Swedish MedTech Startup Kry Raises $300 Million At $2 Billion Valuation

Swedish MedTech startup Kry raised $300 million in a funding round that values the telehealth platform at $2 billion, almost triple the $700 million valuation the firm had last year, CNBC reported.

The funding round was led by CPP Investments and Fidelity, with participation by existing investors Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Index Ventures and Accel. 

Johannes Schildt, CEO and co-founder of Kry, told CNBC on Tuesday (April 27) that the startup will continue growing its digital product suite and expanding operations.

“We monetize both software and health care delivery, but currently we are continuing to invest. And that’s the reason why we raised, because we think it makes a lot of sense for us to continue to invest in our tools and technology,” Schildt said.

Kry’s telehealth platform schedules digital doctor appointments in Sweden, Norway and Germany and also has a separate brand — Livi — that’s available in the U.K. and France.   

The startup branched out to the U.S. in 2020 with the roll-out of Livi Connect, a free video consultation platform. Although available in the U.S., the free video solution is largely focused on Europe, Schildt told CNBC.

The health tech surge triggered by COVID-19 is considered a “mega-trend” by Kry and its backers, one that is anticipated to have post-pandemic staying power. Kry said its platform handled more than 3 million medical consultations since it launched in early 2015. 

“I think the underlying mega trend of shifting health to digital, that was already there long before the pandemic,” Schildt told CNBC. “A lot of the policy changes we’ve seen across Europe have actually been in place before the pandemic but this has obviously accelerated the shift.”

Digital healthcare possibilities have the attention of Microsoft and Amazon, both of which have launched solutions in the medical space. Microsoft acquired speech recognition firm Nuance Communications, which will help the tech giant develop technology that can transcribe and process patient/doctor consultations. Amazon recently rolled out its telehealth services nationwide.