TruDoc’s new owner seeks to expand virtual health provider

Pulsar

• Puslar Capital has acquired controlling interest
• TruDoc has almost 2m global subscribers
• UAE launching digital health policy this year

Virtual healthcare provider TruDoc has been bought by a private equity company that aims to accelerate its growth across south Asia, the GCC and Africa.

Pulsar Capital bought a minority stake in TruDoc last year and has increased its investment to take a controlling interest.

TruDoc serves markets including the UAE, Saudi Arabia as well as parts of Africa. It has nearly one million paid subscribers in the UAE and double that globally.

• More GCC healthcare mergers likely as competition hots up
• US biotech manufacturer seeks Gulf genomics partners
• Digital drugs delivery – the next frontier in healthcare

Established in 2011, TruDoc also offers services including home care doctors, labs and diagnostics, e-pharmacy services and personalised wellness programmes.

“Technology is going to significantly change how primary care is delivered,” said Vish Narain, managing partner of Pulsar Capital and now TruDoc executive chairman. 

“TruDoc has cutting-edge tools using the latest technology in electronic patient record management, home health, telemonitoring, wearables and generative AI.”

Pulsar said it has led more than $1 billion of investments in the region including several marquee investments in the consumer, healthcare delivery and technology sectors.

A competitive market

Experts expect the GCC healthcare market to undergo more mergers, acquisitions and consolidation as competition and technology innovation increases.

A $100 million sharia-compliant fund by Alkhair Capital Dubai is poised to invest in enterprises harnessing artificial intelligence to bolster healthcare providers. 

According to analysts at BMI, formerly Fitch, the UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention will launch its Smart Digital Health regulatory framework by the end of 2023. 

Under this all public and private healthcare providers operating in the UAE will be required to offer a minimum of one remote health service to patients: consulting, medicine prescriptions, patient monitoring or robotic surgeries. 

The UAE is ramping up the use of digital health technologies to enhance care and boost the country’s attractiveness as a medical tourism destination. 

“We hold a high growth outlook for select digital health technologies in the UAE, with digital health continuing to receive strong government support, which we see as being one of the necessary foundations for growth,” said BMI in a new research note.

Under the National Strategy For Artificial Intelligence 2031, the UAE wants to boost innovation in healthcare and draw on its diverse expatriate population as a potential competitive advantage.

Research by Alpen Capital predicts that healthcare spending in the Gulf region will reach $135.5 billion in 2027 – an annual growth rate of 5.4 percent from $104.1 billion last year.

The UAE is predicted to witness the highest growth rate in healthcare spending of 7.4 percent.

Krishna Dhanak, managing director at Alpen Capital, said that this would drive competition and lead to the industry witnessing increased mergers, acquisitions and consolidation.