Toronto-based Maple, a telemedicine platform that provides on-demand access to medical providers, has raised $14.5 million.
The round was led by Munich-based Acton Capital and included participation from SE Health, one of the largest institutions providing home health care services. SE Health and Maple have agreed to a strategic partnership to integrate telemedicine solutions in home health care.
“For millions of patients in Canada, Maple will enable direct and easy access to specialists or primary care.”
“We’re thrilled to be working with Maple to expand access to virtual health experiences in a timely and efficient way, offering meaningful benefits to patients and their families,” said Shirlee Sharkey, CEO of SE Health. “With the growing demand for connected care, we’re excited to introduce this preeminent telemedicine platform to our network of hospital and community partners as we look to create impactful new models.”
The funding will be used to expand Maple’s hospital and home care arms, and invest in developing its product, which gives people online access to 400 health care practitioners in areas like dermatology, psychotherapy, and lactation consulting.
“We’ve always made the conscious decision to put Canada first in every service we develop,” said Dr. Brett Belchetz, co-founder and CEO of Maple. “As we move forward, we’ll use this new investment to build strategic solutions to improve Canadian healthcare. We’re creating a fully connected experience, one where anyone can access care in minutes whenever they need it and receive true continuity of care between providers.”
Maple said the funding follows a record year in which Maple grew its revenue six times, and raised an undisclosed funding round and investment from RBC, earlier this year.
To date, the company has included 400,000 Canadians across its business and consumer platforms, facilitated through partnerships with employers, insurers, governments, and hospitals. Some of its corporate partners include Morneau Shepell and ENCON Group, as well as employers like pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, which includes Maple in employee benefits programs.
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Maple has also worked with PEI’s Western Hospital. For the last year, Maple has been used for ER diversion and as a stand-alone messaging and video communication system to expedite everyday hospital procedures like discharge planning.
“For millions of patients in Canada, Maple will enable direct and easy access to specialists or primary care,” said Hannes Blum, a venture partner for North America at Acton Capital. “Thanks to its superior quality support and a fast-growing network of experienced and dedicated physicians all over the country, Maple is improving professional healthcare coverage even in remote areas. It’s deeply impressive what the team as a first mover has already accomplished. We are proud to support Maple as Canada’s leading telemedicine provider on its way to further shape this thriving market.”
Maple wants to triple its Toronto office over the next 24 months. In March 2018, Maple also raised a $4 million Series A.
The company also recently announced a partnership with Dot Health, a platform that finds and stores medical records, to allow users to join their existing profiles from each app and share their full medical history with healthcare providers on Maple.