The largest private healthcare organization in the nation, Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS), has received an unknown series A round of funding for Ooca, a Thai company that provides telemedicine for mental health.
The startup will work with BDMS to develop and publicize programs aimed at increasing access to mental health treatment. The cooperation intends to make Ooca the biggest supplier of online and offline mental health services in Thailand.
Ooca, which was established in 2017 by Dr. Kanpassorn Suriyasangpetch, enables users to schedule video consultations with psychologists and psychiatrists. For clients in the business sector, it also provides corporate packages.
According to the firm, its platform has more than 180,000 users.
It was difficult to gather money at the time, Suriyasangpetch said, according to reports. She emphasized that because Thailand has a smaller market than Indonesia, healthtech businesses there have a difficult time raising money.
Investors have expressed interest in mental health, she continued, but they frequently seek out anything scalable, like AI-powered products. Suriyasangpetch argues that this shouldn’t take precedence over the genuine innovation required for mental wellbeing.
“Human empathy can never be replaced by any machine unless artificial intelligence relationships become as satisfying as those between humans,” she said.
In a seed fundraising round funded by Expara Thailand, Ooca most recently secured US$320,000 in 2018.
