According to the founder of Singapore-based telehealth platform Ora, 90% of his patients are under the age of 39 and have not been treated for their conditions offline. This forces Ora to make sure her patients, mostly millennials who live in cities, have a good experience. Ora wants to play with verticals focused on specific health issues, like women’s and men’s health and skin care. They also run an end-to-end platform that handles everything from consultations to prescription delivery and post-surgery care.
Today, Ora announced that it has raised $10 million in Series A funding, which it says is the largest telehealth Series A in Southeast Asia. The investment was co-led by TNB Aura and Antler, with participation from Gobi Partners, Kairous Capital and GMA Ventures.
This brings the total raised by Ora since its inception in 2020 to $17 million. Ora was founded by Elias Pour, the former CMO of Zalora, and claims to have seen uninterrupted >20% month-over-month growth since its launch last year.
Pour told TechCrunch that while working at Zalora, he “saw a very clear trend of customers investing in good looks, driven by fashion purchases that allowed them to express themselves, feel good, which is related to physical appearance like skin, hair, weight, and general well-being.He started looking for underserved segments and found a major opportunity in healthcare.
Elias Pour, founder and CEO of Ora
For added that Southeast Asia has one of the highest health expenditures in the world, so there was no need to change behavior to convince people to switch to out-of-pocket payments. “People are already used to paying out of pocket for their healthcare costs, which suits this category well for DTC.”
Ora says it has provided more than 250,000 medical consultations since its launch in 2021. It has an end-to-end model, which means it covers consultations, pharmacy, drug delivery and post-purchase care. Ora monetizes with subscriptions, with subscriptions representing over 70% of its revenue.
Ora is vertically integrated and currently operates three brands. The first, called Modules, focuses on online dermatology consultations and prescription skincare. The second, andSons, offers men’s health care and the third, OVA, deals with reproductive health care for women.
The platform mainly deals with a young clientele. The company claims that 90% of its patients are first to seek treatment, are under 38 and have never been treated online before. Younger patients demand flexibility and speed, which is why Ora’s telemedicine model appeals to them.
Pour said one of the challenges facing healthcare providers in Southeast Asia is the “big disconnect between the patient population,” which skews young people, and the inherited experience of healthcare. . He thinks that in the next decade around 80% of healthcare services will go online.
“Today, men and women in their twenties and thirties living in capital cities represent 36% of the total population. It is the fastest growing segment, expected to represent half of the population in most markets by 2030,” he said. Pour added that Ora “builds a strong relationship with them at this early stage, to earn their trust, remaining relevant to the health care needs they will have as they age.”
Pour said Ora differentiates itself from other telehealth players like Doctor Anywhere, Speedoc and Alodokter because it focuses on specific health issues. Ora also combines prescription, over-the-counter, and solid consumer products to provide post-treatment service and clinical continuity.
Ora’s new funding will be used to expand into new markets and bring its brands to more than 1,300 retail stores.
In a statement, TNB Aura founding partner Charles Wong said: “[Ora’s] the combined focus on specialized and often taboo healthcare verticals along with a direct to patient approach has led the team to clearly differentiate itself while delivering a market-leading unit economy that meets the needs on measurement of patients throughout the value chain.
