Nelly Raises $52 Million to Expand Healthcare Platform in Europe

Berlin-based Nelly raised 50 million euros (about $52 million) to further develop its platform for medical practices, increase its market share in Germany and expand it to new European markets.

The company’s Patient Experience Platform and Financial Operating System (FinOS) enables practices to streamline workflows and provides patients with a fully digital experience, Nelly said in a Wednesday (Jan. 15) press release.

“Our vision is to become the largest FinTech in healthcare, delivering unparalleled value to healthcare providers and patients alike,” Nelly Co-founder and CEO Niklas Radner said in the release.

Nelly’s platform is currently used by more than 1,200 medical practices and 2 million patientsand, as part of its geographic expansion, recently entered the Italian market, according to the release.

The platform integrates with practice management software and streamlines patient intake, document management, payment processing and other workflows, the release said.

The digital experience the platform provides for patients includes everything from check-in to payment, allowing these tasks to be completed via smartphone, per the release.

Jacky Abitbol, managing partner at Cathay Innovation, which led the funding round, said in the release that Nelly is “transforming medical practices with new financial and operational processes.”

“Meeting such an exceptional team has convinced us that they are uniquely positioned to become the leading bank for medical practices in the future,” Abitbol said. “We are excited to help accelerate their growth across the continent and beyond.”

A growing number of consumers expect to be able to use digital tools to book healthcare appointments, obtain test results and make payments, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and Experian Health collaboration, “The Digital Healthcare Gap: Streamlining the Patient Journey.”

The 2002 report found that about 1 out of 5 patients had scheduled an appointment via digital channels in the previous 12 months, 31% said they use digital methods to find and select providers, and two-thirds said they used patient portals.

Even baby boomers and seniors, who are frequently typecast as being technology-averse, show an affinity for digital healthcare platforms, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and Lynx collaboration, “The Digital Platform Promise: What Baby Boomers and Seniors Want From Digital Healthcare Platforms.”

The report found that 9 in 10 baby boomers would prefer to conduct key healthcare activities through unified digital platforms.