For the vast majority of the rural population and those living outside the dense urban cities and towns of Southeast Asia, being able to access proper healthcare is a real challenge considering that most countries in the region lack well-developed healthcare infrastructure and facilities in remote locations. Even then, accessibility to proper healthcare for urban dwellers in the major cities of Southeast Asia can be challenging too as traffic congestion and the limited number of high-quality healthcare facilities prevent them from getting the proper care and medical services that they need. Another issue that needs to be addressed in regards to healthcare accessibility is the lack of proper information and knowledge regarding health among the general populace. Enter: Indonesian healthtech startup Halodoc, which was established in 2016 with the aim of connecting patients, licensed medical practitioners and lab services, and pharmacies together on a single platform to facilitate healthcare access for Indonesians.
Halodoc operates a digital app that integrates two important and distinct businesses within the healthcare sector – the supply chain and logistics of delivering medicinal drugs and products from pharmacies to patients across a network of 50 cities, and the teleconsultation services provided by medical professionals – into a seamless whole that streamlines healthcare accessibility for both rural and urban inhabitants. Currently, Halodoc is serving nearly seven million users a month on its platform, with those living outside the big cities of Surabaya and Jakarta constituting the majority of its users. The platform also boasts a wide variety of licensed medical and healthcare professionals on its platform with more than 22,000 general practitioners and medical specialists offering their services to its users, as well as partnerships with more than 1,200 pharmacies nationwide to improve medical and healthcare access for the vast majority of Indonesians. All healthcare professionals who participate in Halodoc’s platform must be fully licensed with at least 3 years of medical experience, and Halodoc noted that a majority of them are currently working and active in the healthcare industry.
The platform enables its users to personalize their healthcare by giving them access to a wide pool of licensed medical professionals from which they can choose to teleconsult with based on their preferences in medical professionals’ ratings, bio gleaned from the ‘About Me’ section and price points. The healthtech startup has also strategically partnered with Gojek so that medicinal drugs and supplies ordered by their users on their platform from Halodoc’s partnered pharmacies can be swiftly delivered to them by the Indonesian unicorn’s drivers, typically reaching them within a time span of 40 minutes. Additionally, in order to make healthcare more accessible for Indonesians, Halodoc has formed strategic partnerships with more than 1,300 healthcare providers and hospitals across the nation in order to facilitate and refine patients’ experience of hospital visits, such as by reducing waiting time periods and allowing them to use their insurance benefits to claim their medical bills.
To date, Halodoc has managed to secure a total of nearly US$100 million in funds through its 3 funding rounds thus far. Its latest funding round, a Series B in March 2019, was led by UOB Venture Management and raised US$65 million. Singtel Innov8, BliBli, Investidea, Korea Investment Partners and Go-Ventures are among some of the notable names that have invested in the healthtech startup.
Halodoc, Indonesia’s healthtech startup that is revolutionizing the country’s healthcare industry, intends to stay its course and continue collaborating with its partners and investors in making healthcare more accessible to Indonesians and spreading healthcare awareness. It aims to emulate the best practices of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s approach in delivering healthcare solutions to people worldwide, and spread more reasonably priced and excellent health services to Indonesians across the country.
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