Draper Esprit : Manchester-based Push Doctor achieves largest ever Series B funding in Tech North

Posted by Isabella Cookson, 05 Jul 2017

Manchester-based Push Doctor achieves largest ever Series B funding in Tech North

$26.1M investment reflects massive potential of digital services in the North of England

Manchester, July 5 2017: Europe's largest digital health provider, Push Doctor, today announced that it has raised $26.1M in a Series B funding round led by a powerful syndicate of global investors: Accelerated Digital Ventures (ADV) and Draper Esprit with participation from Oxford Capital, Partech Ventures and Seventure Partners. This marks the largest Series B funding achieved in Tech North to date.

Push Doctor is the first truly digital health consumer brand in the UK, connecting patients to a smart network of thousands of UK qualified GPs, giving them access to a d­­octor in as little as six minutes on any device.

The city of Manchester has truly established itself as a hub for Northern power following Andy Burnham's decisive victory as Mayor of Greater Manchester in May 2017. What's more, the region became the very first in the country to take control of its combined health and social care budgets last year, putting power back into the hands of local-decision makers and right back into the heart of the Manchester community. Push Doctor's funding announcement shows that the city is at the core of the UK's advancements in digital healthcare and technology.

The brand's founder and CEO, Eren Ozagir, explained how the firm will provide everyone with the opportunity to live longer, happier lives: 'We have treated more cases digitally than anyone in Europe and consistently grown over 35% month-on-month for 16 months. As a result, we have a dataset that provides a unique view of the medical issues facing a nation. This has meant that we have been able to scope and create a data-driven digital health platform that will treat the whole person. No one before Push Doctor has provided consumers with access to a single digital health platform that combines responsive medicine and chronic condition management as well as fitness and nutritional conditioning.'

This round of investment will also enable Push Doctor to bring new products to market, the first of which will hit later this year, further expanding the company's value-proposition for patients as it couples its market-changing instant access doctors with complementary products and services. Team numbers at the start-up, based in the heart of Manchester, have continued to rise as the brand's growth rate rockets.

Ozagir continued: 'This recent funding round will see us boost our growth in customer numbers and take significant steps in our ambition to become the preferred consumer digital health care brand in the world.'

Michael Dimelow, Head of Investment at ADV, remarked: 'The health and wellbeing sector is perfectly positioned to benefit from digital technology innovation, and the UK is one of the best places from which to build a global business in this space. We're delighted to announce our investment in Push Doctor with its unique vision to build an open platform, where the entire industry can connect and collaborate. Equally, consumers will gain efficient and direct access to healthcare professionals. The Push Doctor team is tried and tested in building international internet propositions at scale, and we look forward to supporting them in their journey to build an industry-defining global healthcare platform.'

Dr. Vishal Gulati, digital health investor at Draper Esprit, commented: 'People's expectations around how, when and where they access healthcare have evolved. Push Doctor is the leading health provider which is addressing growing, unmet patient needs. By putting the patient experience first, the company is changing our relationship with healthcare, lowering the hurdle of access for both immediate needs and chronic, long term conditions. Having known the team for two years now, I am excited to continue working with them to build a product which reshapes patient experiences in the future.'

Tom Bradley, Partner at Oxford Capital, said: 'We continue to believe that digital health will change the way everyone interacts and manages their healthcare today, and in the future, which is why we invested in Push Doctor early and continue to today. This next phase of the brand's development will see the whole team create a product set that truly reflects the needs of not just a nation, but a population generally, as we strive to make people healthier for the long term. This reflects our investment strategy of identifying potential market leaders early and supporting them through that transition from potential to leader.'

Isabelle de Cremoux, CEO & Managing Partner at Seventure Partner, stated: 'Push Doctor's digital health and wellness platform is well differentiated and has the potential to make a significant impact on the delivery of doctors' services in the UK and beyond. We look forward to working with Eren and his team to expand the business and see Push Doctor fulfil its full potential.'