Toronto-based Phelix.ai, a startup that develops automation tools for the health sector, has raised a $1 million seed round. The round was led by Well Health Technologies, which contributed $250,000. Other investors were not disclosed.
”Our suite of products were strongly positioned to alleviate bottlenecks and digitize data flows across the health system.”
Well provided the capital in exchange for a convertible promissory note, which is a debt instrument that converts to equity and is issued when certain conditions outlined in the note are met. The new funding will be used to build out Phelix.ai’s solutions, grow the team, and expand across its channel partners. A channel partner is a company that typically markets and sells a manufacturer’s products.
Well also entered into a strategic alliance agreement with Phelix.ai, which grants Well the right to use and sublicense Phelix.ai’s clinical assistant automation software.
“Our focus has always been on relieving front line staff from the repetitive and burdensome tasks that plague most healthcare workflows,” said Hassaan Ahmed, CEO of Phelix AI. “The COVID-19 outbreak presented a unique set of challenges, and our suite of products were strongly positioned to alleviate bottlenecks and digitize data flows across the health system.”
Phelix.ai’s technology combines fax automation, call centre automation, booking automation, as well as two-way patient messaging and robust workflow analytics to create a virtual assistant. The startup’s conversational AI engine uses natural language understanding to triage and action administrative and clinical requests by phone, text, or a virtual website agent.
Phelix.ai is also able to schedule, connect, and auto-bill for secure phone visits, alongside in-person or video-based virtual care. No integration is required, and the entire service can be handled through a single phone line for each physician. The startup claims it can free up to 75 percent of time spent on workflow tasks, and therefore allows frontline healthcare workers to spend more time on patient care.
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The startup recently launched a public health assistant tool that helps triage, follow-up with, and contact trace COVID-19 cases, allowing front line staff to focus on complex cases or clusters. Phelix’s Intake Assistant is deployed with diagnostic imaging providers across North America, and the company said it is being implemented to address surgical backlogs resulting from COVID-19 related suspensions of elective procedures.
Well Health is a public digital health company that operates primary healthcare facilities, which usually provide community care and home-care services. Well calls itself an acquisitive company, and has completed ten acquisitions and two equity investments to date. It is also publicly-traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Over the last year, Well Health has been expanding its portfolio of Open Source Clinical Application Resource (OSCAR) services. The company completed the purchase of OSCARprn in June, and acquired Toronto-based Kai Innovations a month later. More recently, Well invested $5.94 million in telehealth company Insig, which provides electronic medical record software services to Canadian clinics.
Image source Unsplash. Photo by National Cancer Institute.