Traveling abroad comes with its own set of stresses, and for many people, one of the biggest stresses is what to do if they become unwell. Will you be able to find a doctor who speaks your language, accepts your insurance, and can avoid the expense and stress of visiting an unfamiliar hospital emergency room?
A startup called Air Doctor has built a platform to help people in this very predicament, and is seeing strong traction and has now raised $20 million in a Series B round.
Air Doctor's product is part directory, part algorithm-driven location-based service provider, and part accounting technology. At its core is a directory of carefully selected doctors from different countries, with profiles detailing what they cover and the languages they speak. This directory is provided for users to browse and use for in-person or remote consultations.
Patients do not have to pay a doctor or receive reimbursement from an insurance company. Air Doctor matches customers' insurance policies with services provided and manages reimbursement payments from insurance companies to doctors.
Although Air Doctor charges service fees and handling fees as part of its process, its efforts still result in savings of 50% for overall outpatient claims, 60% for medical assistance providers, and reduced processing and processing times. claims a reduction of 75 hours. %.
The startup claims to have more than 80,000 customers through agreements with 18 major health insurance companies and offers a directory of 20,000 doctors in 84 countries. Initially focused on B2C, it now operates a B2B2C model with insurance companies in between, referring individuals to Air Doctor and others using the service directly.
CEO and co-founder Jenny Cohen Derfler said the company's revenue is growing at 2.5 times a year. But when you combine that momentum with the surge in international travel (790 million people traveled abroad in the first seven months of 2024, according to United Nations estimates), “the odds become even greater.” Derfler said.
However, it's important to note that there are other startups targeting the health needs of travelers. For example, Feather is building an insurance platform for expatriates.
Investors in Air Doctor's new round highlight the opportunities the company is targeting. Israeli venture capital firm aMoon, which focuses on health and life sciences, is leading the round, with new backers including insurance giant Tokio Marine Holdings and Samsung Ventures (SVIC). Previous backers Lightspeed Venture Partners and Vintage Investment Partners are also participating, as are two industry giants, Phoenix Insurance and Munich Re Ventures.
Investors detailed other aspects of the potential technology the company is building. “Air Doctor… leverages advanced algorithms and app-based solutions to provide timely, high-quality medical care to travelers around the world,” said Todd Thorne, general partner at aMoon. . In a statement.
Derfler's interest in building Air Doctor stems in part from her and her son's (also co-founder) backgrounds. Deafler described herself as a “nomadic.” She is originally from Uruguay, has traveled throughout South America and spent time in other countries, and currently lives in Israel.
Her son, Yam Derfler, originally came up with the idea for the company while traveling.
In South America, he became ill and realized he had no idea how to navigate the local health system and find a doctor. He went to the hospital instead, where a dramatic turn of events took place.
When he and Jenny returned home to Israel and began digging into the issue, it was clear that Yam and other consumers were not alone. Insurance companies also did not have a clear route for recommending doctors from countries other than their own.
And so began the process of building Air Doctor. Derfler recalls that the effort was fraught with challenges. The co-founders realized that in order to get any closer to the problem and the solution, they needed to go to Greece, the first country they worked with, find doctors and start building a network.
“We started visiting doctors in Greece on recommendation,” she said. “When we called doctors in Greece, we found that the receptionists usually didn't speak English. And when we went to the address, we didn't know what floor the clinic was on because it wasn't in Latin letters. We wanted to understand that need ourselves and what we needed to tell our users to do.”
The companies also used other methods to build their databases, such as contacting embassies for recommendations and leveraging word of mouth through existing doctors in their networks. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Air Doctor attracted 10,000 doctors, and an additional 10,000 have joined in the past two years, she said.
And now, the startup is working more closely with insurance companies so they can also understand where people travel and what the most common illnesses are, so they can focus on growing their network. I rely on it.
The company has currently raised a total of approximately $50 million (including Series A in 2020), but has not disclosed its valuation.