Virtual B2B healthcare startup Dialogue has closed a $40 million funding round led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Holtzbrinck Ventures.
“This new financing from our partners will help push our company to new heights.”
Other participants in the round included Portag3 Ventures, First Ascent Ventures, White Star Capital, National Bank of Canada, and Walter Capital. Dialogue said it will use the new funds to maintain its position in Canada and continue expanding in the European market.
“We are privileged to have the backing of a quality institution such as CDPQ,” said Cherif Habib, CEO and co-founder of Dialogue. “This new financing from our partners will help push our company to new heights by consolidating our Canadian expansion and continuing to grow in Europe.”
Montreal-based Dialogue offers companies services to access front-line healthcare providers through its virtual technology platform. Founded in 2016 and incubated in Diagram Ventures, Dialogue has grown to over 400 clients, including Lightspeed, Hopper, and National Bank.
Dialogue’s last funding round was a $12 million Series A, closed in February 2018. The year before, it partnered with League on a solution that offers members access to registered nurses via chat, instantly directing them to the right health resource for their particular needs through their mobile device.
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“This transaction aligns well with our Québec investment strategy,” said Thomas Birch, managing director of Venture Capital and Technologies at CDPQ. “In addition to supporting the company’s expansion into new international markets, CDPQ is again supporting an innovative, new economy company that integrates artificial intelligence into its business solutions to enhance its performance. This is an investment by our Fonds CDPQ-IA, announced this winter, which focuses on accelerating the commercialization of Québec artificial intelligence solutions.”
In November, the company acquired DXA, an AI-powered tool designed to replicate how an ER doctor’s brain thinks. Dialogue said it is conducting a pilot project for the AI-powered tool with the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), and the technology will soon be used at Hospital Berlin-Buch to support its emergency rooms.
This year has seen many new developments in the virtual healthcare space. Dialogue’s funding comes several months after Virtual Health Task Force was launched to examine virtual care technology and how it can improve access and quality of care for patients across the country. The funding also comes amidst many recent moves in the virtual healthcare, from Akira opening a tech-enabled clinic in Toronto, to Dot Health and Maple partnering to launch a virtual care platform, and Montreal-based VirtualMED partnering with US-based HealthTap to offer AI-powered virtual care to Canadians.
Image courtesy Dialogue via Facebook
