Air Doctor, raised $20 million, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Joining this round are Vintage Investment Partners and Munich Re Ventures, alongside The Phoenix, one of Israel’s leading insurance providers, as well as Kamet Ventures, which led the company’s previous round.
Founded by Jenny Cohen Derfler, Efrat Sagi Ofir, Yam Derfler and Yegor Kurbachev, Air Doctor has previously raised $10.9 million since its launch in 2018. The startup currently employs over 60 people based in Israel and Europe.
The Air Doctor platform connects travelers who fall ill abroad with local private doctors through an easy-to-use mobile and web app. Air Doctor’s outpatient medical network covers 74 countries and includes over 20,000 medical professionals who provide either in-person or telemedicine consultations. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, medical assistance while traveling has become a major concern for travelers and insurers alike. Air Doctor’s platform provides the assurance travelers need to enjoy their trip.
In addition to bringing on board more developers to work on product customization, Air Doctor will use the new investment to hire new employees and open additional offices internationally. The company also has plans to expand the product and marketing teams, and the vetted medical professional network, particularly in the US and Europe.
In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak brought the world to a standstill, with unprecedented and unanticipated consequences affecting people’s lives and global economies. The travel and tourism sector experienced a severe economic slowdown as a result of stringent quarantine regulations and travel restrictions.
“As the world emerges from COVID-19, people have resumed travel, with a greater demand for suitable travel insurance and digital solutions. The pandemic has forced the industry to reassess local medical treatment available for travelers. Today, travelers testing positive for the Coronavirus will be able to seek medical care in the local communities they are in rather than in hospitals.” said Jenny Cohen Derfler, CEO and Founder of Air Doctor. “Air Doctor has become one of the fastest-growing startups, with tens of thousands registered users and many more accessing the network worldwide. Today the company offers a unique and distinctive digital product with almost no competition worldwide.” Said CEO Cohen Derfler
According to the World Economic Forum’s recent survey, the travel industry is expected to fully recover by 2024. Additionally, many countries may mandate travel insurance coverage. These two factors will create a dramatic surge in the need for better travel insurance. Furthermore, insurers facing travelers’ demands are seeking to expand their offer of digital, physical and online healthcare coverage to provide an improved customer experience and reduce claim costs.
“Building our partner and investor network will be an ongoing endeavor, as well as boosting our R&D capabilities and end-user activation. We’re also on the lookout to find new team members who are keen to join an exciting startup that is expanding globally,” said Efrat Sagi-Ofir, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Air Doctor.
“Air Doctor addresses a major pain point for the health and travel insurance industry, and Lightspeed is excited to lead the company’s new $20 million funding round. Air Doctor continues to prove itself as an innovator in travel health by digitizing a significant aspect of the travel experience,” said Yoni Cheifetz, Partner at Lightspeed. “
