The Journal of mHealth Vol 3 Issue 1 (Feb/Mar 2016) | Page 13

Industry News Babylon Raises £17M for Its AppEnabled, Remote Healthcare Service British digital healthcare start-up Babylon Healthcare has raised £17m, the largest series A funding round in European digital healthcare to date. The mobile app, which launched in February last year, has built an artificially intelligent “doctor” that can decode symptoms and prevent illnesses before they occur, by tracking your daily habits, and integrating data about your heart rate, diet and your medical records. 250,000 people in the UK that allows 7-days-a-week access to their pool of human doctors over video chat. The company’s app allows users to book a video consultation with a doctor or a therapist, send photo or text messages to get answers to quick questions, track their health, and store basic health information like family health history, medication history, and allergy information. Users can also order tests via the app. The round was led by Investment AB Kinnevik with participation from Hoxton Ventures, Innocent Drinks cofounders Richard Reed, Adam Balon, and Jon Wright, as well as Deepmind cofounders Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman. Sources close to the business say it is currently valued significantly higher than $100m. Babylon will use the funds from this round to further develop an artificial intelligence system that helps users navigate their symptoms and monitor medication adherence. Parsa said that Babylon will release the first part of this offering in the next two to three months. The company’s CEO and founder, Ali Parsa, began working on Babylon in 2013 and launched the offering in early 2015. Currently, the London-based startup offers a mobile doctor app used by “Now it’s all about figuring out what’s the best way of engaging with you,” he said. “Do you talk? Do you have some kind of visual? So we are now testing that on people. What is it that people really find most trustworthy?” In February 2015, shortly after launch the company had 5,000 users. Babylon now covers about 250,000 customers with 150,000 active users. While consumers are able to get the service directly, Babylon also offers it via employers. Parsa said employers like the app because it’s one extra convenience they can provide for their employees. Some of the employers and payers that are using Babylon include Citigroup, Sky, MasterCard, Mercer, Bupa, and Aviva. n Diabetes Tools Nominated for 2016 Glomo Awards Diabetes Tools has been nominated for Best Mobile Innovation for Health in the GSMA’s 2016 Global Mobile Awards for its TriabetesClinic online decision support service that puts medical apps at the heart of diabetes treatment for insulin-dependent children, both in hospital and remotely at home. “TriabetesClinic for Children combines mobile apps for patient self-care and on-ward mobility with online tools to simplify and digitally rearrange the care ar