With the Covid-19, the French platform has seen its attendance explode, to the point of establishing itself as one of the major players in the vaccine campaign.
If the pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis in the medical sector, some have managed to do well. This is particularly the case of the French start-up Doctolib. During a virtual press conference held this week, the company spoke about its entrepreneurial journey, largely marked by the arrival of the Covid-19.
Initially, a simple online booking platform for medical appointments, the company quickly played a major role during the vaccination campaign, by allowing millions of French people to book a niche directly online. A few hours after the government speeches in June 2021, she had even been a victim of her success, overwhelmed by connections. A strategy that worked, since at present, the platform identifies more than 300,000 doctors and health professionals.
Present in France, but also now in Germany and Italy, Doctolib now benefits from a vast network of European practitioners, even if its main activity remains in France. With 60 million appointments made in 2021, this year promises to be still very ambitious for the company founded by Stanislas Niox-Chateau, with 100,000 additional healthcare professionals expected on the platform.
It must be said that since making an appointment online, Doctolib has been able to enrich its services. The company has notably contributed to the democratization of online teleconsultations, by facilitating the exchange of documents and remote payment. On the health professional side, the platform has also set up a full back-office allowing centralization – and better management of patient care. The feature is currently used by more than 2,000 doctors in France, and is expected to continue to develop. A messaging service reserved for healthcare professionals called Doctolib Team is also accessible free of charge.
With an economic model based solely on subscriptions from healthcare professionals (the service is free for patients, and does not monetize any data), Doctolib is today a success story in the entrepreneurial world. The company now aims to develop its activity: this year, it plans to hire several hundred new internal employees, who will automatically become shareholders, up to at least € 20,000 in stock market shares.. 300 million euros will also be put on the table within a few months to perpetuate the platform’s presence in Europe.
