Hot on the heels of PushDoctor’s $8.2 million Series A , another U.K. startup playing in the digital health app space has picked up funding. Babylon Health , which like PushDoctor, lets you have video consultations with a doctor (and a lot more), has raised a $25 million Series A round led by Investment AB Kinnevik, the Swedish listed investment fund. Others participating include Babylon’s original backer Hoxton Ventures , and the founders of BXR Group. In addition, Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright (co-founders of Innocent Drinks) also joined the round, as did Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman, founders of Deepmind, the AI group bought by Google for $500m, who were already advising the digital health startup. That two of Deepmind’s founders contributed is noteworthy given that Babylon says it plans to use the additional capital to add a significant AI component to its mobile app that will employ AI to help patients pre-screen health conditions before or if they choose to follow up with a text, phone or video consultation. That’s eminently more scalable than relying solely on the 100 or so doctors Babylon currently employs to serve its users who pay a monthly subscription service or get access via their employer’s healthcare provision.
A few months back I was given a demo of Babylon’s AI feature — you basically talk to the app as it walks you through your symptoms — but felt it was a little too early to write about the experience. AI is the promise that keeps on promising so it will be interesting to test out Babylon’s offering once it’s ready for a full commercial launch. No doubt the Deepmind connection will help with hiring, which is one area the startup plans to use its Series A funding. Meanwhile, Babylon is staying mum on the company’s valuation. The FT , who appear to have jumped the gun on the funding announcement yesterday before it had technically closed, cites it as “in excess” of $100 million, though one source close to the company tells me it’s significantly higher than that.
