South Africa healthtech startup Udok has raised R10-million in a second seed funding from FinX Capital. The latter is a local venture capital firm. The healthtech startup was founded in 2018 to facilitate virtual medicine for patients and clinics in the past year.
It is reported that the company is capitalising on the digital ecosystem to capture accurate medical information from patients. This in turn will allow physicians to make the right diagnosis remotely in real-time, which is becoming a trend on the back of the protracted coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Petrus van Niekerk, founder, and CEO of Udok, told the media, “The company is proud to be appointed by The Clicks Group, the largest pharmacy retailer in South Africa, to deliver online consultations to their pharmacy clinics. This is a fundamental move towards making healthcare more convenient to South Africans and the rest of Africa.”
The platform acts as a ‘connected care app’ allowing remote consultations between patients and qualified medical practitioners to seamlessly take place. Using the platform, users will be able to obtain advice, pharmaceutical prescriptions and remote admissions for an effective healthcare delivery.
“Our mission is to make healthcare accessible to everyone on this continent through the use of a smart device which can be the patient’s own or with the help of a nurse”, Dr Petrus van Niekerk said. The pandemic is in fact accelerating digital adoption in the healthcare sector—creating a conducive environment for growth among healthtech startups. The startup is also planning to offer affordable lab testing at its retail partner stores, media reports said.