Taiwan’s AppWorks leads $1m round in Vietnam healthtech startup

Vietnam-based healthtech startup Docosan has raised over US$1 million in a funding round led by Taiwanese tech venture capital firm AppWorks, which is known for its investments in leading Southeast Asian companies such as Lalamove, Carousell, and ShopBack.

Photo credit: Docosan

Other investors that joined the round include Singapore-based Huat Ventures and biotech entrepreneur David Ma. 

Founded in January 2020, Docosan is an online marketplace that lets patients compare healthcare providers and book appointments through its platform. It also allows patients to filter doctors based on price, location, specialty, and reviews, among other criteria.

“Many clinics are frustrated after spending large amounts on social media marketing because these networks’ vast, opaque user bases are difficult to harness to reach new patients,” Docosan’s CEO and co-founder Beth Ann Lopez said in a press statement.

“Docosan’s proprietary booking software provides doctors an easier way to manage bookings compared to the crowded waiting rooms, which people are increasingly wary of amid the pandemic,” she added.

The company has also integrated e-payments and insurance into its platform, and plans to add telehealth and pharmacy services as well. It has participated in Harvard’s Launch Lab X accelerator for early-stage startups and AppWorks’ regional accelerator.

Docosan says it has helped 50,000 patients in Vietnam book appointments with physicians across 35 specialties within less than a year of operations.

Several startups in Vietnam offer similar booking services, including BookingCare and eDoctor, and Jio Health, which bagged a US$5 million series A round from Monk’s Hill Ventures in 2019 to expand its full-stack healthcare platform in the country.