Doctor booking firm DocPlanner raises €80m, eyes M&A

Online appointment booking firm DocPlanner has continued a healthy run of fundraisings with a €80 million Series E that takes the total it has raised above €130 million.

The Warsaw, Poland-based company – which specialises in software that connects patients with doctors – says it will use the proceeds to expand with new hires, as well as developing its platform and – potentially – making bolt-on acquisitions of “young, innovative cloud-based software companies to accelerate growth.”

It intends to boost its headcount by 100, having already passed the 1,000 mark, and plans to continue expanding in its core European and Latin American territories as well as expanding into other markets.

Two years ago the company stepped up its share of the increasingly competitive market for online healthcare booking services by acquiring Spanish rival Doctoralia, having also snapped up Turkish firm Eniyihekim in 2014.

It’s up against a host of other players including US platforms ZocDoc and Doctor on Demand, as well as Push Doctor, TopDoctors, myHealthSpecialist and Doctify in Europe, and all are mopping up venture capital at a rapid rate as they jostle for position in the market.

DocPlanner’s mission is to make it as easy as possible for patients to get an appointment with a suitable doctor, and also to help doctors manage their online practice, for example by reducing no-shows.

Its platform provides free doctor reviews and booking for patients via its online marketplace and software as a service (SaaS) tools to help physicians digitise their practices.

The new round was led by One Peak Partners and Goldman Sachs Private Capital with existing investors Piton Capital and ENERN Investments also participating.

“The growth rate in our core business is accelerating and we’re seeing more opportunities in our space, both in terms of customer segment and product offering, as the health tech market matures,” said DocPlanner’s chief executive Mariusz Gralewski.

“Since our last funding round, we’ve focused on the core marketplace and SaaS business; now we are making a concentrated push into new growth areas.”

DocPlanner says it currently serves 30 million patients, lists more than 2 million healthcare professionals and processes 1.5 million bookings every month.