Why MDI Ventures Invests in Singapore Healthcare Startup mClinica

One of the Indonesian investors participating in the $6.3 million Series A funding round for mClinica, a Singapore-based healthcare startup, is MDI Ventures. The investment will then be used by mClinica for global expansion.

To DailySocial, MDI CEO Nicko Widjaja revealed, the approach taken to mClinica happened long before the fundraising plan was launched.

“Because mClinica is in the health and data business, this vertical requires the highest level of compliance when it comes to matters that can be very sensitive. During the testing process (due diligence process), we want to ensure that all aspects of their business are fully compliant with regulations, especially because of the role Unitus Impact plays in this round. We talked a lot about how mClinica will impact society. Given all this, I believe mClinica is now one of the most suitable healthcare startups in the region,” said Nicko.

MDI Ventures' investment in mClinica will then be aligned with existing services in the country, especially those provided by Telkom Indonesia. Currently, digital-based health services in Indonesia have also shown positive growth, in accordance with MDI's plan for mClinica.

“So far, Telkom Indonesia through Admedika and Telkomedika have created good relations with the government as well as with the health industry throughout Indonesia. I see the services and products offered by mClinica can be the right solution at this time,” said Nicko.

mClinica's business model seeks to create scenarios win-win solution for the parties involved and is able to create a strong network effect that makes it sustainable. The amount of data and information generated becomes very valuable for the health ecosystem (pharmaceutical companies, governments, insurance companies, and consumers).

“Together we can introduce innovative business models that can allow for better quality health while reducing the burden on supporting ecosystems. We are very enthusiastic to support the expansion of the mClinica market to Indonesia with the innovations we create for healthcare services in Indonesia,” said Nicko.

Besides MDI Ventures, other investors who participated in this round were Unitus Impact, Global Innovation Fund, and Endeavor Catalyst from the United States. Previous investors, namely 500 Startups, IMJ Investment Partners, and Kickstart Ventures, also participated in this funding round.

To DailySocial, Unitus Impact Managing Partner Beau Seil said, "We see mClinica as a "system-changing" company that can change the face of healthcare in developing countries. [...] Using a simple but powerful mobile-based platform, mClinica creates scenarios "win-win" to private companies and public sector organizations that deliver needed medicines to the hundreds of millions -- if not billions -- of people mClinica's target market for."

Southeast Asia Market mClinica

Currently mClinica has been operating in Southeast Asian markets, such as Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Through its existing platform, mClinica enables leading pharmaceutical companies, governments, NGOs and multinational academic institutions to obtain previously inaccessible data and then run patient programs that directly touch the population at the local pharmaceutical level.

mClinica offers the Government a solution to be able to quickly generate and visualize health data in a real-time for decision making and formulating policies. This team will engage with governments that wish to take advantage of data-driven tools to improve health services in emerging markets.

“At mClinica, we connect fragmented pharmacies on the same platform, providing a unified set of global health data that has never been done before. Our goal is to rapidly change the availability and quality of health data globally in months rather than decades," said mClinica Founder and CEO Farouk Meralli.