company Infermedica announced that it was introducing an Arabic version of its symptom checker.

ON THE RECORD

Ray Dargham, CEO of media company STEP, organiser of a conference where Okadoc made the announcement, said the investment was a “strong testament to the ambitious and driven startup talent across the Middle East”.