Cluj-Napoca-based Telios Care, the Romanian MedTech startup that provides telemedicine services, has raised a new round of investment of €700K. The leading investor is Fortech, a software development company from Cluj. With this financing round the evaluation of the company becomes €6M.
Fortech has invested €400K in this third financing round of Telios Care via Fortech Investments, the investment division of Fortech Group. This makes the IT company the largest investor in the MedTech startup, with a 9% stake. The team will be an active member of the Advisory Board.
With this fresh investment, Telios Care will accelerate its development and expansion plans in the region. They aim to add new, faster, medical services, like home visits. By the end of 2021, Telios Care expects a 100% increase in the use of its services, estimating a doubling in the number of patients, reaching 200K. They aim to do this by including Telios services in insurance products and medical subscriptions, but also with direct sales to companies.
“Telemedicine is an important field for healthcare innovation, especially in Romania and CEE. As we followed the evolution of Telios, we believe now is the moment to partner up and support their growth, especially when looking at the team Philip has built and their plan to break ground in this up-and-coming field”, Valentin Filip, Managing Director, Product Investments at Fortech says.
A telehealth pioneer in Romania
The startup began shaping in 2017. In 2018, after the first round of investment of €150K, their platform was developed. In 2020, following the second round of investment of €200K, they officially launched their services. The system is inspired by the American model of “prescription fulfillment” – digital prescriptions sent by doctors, following all safety protocols, directly to the pharmacies, indicated by patients.
Telios Care provides employees and insured people 24/7 access to specialized medical and wellness advice for a wide range of specialties. In the last year, they have added 21 medical and non-medical specialties and have reached over 100K users in the country, in areas such as retail, IT, financial services, and transportation. They provide health advice for a variety of questions, from those related to illnesses or nutrition to taking care of patients with dementia, to name a few.
The MedTech startup was founded by Philip Choban, Lucian Cosoi, Matt Henry, and Adrian Danciu. Philip Choban, CEO of Telios Care, was inspired to develop this startup when he moved from America to Romania in 2009. The reason for this was to take care of his beloved wife, Carmen, an Alzheimer’s patient, in the comfort of the house she grew up in.
“Telios Care has strived to bring whole-person care to every Romanian in the comfort of their own environment. Telios Care now strives toward the next steps of simplifying healthcare delivery in the CEE region. Partnerships developed with Transylvania Angels Network, Growceanu, and Tech Angels are what makes this Fortech collaboration so special for us; people taking care of other people”, Philip Choban, CEO of Telios Care explains.
The telemedicine company is currently a stock structure composed of founders and investors. Amongst the investors, there are members of the Transylvania Angels Network, Growceanu Angel Investment, and Tech Angels.
“B2B telemedicine is an area with solid potential in Eastern Europe, as proven in other markets. The pandemic gave a boost to it as people see much better its value and benefits. Thus, it was a simple decision to contribute again to this round, as it became one of the biggest angel-led rounds in Romania”, Mircea Vadan, Founding Board Member and Investor, Transylvania Angels Network commented.
“I met Philip and we became friends before I invested. Next, I met the co-founder, the core team, and I understood their values, vision, and goals. This made me comfortable to invest money and my work, expertise, and network to support this amazing project. I am glad that I made that decision. The impact of telehealth is huge and it’s supported by the context of the pandemic that just accelerated an otherwise favorable evolution,” shares Florin Pop, Managing Partner at Primainvest Capital Management.
