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Online doctor appointment platform HelpingDoc raises over $1.5M

By Nikita Peer

  • 08 Aug 2014

Delhi-based HelpingDoc Pvt Ltd, the company behind HelpingDoc.com, an online platform that lists medical professionals and enables patients to book appointments, has raised over $1.5 million (about Rs 10 crore) in its Series A round of funding from Senior Marketing Systems (SMS), a provider of health-related information services for professions and public in Malaysia.

The funds will be used to strengthen HelpingDoc’s field force and enhance its technology back-end. “The fresh capital will also be allocated to expand our services, in addition to expanding to other cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai over 18-24 months. We are also planning to ramp up our team and enroll over 20,000 doctors,” said Amit Bansal, founder and CEO of HelpingDoc.

According to Bansal, the investment will also allow the firm to leverage the expertise of SMS, and potentially leverage synergies amongst its portfolio companies across Asia.

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HelpingDoc was started in April 2012 by Bansal, who holds an MBA from London Business School and a BE degree from Punjab Technical University. With consulting experience in technology, operations and process, Bansal had earlier worked at companies including BusCon, Deloitte, Cable & Wireless and Mahindra British Telecom.

HelpingDoc aggregates doctors, along with their specialisations, fee and other relevant information, enabling patients to decide when and where to go. The firm charges yearly subscription fee from doctors listed on the site. The platform also features paid offers like healthcare deals, which cover a number of specialised services including dental care, cosmetic surgery and maternity care.

Based out of Kuala Lumpur, SMS has previously invested in several online healthcare ventures in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia and Sri Lanka.

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“We have been looking to invest in India, and found HelpingDoc to be well-positioned for growth in this market. The online healthcare industry in India is still in a nascent stage, and has the potential to grow rapidly over the next five years,” said Jo Hatakeyama, director of SMS.

Other players in the online healthcare space in India include Practo, HealthcareMagic, DocTree and DocSuggest, among others.  

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)

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