HomeEstonia-StartupsTallinn-based healthtech Viveo raises €2 million to help with Coronavirus 'social distancing'

Tallinn-based healthtech Viveo raises €2 million to help with Coronavirus ‘social distancing’

Telemedicine startup Viveo Health has raised €2 million to provide medical help via video bridge, and act as a form of ‘social distancing’. In summary, the service will help control the spread of the coronavirus in the waiting rooms of healthcare institutions. 

Viveo Health, founded in 2018, began to reduce obstacles on the way to a quick diagnosis and services. Raul Källo, the founder and CEO of Viveo Health, has commented that by moving people away from crowded waiting rooms, it can reduce the spread of the virus, and people with a variety of health problems do not have to put themselves at added risk. 

This fundraising round brought the company €2 million, and an investment of the same size has been made by the founder of the company before. In this round, a major shareholder in Tallink, Ain Hanschmidt, and a major shareholder of Graanul Invest, Anders Anderson, also joined Viveo Health. 

“Businesses have sustainability plans. We can clearly contribute to that, and help to keep people safe and out of the spread. We have already been contacted by several doctors this week, who are ready to help and want to be safe themselves,” Källo said. He noted that, with the coronavirus, they help people according to the instructions of the Health Board, but at the same time all other health problems have not gone away. “Other health problems are still here, and we are the only authenticated system of telemedicine that identifies the client and issues referrals and prescriptions,” he added.

Viveo Health combines its telemedicine service with insurance by the company, with very experienced management. It has a cooperation network across Estonia that can help to identify the losses of insurance clients and assist them in self-diagnoses. “People don’t know where to turn for help and get stuck in the system. It is important for insurance companies that their health insurance clients do not go to the emergency room or to the facilities of family doctors with minor health issues only to pick up a much more serious disease. Other viruses are also spreading right now,” Källo said.

Regarding regulatory barriers, Källo says there are no major obstacles. “Perhaps the issuing of sick-leave papers is the one most under discussion”, he said. In Finland, where they head next, there is still one limitation. “Although it is a completely digital solution, it is still required in Finland that a doctor must be located in the same country. We believe that should not be the case.”

Considering recent events, it is likely that more solutions like this will become commonplace in diagnosing patients across Europe. Going digital for diagnoses will likely be a weighty task for many countries, having had no real need previously, but the risks that the traditional method of visiting the doctor pose for patients with pre-existing health conditions may force them to modernise, if not first by contracting private companies to give health systems a boost. 

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Charlotte Tucker
Charlotte Tucker
Charlotte is the previous Editor at EU-Startups.com. She spends her time scouting the next big story, managing our contributor team, and getting excited about social impact ventures. She has previously worked as a Communications Consultant for number of European Commission funded startup projects.
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