//

HaloDoc recently raises pre-Series A round from Djarum, Go-Jek, and Mensa Group

HaloDoc CEO Jonathan Sudharta (left) with Head of Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) Daeng Mohammad Faqih at HaloDoc’s recent grand launch event

At the recent Indonesia E-commerce Summit & Expo event in Serpong, Tangerang, Detik reported that Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo specifically named four local startups that he believed will help push Indonesia’s position as “the digital energy of Asia.”

HaloDoc is one of the startups that he mentioned, alongside agritech startups TaniHub, LimaKilo, and Nurbaya Initiative.

“They all need to be given full support in order to be able to move to the next level,” the President said.

HaloDoc is an online platform that facilitates long-distance consultation between doctors and patients. Available as a desktop site and mobile app, the platform enables patients to consult with doctors through video calls, voice calls and chat.

A similar concept can be seen in the Philippines’ Medifi.

It is a product of online health tech company MHealth Tech, and the service is integrated to the company’s other products ApotikAntar (medicine delivery service), LinkDokter (a social media platform for Indonesian health practitioners), and Lab (booking platform for laboratory tests).

It will also include appointment and directory features in the near future.

The service was meant to complement the existing medical consultation services, and was not meant to replace those jobs.

Also Read: They just started college, but HealthHacks PH is looking to hack Philippines’ healthtech scene

HaloDoc also recently announced that it has received undisclosed pre-Series A funding from ride-hailing app Go-Jek, tobacco giant Djarum Group, as well as healthcare and logistics company Mensa Group.

The company plans to use the funding to expand nationwide in order to fulfill its goal to operate in ‘every single city in Indonesia’.

“We will focus in Indonesia, even though there are some opportunities that we see in the region,” said HaloDoc CEO Jonathan Sudharta in an e-mail to e27.

To achieve the goal, the company actively reached out to medical communities by participating in events attended by doctors.

It also reached out to potential users by conducting a Corporate Social Responsibility programme, apart from doing offline and online events.

Based in Jakarta, HaloDoc currently operates with 60 employees. It claimed to have secured 17,000 doctors in LinkDoctor platform; about 1,000 of them already downloaded the platform, with a daily growth of 50 doctors.

Also Read: This investor wants to create opportunities in digital health for emerging markets

The founding of HaloDoc was inspired by Sudharta’s own experience, consulting via text messages and video conference with his doctor friends.

“I happen to know many doctors as friends, so whenever I got sick I always call them and ask for consultations. If need it, we chat using video [conference] platforms,” he said.

“Then I thought, ‘Why not get everybody in the country to connect with as many doctors, as we already have LinkDokter?’” he continued.

The idea becomes more relevant especially as there are many challenges faced by Indonesian medical sector, and the platform is able to offer solutions.

Congestion is the major issue faced by patients in Jakarta and other big cities, while rural areas are experiencing scarcity in several types of medical professionals.

“We only have 600 cardiologist, that means one cardiologist must take care of 431,000 patients. Even then the distribution is very bad. With HaloDoc, hopefully we can ease the pain,” he explained.

Sudharta started out his career as a medical representative in pharmaceutical company PT Otto Pharmaceutical Industries, a subsidiary of Mensa Group (which later invested in HaloDoc).

Though he studied economics with a specialty in e-commerce at Curtin University, Perth, Australia, the pharmaceutical sector has always been his true calling.

—

Image Credit: HaloDoc

The post This is the Indonesian healthtech startup that President Joko Widodo has been talking about appeared first on e27.

from e27 http://ift.tt/1r0K6H3