Video-call-your-Doctor startup KRY raises €6.1M Seed led by Index and Creandum

The old-fashioned structure of traditional healthcare has led to poor quality, low availability and efficiency, especially in primary healthcare. The answer may be to sweep that away and build products directly for consumers, not the healthcare industry. That’s why so many startups are creating video-based healthcare startups to get around the industry.

KRY, the Swedish health startup that connects patients with healthcare professionals for consultations via video, has now raised a €6.1 million seed funding round led by Index Ventures (London and SF) and Creandum (Stockholm). Project A (Berlin) also participated.

So far KRY only operates in Sweden, but it will now use the funding to expand internationally. Since KRY’s launch in 2015, over 30,000 Swedes have used the platform to seek medical advice, claims KRY.

A patient picks a time and date for their KRY appointment, and describes their symptoms within the app. They then get a video link with a doctor for a 15-minute medical consultation. It’s estimated that most consultations with doctors don’t require physical examinations anyway. A doctor can then send a prescription or refer the patient to a specialist. The user’s medical record stays on the platform.

KRY’s 15-minute video conferences cost 299 Swedish Krona per session, which is around the equivalent of £27/$35. Dr on Demand (US) and Babylon (UK) are similar competitors.

The startup was founded in 2014 by Johannes Schildt, Fredrik Jung-Abbou, Josefin Landgård, and Joachim Hedenius.

New York-based research organisation CB insights reports that digital health startups received $2 billion worth of investment in the first quarter of 2016, marking it a record year for funding.