Founded in 2015 by José Bastos, an economist, and João Magalhães, a medical Doctor, knok is a platform that allows patients and doctors to connect efficiently and safely via video.
NOS 5G Fund, created by NOS and managed by Armilar Venture Partners, and Triple Point Ventures have co-invested in this new €4.4 million boost for the company.
At EU-Startups we first came across knok back in 2016 when they were described as the “most investable” startup by the Global Investment Forum. Since then, we also included them on our Portuguese startups to watch in 2017 list and again in 2019. It’s been really exciting to see how they’ve expanded over the years.
Jose Bastos, CEO, and Co-Founder of knok, said that “knok is entering a new development phase following this investment round. The set of excellent investors that joined the round will accelerate the national and international expansion of our integrated health solution. It will also strengthen our presence in Spain, Brazil, and other countries in Latin America, whilst we’re opening new markets like India, the UK, and Italy.”
Porto-based, the health-tech company incorporates video consultations and supporting tools for remote monitoring of patients via artificial intelligence, all through a single platform. Through this solution, patients can share symptoms and medical information and engage with their doctors via video consultations in an integrated, safe and intuitive way.
The innovative platform facilitates access to remote healthcare, providing a holistic and robust technological solution based on data gathered from hundreds of thousands of video consultations. The technology can be seamlessly integrated by healthcare providers and is based on a digital-first healthcare model based on convenience and trust.
Already active across 12 countries, knok has approximately 30 clients (including hospitals, clinics and insurers), with more than 3100 active doctors for more than 9 medical specialities, and has been used in more than 160,000 consultations.
The innovative start-up will use the investment to develop complete and fully integrated telemedicine solutions which benefit enormously from 5G technology.
Jorge Graça, CTO of NOS, commented that the 5G technology being implemented by knok with this funding will “contribute to the democratisation of healthcare access”.
Using 5G technology, the platform can improve access to healthcare for all, but particularly those in remote locations. It also brings greater flexibility to medical staff, who will be able to provide these services through a reliable and secure mobile network. Medical professionals will also enjoy enhanced collaborations as 5G will promote cooperation between specialists and will be able to easily share documents and records.