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DocsApp is basically a ‘WhatsApp for doctor consultation’ that promises to get you a doctor’s service within 30 minutes of booking

DocsApp Co-founders Satish Kannan (L) and Enbasekar Dinadayalane

DocsApp, an online medical consultation platform that promises to get you a doctor’s service within 30 minutes of booking, has secured US$1.2 million in seed investment led by Japanese VC fund Rebright Partners.

Facebook’s early investors Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan also participated in the round.

The startup aims to utilise the investments to scale operations, recruit talent and improve technology.

Founded in 2015 by IIT Madras Alumni Satish Kannan and Enbasekar Dinadayalane, DocsApp is a mobile platform that claims to provide quality consultation to patients with the fastest turnaround time of 30 minutes. Patients can chat with and also share pictures and reports of their ailments with the doctor privately.

DocsApp has a pool of 500 top-notch doctors in the country who are available to connect with the patients for consultations. The app currently supports nine specialities: Gynaecology, Psychiatry, Dermatology, Paediatrics , Weight Management, Sexology, Gastroenterology, General Medicine and Hair & Scalp care.

Majority of DocsApp users are from major cities like Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.

With over 80,000 downloads, more than 15,000 patients take consultation using the app every month, claims the company.

“We are basically a WhatsApp for doctor consultation,” Satish Kannan, Co-founder and CEO of DocsApp told e27. “Patients can chat with doctors online in the language of their choice.”

“With close to 200 million users and with an increasing percentage of mobile network penetration into rural areas, smartphones have become the key medium of communication across the country. Taking advantage of this widespread network, our aim is to provide high-quality primary healthcare services to people across India through our mobile application,” he explained.

It’s estimated that up to 70 per cent of the commonest health issues people face can be managed online. “We want to bridge the gap between patients and doctors through this platform so that people can get expert consultation on demand. We believe that this will also help us take specialised care downstream to more remote areas across the country.”

Takeshi Ebihara, Founding General Partner of Rebright Partners said, “The (DocsApp) team has a great understanding of the healthcare space and it is a scalable business model that can service millions of patients across India and Southeast Asia.”

In India, currently around 4 billion transactions happen in the healthcare sector every year. The entire healthcare market in India is worth around US$80 billion. However, the online market is estimated to grow to around US$42 billion in the coming years.

The post Why Facebook’s early investors funded this mobile medical consultation startup appeared first on e27.

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