Apr 12, 2021

Image: HealthHero This latest deal follows its takeover of Dublin’s MyClinic in January and Doctorlink in December as it rapidly expands in Europe. British telehealth company HealthHero is start-up shopping once again, this time acquiring French player Qare. The deal sees HealthHero expand further into the European market after it acquired Ireland’s MyClinic in January. No financial terms for the deal were disclosed. Qare, based in Paris, provides a platform for medical consultations through video. It was backed by Kamet Ventures, a specialist investment firm targeting health and insurance start-ups. Last year, Qare acquired mental health start-up Doctopsy. “This is the most significant telehealth acquisition in Europe in recent times, and firmly secures HealthHero’s dominance in the growing telehealth sector, in the largest healthcare market in the world,” HealthHero chief executive Ranjan Singh said. According to HealthHero, it provides 3m consultations a year and will have a revenue run rate of €100m this year. Olivier Thierry, Qare’s CEO, will remain in the company, taking on a senior management role at HealthHero. “Europe is seeing an explosion of telehealth businesses. We are convinced that tomorrow’s health tech champions will be European. We share with HealthHero a common European vision for quality and innovative care accessible to all, powered by technology,” Thierry said. Stephane Guinet of Kamet Ventures, the principle investor in Qare, said the company was founded to “empower patients by offering them access to a holistic set of personalised medical services that were previously only available in-person”. HealthHero now has operations in the UK, Ireland, Germany and France. It entered the Irish market in January with its acquisition of Dublin start-up MyClinic, an app for digital consultations and managing prescriptions. The company said it is pursuing a multi-pronged business model with services for consumers, businesses and government. HealthHero is headed up by Singh, whose investment firm Marcol is the main backer of the start-up. It is growing heavily through acquisitions having also acquired Doctorlink, another UK start-up, late last year.