Maple announces $4M Series A financing

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By Ted Liu

Maple Corporation announced today that it has recently raised an additional $4 million in Series A funding from a group of strategic investors.

The oversubscribed round was led by a large private corporation with expertise in medical cost containment and operations, as well as Jeff Fettes, co-founder of 24-7 Intouch and The MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund.

Maple is Canada’s only app providing patients with 24/7 on-demand access to doctors by secure text or video for advice, diagnosis, and prescriptions.

“Despite having access to some of the best quality care, Canadians have some of the longest wait times in the developed world. Maple’s solution can offer significant relief for the overtaxed health care system,” says Michelle McBane, senior investment director at MaRS IAF. “In addition to impacting the wellbeing of Canadian patients, Maple’s solution impacts our economy, reducing time off work for doctor’s visits and getting patients on the path to recovery sooner.”

With nearly 20,000 patients and more than 100 Canadian licensed doctors on the platform, Maple promises patients a live chat or video visit within 5 minutes day or night – the shortest wait time for a doctor in Canada’s virtual care industry.

“We initially launched Maple as another option for patients to get fast and convenient access to a doctor after-hours, right from their smartphone or computer. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and the demand for our service is rapidly growing – not just from patients, but also from employers, insurers, hospitals and more. We believe every Canadian needs to have access to this type of service,” said Dr. Brett Belchetz, co-founder and CEO at Maple.

Currently the majority of provincial health plans do not cover patients for online or telephone consultations with doctors. Maple will use the new capital to make the service accessible to as many Canadians as possible, by continuing to build its distribution network of employers, benefit providers and insurers.

Sun Life Financial, one of Canada’s largest insurers, recently partnered with Maple to make virtual healthcare more accessible to its clients. Dave Jones, SVP of Group Benefits says “Virtual care adds a new layer of access and convenience to the health care ecosystem. We’re excited to be connecting with companies like Maple, as we work to provide Canadians with innovative solutions that can help them live healthier lives.” Read the Sun Life Financial announcement for more information.

Maple was co-founded by Dr. Belchetz, COO Roxana Zaman, and CTO Stuart Starr.

photo credit: Maple