Nelly wants to become the largest fintech startup in the healthcare industry. The Berlin-based startup already partners with more than 1,200 medical sites in several European countries. But there are thousands more businesses that could benefit from an administrative workflow upgrade.
That's why Nelly recently raised €50 million (approximately $51 million at current exchange rates) in a Series B round led by Cathay Innovation and Notion Capital. Existing investors b2venture, Lakestar, Motive Ventures and Arc Investors also rejoined.
As many industries fully transition to digital workflows, Nelly's founding team realized that many medical practices were falling behind. “I had to go to the doctor and fill out all the data with paper and pen. And four weeks later I received a thick letter asking me to pay 120 euros,” says Niklas, co-founder and CEO of Nelly. Radner told TechCrunch.
The company started with a software-as-a-service product that enabled medical practices to digitally admit new patients. Once a patient makes an appointment, they will receive a confirmation message via SMS, WhatsApp or email with a link. You can click on that link and enter your personal information and medical history.
“But the reality today is that more than 50% of all appointments are still not scheduled digitally. A phone call or a trip to the practice field is all it takes to get scheduled,” Ladner said. Ta. So patients can also open Nelly's portal by scanning a QR code from the waiting room.
Behind the scenes, Nelly integrates with existing practice management systems. Data is updated and stored in these legacy systems, so there is no need to completely switch your business to new systems. These connectors are built in-house by the Nelly team or developed by Nelly's partners.
This onboarding system serves as the backbone for the rest of the product suite. “Nellie can be seen as a Typeform/DocuSign/planner for medical practices, for example,” Radner says.
On the patient side, in addition to online booking and onboarding capabilities, patients can pay for their medical procedures using online payments or card readers managed by Nelly. Patients can also receive a reminder to leave a review on Google Maps.
When it comes to medical practices, Nelly can handle your bills and invoices. This part can save you a lot of time at medical appointments by reducing the amount of time you spend paying co-pays.
Nelly can also be used as an alternative to a business bank account with an expense management system and a business credit card. Finally, Nelly offers factoring to pay unpaid invoices immediately.
These strong integrations between patient journeys and back-office systems in healthcare settings create a barrier to entry for other fintech companies. Nelly is also data protection certified. “We are the first company in the German healthcare sector to send digital invoices,” Radner said.
This product is currently sold in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We recently expanded into Italy, and we plan to expand to more countries in the future.
“Nelly works with the largest DSOs. [dental service organizations] In Europe…and we won a deal with Colosseum Dental Group, which operates in 11 European countries. And they want to use Nelly to expand to 700 locations,” Ladner said. “We therefore intend to expand with our customers to more markets in Europe.”