PUBLISHED: January 15, 2021
ViBe Saúde, (www.vibesaude.com) the leading B2C telehealth startup in Brazil, announces that it has closed a US$ 10 million Series A funding round. The funds will be used to further expand its freemium digital primary care service for more than 160 million Brazilians that depend on a public health care system characterized by long waiting times and shortcomings in quality.
The $10 million round was led by a group of Swedish healthtech investors and will primarily go towards building clinical staff and customer acquisition. ViBe was founded by the Swedish descendant Ian Bonde and the Swedish-Brazilian investment company Webrock Ventures (www.webrockventures.com) which also led ViBe’s seed round of 2.5 million dollars in March 2020. Along with the seed investment, Vibe also sealed a technology innovation partnership with Doktor.se (www.doktor.se), one of Europe’s leading digital healthcare companies.
With a surge in demand for telehealth in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, ViBe reached more than 500 000 app downloads only five months after launching its new app in July 2020. ViBe is now the leading digital B2C healthcare app in Brazil and on track to reach 5 million downloads by the end of 2021.
Globally, telehealth deals have skyrocketed and investors are turning to Brazil for the next opportunity. Brazil is one of the largest and fastest-growing digital economies in the world with a population of 210 million and 150 million smartphone users. Being the fastest growing and highest rated B2C healthcare app in Brazil, ViBe is well-positioned to become a leader in the rapidly digitalizing $13 bn primary care market.
ViBe’s freemium business model focuses on offering quality primary care to approximately 160 million Brazilians that depend on Brazil’s stressed public health care system. Its platform offers on-demand and scheduled virtual consultations with general clinicians, psychologists, and nutritionists, as well as Digital Therapeutics for chronic care management – all integrated with Electronic Health Records and wellness/fitness wearables. With its top-rated app and free services, ViBe is on a mission to transform and democratize the way Brazilians access quality health care, alleviating the pressure on the public healthcare system.
ViBe has also recently signed an agreement with the largest private hospital and clinic group in Brazil, Rede D’Or, which recently concluded its IPO, valued at over $20 bn. The partnership allows ViBe to further expand into the B2B segment as well as enable continued care for its patients linking digital primary care to physical specialist and tertiary care nationwide.
Comment from Ian Bonde, Co-Founder, and CEO at ViBe: “Our mission is to offer the best digital care at accessible prices to all Brazilians. We have made great in-roads into doing so throughout 2020 due to our freemium model, having offered over seventy-five thousand free consultations to our users. We have a tremendous impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Brazilians that do not have access to proper healthcare. Our personalized and integrated approach to healthcare has made ViBe the go-to app and first point of contact for all of our user’s healthcare needs. As we grow our team of doctors and psychologists to absorb the exponential growth in demand, we plan to expand our reach and social impact 10-fold over the next twelve months.”
Comment from Joakim Pops, Founding Partner at Webrock Ventures: “As an active owner and largest shareholder, we are very pleased to support ViBe on this exciting journey. With a strong team, best-in-class technology and growing traction, ViBe has great potential to become the leading digital health player in one of the largest health markets in the world while making a positive change for millions of Brazilians.”
Key stats about the Brazilian economy:
- Population: 210 million
- Internet users: 150 million
- Smartphone users: 150 million and expected to be 180 million by 2022
- 3rd largest social media market globally
- 7h largest health market global
- The Primary Care market is a USD 13 billion addressable market
- Digital Primary Care expected to represent an 11% share by 2023 – a USD 1,5 billion market
About ViBe
ViBe is a leading digital health company in Brazil. Through its platform, ViBe offers on-demand and scheduled consultations with clinical and mental health professionals as well as digital therapeutics to both private consumers and companies. Its mission to transform healthcare in Brazil by offering quality digital care at accessible prices to all Brazilians. ViBe has seen its user base increase exponentially over the last several months. Since the launch of its new platform in July 2020, ViBe has over 550,000 downloads and provided over 25,000 digital consultations in December 2020 alone.