Portuguese-based Health Tech Startup Tonic App Secures €10.85 Million in Series A Round Funding

The third round of funding for Tonic App was co-led by venture capital firms BlueCrow Capital and Iberis Capital. Participating were its initial backers, the Portuguese Armilar Venture Partners and Portugal Ventures, as well as the Luxembourgish Vesalius Biocapital III. With the inclusion of Shilling VC and the French strategic investor FSNB Health & Care, the Series A investment round was closed.

In order for Tonic App to grow quickly and sustainably, it needs to expand into new markets, strengthen its position in existing ones, and bolster its team. The funds raised will help the company achieve these goals.

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The business will increase its operational investment and appoint senior expertise to its sales staff. The former COO of Adclick, Célia Brás, was just appointed Chief-of-Staff. Additionally, a large sum of money is being allocated to research and development (R&D), with generative artificial intelligence as the primary focus.

With 25,900 doctors using its genAI-powered virtual assistant for GPs, the business launched it first in Europe and plans to certify it as a medical device by September. Tonic Scribe, a programme that enables automatic transcription and summarization of clinical notes, will be released by Tonic App in Q2.

Daniela Seixas, medical doctor, co-founder and CEO of Tonic App, explained: “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.”

Tonic App, a Healthtech startup was founded in 2016 with the goal of enhancing the practicality of clinical practicein Portugal startup ecosystem. Through its ability to address the fragmentation of tools and knowledge that doctors use on a daily basis, Tonic App has been making their jobs easier.

The company has achieved several milestones, including the development of its mobile and web platform, the ongoing improvement of its product offering with an ever-expanding array of medical tools and useful contents, medical device certification, CME accredited e-library, and, most recently, the launch of its AI virtual assistant. Currently, over 140,000 doctors in 4 countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and France) use the company's platform.

Tonic App added 20,000 new doctors to its platform in 2023 alone, and its overseas revenue increased by 79% within that same year. The company's fastest-growing market, Italy, has seen a 772% increase in revenue.

António Mello Campello, co-founder of BlueCrow Capital, commented: “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, added: “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.We believe that the timing is right for the expansion of the platform into new markets and to support the company’s commitment to promoting innovation by investing in the development of new features, content, and medical tools to better meet the needs of the healthcare ecosystem. We are very proud to reinforce our involvement with the company and continue to support this path.”

François Sarkozy, founder & CEO of FSNB Health & Care, highlighted: “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, added: “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

The Tonic App, a Portuguese startup port serves as each medical doctor's professional platform. It makes healthcare work more efficient by facilitating team cooperation, allowing for quick and secure discussion of patient cases, and compiling resources and tools for regular professional usage in European healthcare markets.