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Hi readers,
A little before the onset of Covid-19, as part of a reporting assignment, I stopped by a small, sleepy town in Kerala in southern India. The town had little to offer to vacationers and yet foreign tourists had begun frequenting the place.
While the town was hours away from the region’s famous backwater cruise hubs, a number of specialty hospitals had mushroomed in the area over the years and had ultimately caught the eye of those willing to travel to cut medical expenses. In fact, this medical tourism boom has now gone regional.
The medical tourism market is growing 15% to 25% every year. South and Southeast Asia see the most inbound patient flows. In fact, a patient from the US could save between 50% to 75% on medical expenses if they travel to Thailand for treatment.
Singapore-based Doctor Anywhere says it has already begun seeing good progress in the two months it’s been offering medical tourism services.
The firm’s report card is an interesting one. Founder Lim Wai Mun told us that Doctor Anywhere has seen a 150% compound annual growth rate over the last three years.
What’s more, through its well-diversified revenue sources, it expects to earn S$100 million in revenue by the end of 2023 – double what it saw in 2022. More on this here.
— Nikita Puri, journalist at Tech in Asia
Top stories this week
Image credit: Timmy Loen
1️. Doctor Anywhere aims to double revenue to S$100m this year
The healthtech startup expects its buyout of Asian Healthcare Specialists and its medical tourism efforts to drive up revenue this year.
2. Sea Group’s triple win: how it pulled off a stunning reversal
The tech company’s turnaround in its fourth-quarter results was about more than just cuts to its sales and marketing budget
3. As Grab leads the pack in SEA’s food delivery race, challengers vie for second spot
Food delivery players have reduced their incentives and are focusing more on generating revenue and improving consumer loyalty.
4. Timeline of a bank run: What happened to Silicon Valley Bank?
Half of all venture-backed US startups are said to have been customers of Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed in a matter of days.
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