HD, a Thailand-based healthcare and surgery marketplace, has announced the completion of a $5.6 million Series A funding round.
This significant round was led by SBI Ven Capital, a subsidiary of the renowned Japanese Internet-based financial giant, SBI Group, through its joint fund with Kyobo Securities from South Korea and NTU Singapore’s NTUitive, HD said in a statement on Wednesday.
The round also witnessed the participation of earlier backers such as M Venture Partners, FEBE Ventures, Partech Partners, Ratio Ventures, and Orvel Ventures, alongside with the welcoming of new investor, TA Ventures.
According to the statement, a portion of this new investment will enhance HD’s care delivery systems.
The firm’s continued emphasis on care delivery and improving patient outcomes follows a strategic partnership inked with Johnson & Johnson MedTech in July last year.
With the latest funding, HD is also poised for further expansion. The company aims to support over 5,000 healthcare providers and 300 operating rooms, enabling thousands more surgeries by 2025.
The firm has so far facilitated accessible, affordable healthcare and surgeries for over 300,000 patients.
“In emerging Southeast Asian markets, the real opportunity for healthcare artificial intelligence (AI) lies not in building yet another general practitioner chatbot, but in enhancing patient outcomes by streamlining operational and administrative tasks for providers and payers,
“Our unique MEhdIQ LLM, with its exclusive and anonymized training data, aims to significantly alleviate the administrative load, allowing healthcare and insurance professionals to focus on delivering superior patient care,” said Sheji Ho, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of HD.
According to the statement, this funding milestone is a testament to HD’s threefold growth since the last round in December 2022.
HD’s flagship offering, the HDcare platform, has seen a 160-fold growth since its inception in late 2022.
Pioneering elective surgery solutions, HDcare seamlessly connects patients with premium, yet affordable surgical care, addressing a critical gap in the region.
This gap is highlighted by a Lancet report noting that 91 percent of Southeast Asians lack adequate access to surgery, a stark contrast to the 52 percent in higher-income Asia-Pacific nations.
HDcare is revolutionizing hospital and clinic operations by optimizing their inpatient care and operating theater capacities, addressing the widespread issue of underutilization.
Since its launch, HDcare has empowered over 2,000 patients to access top-tier elective surgeries like thyroid, hemorrhoid, and ophthalmic procedures at rates 15 percent to 20 percent lower than the market.
It is noted that HD’s pioneering vision continues with the integration of AI into healthcare, primarily through its novel ‘MEhdIQ’ Large Language Model.
Utilizing a vast, proprietary healthcare product, transaction, and chat commerce data set, MEhdIQ will initially assist HD’s internal teams and network surgeons.
Its future potential as a software as a service (SaaS) AI copilot tool for healthcare providers and payers is also poised to revolutionize healthcare operations and insurance processes.
“HD’s continued sustainable growth, despite global macroeconomic challenges, is impressive. Their unique business model and relentless execution by seasoned ecommerce and healthcare professionals make them a standout,
“We are excited to support HD in their mission to be the largest healthcare and surgery marketplace in Southeast Asia, improving access to quality, affordable healthcare,” said Ryosuke Hayashi, Chief Executive Officer of SBI Ven Capital.
HD has also introduced Dr. Kulthep Rattanakovit, alias Dr. Dev, as its new Chief Medical Officer.
A gastroenterologist with training from the prestigious Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, and a fellowship in neurogastroenterology from the Medical College of Georgia, Dr. Dev brings invaluable experience from his roles as Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Vimut Hospital and seven years at the BDMS Group, Thailand’s largest health system with a $12 billion market capitalization.
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