Maple Raises $4 Million to Expand Virtual Healthcare Platform
Maple has raised an oversubscribed $4 million Series A funding round.
The Toronto-based healthcare company saw the round led by MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund. Jeff Fettes, the co-founder of 24-7 Intouch, also participated in the round. The new capital will go towards expanding the service to more Canadians and building out Maple’s network of employers and insurers.
Maple is a technology healthcare platform that allows patients seeking care to connect directly with doctors in minutes, right from the comfort of their own smartphone or computer. Patients can access this care all day, every day, anywhere they are, which separates it from some of the other virtual care options offered on the market. Consultations can take place over text or video and all doctors are officially licensed Canadian practitioners.
“We initially launched Maple as another option for patients to get fast and convenient access to a doctor after-hours, right from their smartphone or computer,” said Dr. Brett Belchetz co-founder and CEO at Maple. “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and the demand for our service is rapidly growing–not just from patients, but also from employers, insurers, hospitals and more. We believe every Canadian needs to have access to this type of service.”
The goal for Maple is to help remove the crowding and waiting issues patients often face when they go to clinics. Many times, a patient just wants a quick question answered and doesn’t even need to go to a hospital or clinic, and Maple can provide those with easy-to-solve problems a quick consultation.
“Despite having access to some of the best quality care, Canadians have some of the longest wait times in the developed world. Maple’s solution can offer significant relief for the overtaxed health care system,” says Michelle McBane, senior investment director at MaRS IAF. “In addition to impacting the wellbeing of Canadian patients, Maple’s solution impacts our economy, reducing time off work for doctor’s visits and getting patients on the path to recovery sooner.”
So far, Maple boats over 20,000 patients and 100 doctors. The amazing number is that they guarantee just a five-minute wait for a consultation—even in the middle of the night.
The majority of those 20,000 users are in Ontario and British Columbia. Maple simply wants to provide one other alternative for health care, especially when it comes to those in populous areas who experience long waits.
Maple has a per visit pricing scheme starting at $49, or a membership rate for one person or families. In order to truly succeed in the industry though, they must latch onto insurance plans, which is why Maple has partnered with Sun Life Financial and was also recently added to League as a spending account.
