This latest deal follows HealthHero’s takeover of Dublin-based MyClinic in January and Doctorlink in December as it rapidly expands in Europe.
British telehealth company HealthHero is start-up shopping once again, this time acquiring French player Qare.
The deal will see HealthHero expand further into the European market after it acquired Ireland’s MyClinic in January. No financial terms for the deal were disclosed.
Qare, based in Paris, provides a video platform for medical consultations. It was backed by Kamet Ventures, a specialist investment firm targeting tech start-ups in the areas of health and insurance. Last year, Qare acquired mental health start-up Doctopsy.
“This is the most significant telehealth acquisition in Europe in recent times, and firmly secures HealthHero’s dominance in the growing telehealth sector, in the largest healthcare market in the world,” HealthHero chief executive Ranjan Singh said.
HealthHero said that with Qare as part of its business, it is on track to provide 3m consultations this year and will have a revenue run rate of €100m.
Olivier Thierry, Qare’s CEO, will remain in the company and take on a senior management role at HealthHero.
“Europe is seeing an explosion of telehealth businesses,” Thierry said. “We are convinced that tomorrow’s health-tech champions will be European. We share with HealthHero a common European vision for quality and innovative care accessible to all, powered by technology.”
Stéphane Guinet of Kamet Ventures, the principle investor in Qare, said the company was founded to “empower patients by offering them access to a holistic set of personalised medical services that were previously only available in-person”.
HealthHero now has operations in the UK, Ireland, Germany and France. It entered the Irish market in January with its acquisition of Dublin start-up MyClinic, an app for digital consultations and managing prescriptions.
The company said it is pursuing a multi-pronged business model with services for consumers, businesses and government.
HealthHero is headed up by Singh, whose investment firm Marcol is the main backer of the start-up. It is growing heavily through acquisitions having also acquired Doctorlink, another UK start-up, late last year.