Medical care and travel startup Air Doctor has raised $20m in a funding round led by Lightspeed Ventures to enter its next phase of growth.
The round also saw participation from Vintage Investment Partners and Munich Re Ventures, alongside The Phoenix, one of Israel’s leading insurance providers, as well as Kamet Ventures, which led the company’s previous round.
Founded by Jenny Cohen Derfler, Efrat Sagi Ofir, Yam Derfler and Yegor Kurbachev, Air Doctor has previously raised $10.9m since its launch in 2018. The startup currently employs over 60 people based in Israel and Europe.
The Air Doctor platform connects travellers who fall ill abroad with local private doctors through an easy-to-use mobile and web app. The company’s outpatient medical network covers 74 countries and includes over 20,000 medical professionals who provide either in-person or telemedicine consultations.
In an exclusive with FinTech Global, Jenny Cohen Derfler explained how medical assistance while travelling has become a major concern for travellers and insurers alike, and how the InsurTech company provides them with peace of mind.
In addition to bringing on board more developers to work on product customization, Air Doctor said it will use the new investment to hire new employees and open additional offices internationally. The company also has plans to expand the product and marketing teams, and the vetted medical professional network, particularly in the US and Europe.
Derfler said, “As the world emerges from Covid-19, people have resumed travel, with a greater demand for suitable travel insurance and digital solutions. The pandemic has forced the industry to reassess local medical treatment available for travellers. Today, travellers testing positive for the Coronavirus will be able to seek medical care in the local communities they are in rather than in hospitals.”
According to the World Economic Forum’s recent survey, the travel industry is expected to fully recover by 2024. Additionally, many countries may mandate travel insurance coverage. Air Doctor said these two factors will create a dramatic surge in the need for better travel insurance. Furthermore, insurers facing travelers’ demands are seeking to expand their offer of digital, physical and online healthcare coverage to provide an improved customer experience.
The company is also offering residents of Ukraine free medical online consultations along with free prescription and medication costs provide by the World Travel Protection and Cover-More Group. Air Doctor encourages any residents who need to, to speak to a doctor through a video call or contact the company on Whatsapp.
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