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London- On Tuesday, a Swedish healthcare start-up Kry mentioned that it has raised around $300 million in a mega funding round. However, the investors are looking forward to capitalizing on the pandemic-driven boom in telehealth services.
Moreover, the investment by CPP Investment and Fidelity Investment, which values the seven-year-old firm at $2 billion which around the three rimes of the $700 million worth of Kry in the year 2020 financing round.
Among Europe’s largest providers of online doctor appointments, Kry is one of the well-known names. This company functions under the name Livi in the U.K. and France. Also, it is extended to the U.S. last year with the launch of a free video consultation platform called Livi Connect.
This firm is tech start-ups that have helped from rising demand for digital health apps as coronavirus lockdown restrictions made in-person interactions less feasible and investors are taking note.
The Last week, French online health insurer Alan announced it had raised 185 million euros ($223.5 million) at a 1.4 billion euro valuation. In the meantime, Babylon Health, a rival to Kry based in the U.K., is apparently exploring a deal to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.
Kry and its backers are betting the speeding up of health tech in the last year is a “mega-trend” that’s likely to stick around long after the pandemic ends. Kry says it has facilitated over 3 million medical consultations since it launched in early 2015, with video appointments more than doubling year-on-year in 2020.
Kry CEO and co-founder Johannes Schildt told, “I think the underlying mega trend of shifting health to digital that was already there long before the pandemic. A lot of the policy changes we’ve seen across Europe have actually been in place before the pandemic but this has obviously accelerated the shift.”
Kry said it makes utilization of the fresh cash for expanding its geographic footprint, add mental health services to its platform for growing its team, and exploring more acquisitions and strategic partnerships. Even JPMorgan acted as lead placement agent, while Goldman Sachs was also a placement agent for the deal, as per Kry.
