Tonic App raises €10.85 million to enter the UK and Germany and double-down on AI
This third round of investment will allow the company to strengthen its artificial intelligence strategy, enter the UK and Germany and reach more than 250,000 physicians, becoming the leading medical platform in Europe.
BlueCrowCapital and Iberis Capital have co-led the investment round in Tonic App. Thefunding round also included new investors Shilling VC and FSNB Health &Care, who join existing investors Vesalius Biocapital III, Armilar and Portugal Ventures, demonstrating continued confidence in the scale-up's growth potential.
21 March 2024 - Tonic App, the digital health startup that makes the day-to-day of physicians simpler by aggregating all the resources they need in a single platform, has just closed a Series A investment round of €10.85 million. With this capital, the startup aims to become the first medical platform with a presence in the five largest European healthcare markets: Spain, Italy, and France, where it already operates, followed by the UK and Germany, which the scaleup plans to enter over the next 24 months.
The venture capital companies BlueCrow Capital and Iberis Capital co-led Tonic App’s third investment round. Its first investors, the Luxembourgish Vesalius Biocapital III, and the Portuguese Armilar Venture Partners and Portugal Ventures also participated. The Series A investment round was closed with the additional investment Shilling VC and the French strategic investor FSNB Health & Care.
The amount raised represents a critical growth driver for Tonic App, to consolidate its presence in the markets where it already operates, expand into new geographies, and amplify the team towards a fast, yet sustained business growth. The company will hire senior talent for its sales team and will further invest in operations. Célia Brás, former COO of Adclick, was recently hired as Chief-of-Staff. A substantial investment is also being made in research and development (R&D), focusing on generative artificial intelligence. The company was the first in Europe to launch a genAI-powered virtual assistant for physicians, already used by 25,900 medical doctors, and expects to certify it as a medical device until September. In Q2, Tonic App will launch Tonic Scribe, a tool that allows automated transcription and summarisation of clinical notes.
Daniela Seixas, medical doctor, co-founder and CEO of Tonic App, explains: “Obtaining venture capital investment became more difficult. The size and timing of this round gives us an advantage over our existing competitors, which we will seize. Soon, we will be operating in the five largest healthcare markets in Europe, which is a huge opportunity for our pharma clients”.
Since its inception in 2016, Tonic App has been on a mission to make clinical practice even more practical. By solving the fragmentation of tools and knowledge physicians need nowadays for their daily practice, Tonic App has been facilitating their work. The development of its platform, both mobile and web, the continuous enhancement of the product offering, with an ever increasing range of medical tools and useful contents, medical device certification and CME accredited e-library, and, most recently the launch of its AI virtual assistant, are just a few of the milestones reached by the company, whose platform is currently used by more than 140,000 doctors in 4 countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy and France).
In 2023 alone, Tonic App acquired 20,000 new physicians for its platform and saw its foreign revenue grow by 79%. In Italy, its fastest growing market, the company has seen a revenue growth of 772%.
Tonic App has a client portfolio comprised of pharmaceutical, consumer health and medical device companies, such as AbbVie, MSD, Roche, AstraZeneca and Medtronic, and medical recruitment companies.
As a 360º platform for doctors that brings together knowledge and clinical decision support tools, educational content, a video consultation system, and job vacancies, among other valuable resources for professionals' day-to-day work, Tonic App is positioned to become the leading medical platform in Europe.
António Mello Campello, co-founder of BlueCrow Capital, justifies including this investment in his portfolio: “The growing interest in the technology sector and the subset of AI has led us to search for a company where technology and AI are used in full harmony with humans and for their benefit. This is the objective of Tonic App: to develop a highly useful product for physicians and their patients. It has proven to be an investment opportunity in a sector and technology of great importance for human development."
João Henriques, co-founder of Iberis Capital, which allocates most of its investment to Innovation and Growth, also comments about his confidence in the investment: "Tonic App has been demonstrating remarkable capacity for penetration and engagement within the populations of doctors in the countries where it operates. This has sustained increasing engagement of these professionals with the platform, which increasingly meets their needs.”
François Sarkozy, founder & CEO of FSNB Health & Care, highlights the innovative nature of the startup: “We are happy to invest in Tonic App, which progress I have been following for years. It can be a game changer, not only through simplifying physicians’ daily activities, but also through helping them maximising their efficiency at the moment where time of physician is more limited.”
Teresa Fiúza, vice-president of Portugal Ventures, adds: “It is with great pride that Portugal Ventures has continued to follow the success of Tonic App since December 2016, having always participated in its investment rounds. This new financial boost will allow the company, led by Daniela Seixas, to strengthen its team, extend its international presence to more demanding markets and expand its AI skills. With these goals, Tonic App aims to position itself as a leading player in Europe in the field of digital health. Portugal Ventures believed in Tonic App from the outset because it’s an innovative project, with a differentiated team, and has the main ingredients for success."
About Tonic App
Tonic App is a digital health platform that supports doctors in diagnosing and treating their patients and their administrative and personal tasks, bringing together all the digital resources they need for their day-to-day work on a single platform. Tonic App makes clinical practice simpler.
The 36-employee company was co-founded in Porto in 2016 by Daniela Seixas, CEO, and Andrew Barnes, Christophe de Kalbermatten and Dávid Borsós, fellow students of an executive MBA at IE Business School.
Tonic App was named by Forbes magazine as one of 60 female-led startups "shaking up technology around the world". In 2023, it was one of three Portuguese apps selected by Google Play among 2 million apps worldwide for its #WeArePlay campaign, an initiative that recognises app stories driven by meaningful purpose.
Recently, Tonic App was selected by the LeapUp open innovation program developed by AbbVie, which aims to promote and explore the opportunities brought by collaborative innovation through technology that facilitate and enhance disease management from the perspective of both the healthcare professional and the patient. Tonic App was one of five startups selected among 59 applicants from 17 different European countries.
About BlueCrow Capital
Established in 2010, BlueCrow Capital holds an influential position in the financial sector, fully owning two licenses regulated by the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM). Its portfolio includes 12 funds, with a strategic focus on Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Asset Management. Leveraging a team with diverse professional backgrounds, BlueCrow brings a strategic edge to the sectors we operate in, guided by core principles of innovation, transparency, and unwavering commitment. For more information, please visit: https://www.bluecrowcapital.com/
Next Tech Fund I, managed by BlueCrow, is a Venture Capital Fund dedicated to investing in high-potential technology startups. It is our initiative to drive innovation and link investors with the vibrant tech sector in Portugal, offering a platform for growth and technological progress. https://www.bluecrowcapital.com/
About Iberis Capital
Founded in 2017, Iberis Capital is a venture capital and private equity fund manager headquartered in Lisbon. Iberis Capital invests in Venture Capital, Mid-Market, and Yielding Investments with flexible investment structures tailored to the needs of companies. With over €500 million in assets under management and a base of more than 1000 investors, Iberis Capital establishes partnership relationships and contributes to the development of some of the most promising national technology companies, with the ability to support them in different stages of their growth. https://iberiscapital.com/
About Vesalius Biocapital III
Vesalius Biocapital is a specialist life sciences venture capital investor investing in European clinical stage biotech companies and digital health companies. From Luxemburg and over its four funds, Vesalius has supported almost 40 companies active in human health through venture capital funds since 2007. Vesalius is supporting Tonic App since 2019 and continues its journey with the company in the present round. https://www.vesaliusbiocapital-3.com/
About FSNB Health & Care
FSNB Health & Care is a French strategy consulting firm specialized in healthcare. Its objective is to support clients and partners in tackling the challenges posed by the constantly evolving environment, combining expertise and pragmatism to implement win-win solutions adapted to real-world situations and considering the perspective of the different stakeholders.
It works with all healthcare stakeholders, including institutions, experts, hospitals and healthcare operators, unions and professional orders, pharmaceutical laboratories, medical device industries, health insurance providers, healthcare industry service providers, patient associations, biotechnology companies, and healthcare startups. https://www.fsnb.eu/
About Armilar
Armilar Venture Partners is Portugal's leading VC funds manager. An independent VC with a history of more than 20 years, a high-performance track record, and an international footprint, Armilar focuses on early-stage technology-based companies where data, digitization, and connectivity play a central role. For more information, please visit www.armilar.com
About Portugal Ventures
Portugal Ventures, a venture capital company that is part of the Banco Português de Fomento Group, has 269.1 million euros under management and 159 companies in its portfolio. It invests in startups that create innovative solutions, with internationalization capacity, in the Digital & Technology, Industry & Technology, Health Technologies and Tourism areas, and in the pre-seed, seed and series A phases. Since 2012, Portugal Ventures has invested 204.6 million euros in 224 new companies. For more information, visit www.portugalventures.pt.
About Shilling VC
Shilling is a leading early-stage VC in Portugal that invests in a wide range of verticals and seeks out the biggest opportunities across all B2B and consumer categories. More than capital, Shilling offers direct access to successful founders and executives of leading companies. Shilling’s Platform supports entrepreneurs in validating and developing their ventures, accelerating growth into global markets. https://www.shilling.vc/
