• YFM has led a £10m investment into healthtech company DrDoctor along with Ananda Impact Ventures and 24 Haymarket
• DrDoctor’s digital engagement solution links patients and clinicians driving a better experience and efficiency

YFM Equity Partners (“YFM”), Ananda Impact Ventures and 24 Haymarket today announce the completion of a £10 million funding round into the leading patient engagement platform in the UK, DrDoctor.

The company provides digital care solutions to increase communication and engagement between patients and clinicians, managing 25% of NHS outpatient appointments. This is primarily via patient-led booking, waitlist management and digital access to clinicians, improving provider productivity and helping the NHS tackle the backlog of patients. In a world where the demands on healthcare are increasing, with more people needing care every day, services are under more pressure than ever. DrDoctor’s  patient engagement solutions give over 19 million patients better access to care, whilst supporting clinicians in addressing the inherent system inefficiencies across the healthcare system.

The solution not only enables better experiences between patients and clinicians by activating patients in their care journey, but also drives efficiencies by reducing the number of missed appointments and decreasing administrative costs, demonstrating a return on investment from its customers. This includes over 40 NHS partner trusts, supporting over 70 million NHS appointments to date.

For DrDoctor, the future of healthcare is personalised, being delivered online and at home where possible, with empowered patients at the centre of the system.

Following the Series A in 2020, this funding round will allow DrDoctor to further expand the sales and development teams, make greater investment in the product and continue to scale across the NHS.

Tom Whicher, Co-Founder and CEO of DrDoctor, said: 

“If personalised care is to become an NHS-wide reality, there needs to be a fundamental shift in the way we approach healthcare. We see this latest support from our investors as confirmation of our role as a key enabler for these necessary changes.

We’ve already proven how a digital-first approach can have a profound effect on productivity, evidenced by our substantial footprint in the NHS. Thanks to this latest investment, we are moving forward with some incredibly exciting projects, accelerating our journey to delivering truly modern healthcare.”

Helen Villiers, Investment Director at YFM Equity Partners, said: 

“Today the healthcare service and the NHS is under supreme amounts of pressure. Coming off the back of a global pandemic and with more than seven million people on a hospital waiting list in England, patients and clinicians alike are in need of solutions such as DrDoctor’s more than ever. DrDoctor helps healthcare systems meet this demand, without sacrificing patient care quality.

The company has demonstrated exciting growth and we have been really impressed with the team and their deep domain knowledge. The company have a well-defined plan to ensure they continue on this trajectory – we are looking forward to working with them to help them reach their goals.”

Zoe Peden, Partner at Ananda Impact Ventures said: 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the potential of digital health solutions and healthcare communities to innovate and work towards a common goal. DrDoctor’s patient engagement platform is helping clinicians across the UK make data-driven decisions and enabling millions of patients to self-book appointments.

By using digital Patient Initiated Follow Up (PIFU), healthcare trusts have reduced backlogs by up to 30% and improved staff and patient experiences.

We are proud to support DrDoctor’s mission to revolutionise the way hospitals communicate with their patients. Their progress has been extraordinary and we look forward to seeing them continue to make healthcare better for everyone.”

Alexandra Brown, Investment Executive at 24 Haymarket, said: 

“Our original 2020 thesis that the NHS would soon become over-extended, is now an everyday reality.  Compounded with severe staff shortages and an ageing population, there is a greater acceptance that digital technology is a required part of the solution. Through its active participation in national projects and impactful work alongside NHS trusts, DrDoctor’s patient engagement platform has transformed how patients across the UK engage with their health journey, simultaneously improving the patient experience and driving volume efficiencies.

Having worked with the DrDoctor team closely over the period of two years, we are confident in their long-term vision, commercial mindset and ability to deliver. Leadership has successfully built a customer-centric organization with passionate people at all levels, and 24Haymarket is proud to support the Company in its plans for growth. We are excited to work alongside YFM in this next stage of development and look forward to welcoming them to the board.”

The YFM team included: Helen Villiers, Zach Francis and Jamie Roberts

YFM and the management team were advised by Legal: Eversheds Sutherland; Financial: Pegafund; Organisational: Human Matters; Commercial: Candesic; Technical: Philipps & Byrne; VCT Advice: Philip Hare & Associates.

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About YFM

YFM invests £2m to £10m into businesses with strong growth potential located across the UK through a regional network of offices in London, Leeds, Manchester, Reading and Birmingham.

YFM Equity Partners are specialist, independently owned, private equity investors. Having recently celebrated 40 years of investing experience, our portfolio may have changed over the years, but our ethos has remained the same – to support small businesses across the UK in their next phase of growth. We seek to unlock value and growth potential by providing up to £10 million of equity to fuel the development of established business throughout the UK regions. We do this by helping our portfolio companies launch new initiatives, make transformative acquisitions, and upgrade technologies and systems. We are dedicated to working alongside management teams to create long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and make a positive economic impact for the communities in which we work. We manage funds in excess of £420 million which include venture capital trusts and private equity funds.

YFM Equity Partners conducts its investment business through its subsidiary YFM Private Equity Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 122120).

For more information, please visit www.yfmep.com or follow us on LinkedIn

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