Nelly raises $51 million to digitalize medical practices across Europe

Nelly desires to grow to be the largest fintech startup within the healthcare business. The Berlin-based startup is already working with greater than 1,200 medical practices in a handful of European international locations. However there are hundreds extra that might profit from an improve for his or her administrative workflows.

That’s why Nelly lately raised €50 million in funding (round $51 million at present alternate charges) in a Collection B spherical led by Cathay Innovation, together with Notion Capital. Current buyers b2venture, Lakestar, Motive Ventures, and Arc Buyers additionally participated as soon as once more.

Whereas many industries have totally switched to digital workflows, Nelly’s founding crew realized that many medical practices are lagging behind. “I went to the physician, I needed to fill in all my information with pen and paper. After which 4 weeks later, I obtained a thick letter with a request to pay €120,” Nelly co-founder and CEO Niklas Radner informed TechCrunch.

The corporate began with a software-as-a-service product that lets medical practices onboard new sufferers digitally. Sufferers e-book an appointment after which obtain a affirmation message through SMS, WhatsApp, or electronic mail with a hyperlink. They will click on on that hyperlink and fill out their private particulars and medical historical past.

“However the actuality at present is that greater than 50% of all appointments are nonetheless not scheduled digitally. They’re scheduled by a telephone name or by simply strolling into the apply,” Radner stated. That’s why sufferers can even scan a QR code to open Nelly’s portal from the ready room.

Behind the scenes, Nelly integrates with current apply administration programs. Information is up to date and saved in these legacy programs in order that practices don’t have to change to a brand new system altogether. These connectors are both inbuilt home by the Nelly crew or developed by Nelly’s companions.

This onboarding system acts because the spine for the remainder of the product suite. “You can see Nelly as, let’s say, a Typeform/DocuSign/planner for medical practices,” Radner stated.

On the patient-side, along with on-line bookings and the onboarding options, sufferers pays medical practices utilizing on-line funds or Nelly-managed card readers. Sufferers can even obtain reminders to go away a assessment on Google Maps.

As for medical practices, Nelly can deal with invoices and billing. This half can save vital time for medical practices, as it could possibly result in spending much less time chasing out-of-pocket funds.

Nelly may also be used as a substitute for a company checking account with an expense administration system and company bank cards. Lastly, Nelly provides factoring for fast payouts of excellent claims.

These robust integrations within the affected person journey and into the medical apply’s back-office system create a barrier to entry for different fintech firms. Nelly has additionally gone by means of information safety certifications as properly. “We’re the primary firm that despatched digital invoices within the medical area in Germany,” Radner stated.

The product is at present obtainable in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It lately expanded to Italy, and there are extra international locations coming down the highway.

“Nelly works with the biggest DSOs [dental service organizations] in Europe … And we gained the deal for the Colosseum Dental Group, which operates in 11 European international locations. They usually wish to scale to their 700 places with Nelly,” Radner stated. “So we’re going to develop with our prospects to extra markets in Europe.”