Telehealth startup Coviu raises $1 million from Main Sequence to embed itself as a “solid competitor” in healthcare

Coviu, a startup developing advanced video telehealth platforms for healthcare professionals, has raised $1 million from Main Sequence Ventures.

The business sprung from CSIRO’s Data61 program in 2016 after being founded in 2015 and is currently being used by more than 1,100 healthcare professionals. The user base includes physiotherapists, speech pathologists, general practitioners and many health providers.

The cloud-based video consultation platform allows patients and healthcare professionals to consult without being in the same room.  

Founder Silvia Pfeiffer, who has been working on video-based technology in Australia since 1999 after a move from Germany, believes the platform has the potential to go international.

“This funding will enable us to grow the business further, of course,” Pfeiffer tells StartupSmart.

“There are a huge list of features we are looking to add, and telehealth isn’t something that can be done without being integrated into the workflow, so there is plenty of work to be done.”

“Within 12 months time, we hope to have embedded ourselves as a solid competitor in the Australian market,” Pfeiffer says.

“Telehealth is much more advanced in the United States and we would like to expand our business into the US, and this funding will certainly help that.”

For now, however, the focus us on expanding the company’s reach in Australia. With 1,100 businesses practitioners currently using the Coviu platform, the aim is to have 7,000 on board by the end of the year after this round of funding is deployed.

“We are focused on really making it work in Australia in the short term so that we are grounded when we attempt to break into the US market,” Pfeiffer said.

CSIRO chief executive Dr Larry Marshall believes Coviu can lead Australia into the next wave of world-class research.

“Australia’s industries and jobs of the future come from investment in innovation to tackle Australia’s National Challenges,” Dr Marshall said in a press release.

“Today, we see the future of healthcare in the promise of Coviu.”

The investment will be used to integrate Coviu into more clinics and open the platform up to developers, to create new capabilities for patients and clinicians.

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