CheckMe, based in Egypt, has purchased a majority share in DoctorOnline. This acquisition is an important indicator of the region’s sustained growth in healthtech, particularly in telemedicine, r-pharmacy, and e-diagnostic, which have expanded quickly since the Covid-19 epidemic.
CheckMe, launched in 2020 and powered by the T3G investment group, is a customer-centric marketplace mobile application that provides on-demand medical lab services through different lab partners safely, accurately, and swiftly. DoctorOnline, established by Dr Mahmoud Abdel Hakim, is a virtual clinic smartphone application that provides patients with virtual access to specialist doctors in all medical specialties via video chats.
Why The Acquisition?
Dr Nesma El Talawy, CEO of CheckMe, explains, “This acquisition falls in line with our expansion strategy in the region and in-line with the expansion of our service offering. According to McKinsey Global Institute, the costs saved by healthtech to the healthcare sector could lie between $1.5 trillion and $3 trillion a year by 2030, which makes acquisitions like this pivotal in their economic impact in the region”.
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CheckMe aspires to be Egypt’s and the region’s go-to healthtech super app, assisting users in finding more convenient, efficient, and cost-effective medical channels.
The acquisition will also enable CheckMe to provide a new wave of diagnostics and primary care physicians to its patient journey by facilitating the patient healthcare journey through on-demand diagnostics and telemedicine by qualified experts, as well as communication with patient navigators and primary care physicians.
Dr Mahmoud, founder of Doctor Online, added that “this new Acquisition was made possible with our sell-side mandate with Exits MENA, who was able to bring together the best strategic and financial output for the deal. The healthtech sector is still heavily unsaturated, and the more comprehensive a product, the better fit it will be for patients; who want their data to be safely protected while getting the healthcare that is quick, cost-effective and accurate.”
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Healthtech is continuing to push the boundaries of traditional healthcare delivery. It has the potential to change the way we all receive healthcare in the coming years across generational lines. This acquisition represents a significant reorganisation in order to improve the patient journey and offer patients with the appropriate medical cycle.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard