New Delhi-based digital health tech startup BeatO said Wednesday it has launched its operation in Singapore, its first overseas expansion. The company has partnered with a global healthcare company Ascensia Diabetes Care for the branching out and expects to leverage the partnership to enter other ASEAN countries.
Founded in 2015, BeatO aims to create a digital health-tech ecosystem to help people manage their lifestyle-related chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and hypertension. Currently, its products—a smart glucometer that connects with users’ smartphones and an app—are only catered towards diabetes patients. In addition to offering a smart device to measure blood glucose levels, BeatO provides in-app consultation with doctors and nutritionists, schedules medicine deliveries, and provides insurance and diagnostics services.
“We have deeply integrated Ascensia’s Bluetooth devices into our app ecosystem such that the data is automatically and seamlessly synced whenever a user takes a blood glucose reading, and on the basis of our AI triaging system (“HealthNeuron”), we are able to provide the right actionable insight in real time to our patients along with proactive intervention and support through our team of diabetes coaches and experts,” Gautam Chopra, co-founder & CEO, BeatO, told KrASIA.
Chopra added that over the next one year, the company will be looking actively at other Asian countries especially Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, that have unfortunately a high incidence of diabetes.
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The company in a statement said it chose Singapore as its first expansion because the country has 10.5% diabetic patients compared to the world average of 8.8%. It said BeatO would build new networks in international geographies, go deeper in existing markets, and form a stronger national network of partners.
“Given the high prevalence of diabetes across regions, ASEAN is an important market for us. We believe the Singapore market holds tremendous potential and look forward to creating a meaningful impact on the local healthcare system. Through this expansion, we also intend to double our user base by the end of FY21,” Chopra said.
The company said it saw an increase in usage of its smart glucometer and mobile app last year due to higher adoption of digital health tools due to COVID-19. “In terms of both business growth and patient outcomes, we have seen an overwhelming response during the past year. Engagement rates of users have soared by 50%, increasing the time spent on the platform by 25-30%,” Chopra said.
BeatO claimed 150,000 people with chronic conditions use either its AI-powered glucometer or the app. It aims to get closer to half-a-million by the end of FY21. The company raised USD 4.1 million in its Series A round in 2020 and has raised a total of USD 7 million till date from Leo Capital, Blume Ventures, Orios Venture Partners, and Parkview Ventures.
