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Nelly wants to become the largest fintech startup in the healthcare industry. The Berlin-based startup already works with more than 1,200 medical practices in a handful of European countries. But there are thousands more who could benefit from an upgrade for their administrative workflows.
That’s why Nelly recently raised 50 million euros in funding (about 51 million dollars at current exchange rates) in a series B led by Cathay Innovation, with Notion Capital. Existing investors b2venture, Lakestar, Motive Ventures and Arc Investors also participated once again.
While many industries have completely shifted to digital workflows, Nelly’s founding team realized that many medical practices are lagging behind. “I went to the doctor, I had to fill in all my data with pen and paper. And then four weeks later, I received a thick letter with a request to pay €120”, the co-founder and CEO of Nelly, Niklas Radner, he told TechCrunch.
The company started with a software product as a service that allows medical practices to onboard new patients digitally. Patients book an appointment and then receive a confirmation message via SMS, WhatsApp, or email with a link. They can click on that link and fill in their personal data and medical history.
“But the reality today is that more than 50% of all appointments are not scheduled digitally. They are scheduled for a phone call or just to go to the practice,” said Radner. That’s why patients can also scan a QR code to open Nelly’s portal from the waiting room.
Behind the scenes, Nelly integrates with existing practice management systems. Data is updated and stored in these legacy systems so that practices do not need to switch to a new system altogether. These connectors are built in-house by the Nelly team or developed by Nelly’s partners.
This shipping system serves as the backbone for the rest of the product suite. “You can look at Nelly as, say, a Typeform/DocuSign/scheduler for medical practices,” Radner said.
On the patient side, in addition to online bookings and boarding functions, patients can pay medical practices using online payments or card readers managed by Nelly. Patients can also receive reminders to leave a review on Google Maps.
As for medical practices, Nelly can handle billing and invoicing. This part can save significant time for medical practices, as it can lead to spending less time chasing out-of-pocket payments.
Nelly can also be used as an alternative to a corporate bank account with a corporate credit card and expense management system. Finally, Nelly offers factoring for instant payments of outstanding claims.
These strong integrations into the patient journey and back-office system of the medical practice create a barrier to entry for other fintech companies. Nelly has also passed data protection certifications. “We are the first company to send digital invoices in the medical space in Germany,” said Radner.
The product is currently available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It recently expanded to Italy, and there are more countries on the way.
“Nelly works with the largest DSOs (dental service organizations) in Europe … And we won the agreement for the Colosseum Dental Group, which operates in 11 European countries. And they want to scale to their 700 places with Nelly”, Radner said. “So we are going to expand with our customers to more markets in Europe.”
