A British digital healthcare start-up, Babylon, has raised $25m in the largest series A funding round seen in the sector in Europe. The app 'doctor' uses artificial intelligence, which can decode symptoms and prevent illnesses by tracking daily habits and integrating data about heart rates, diets and medical records, in addition to offering a pool of human doctors for video chats. Valued significantly higher than $100m, investors include founders of Innocent Drinks and DeepMind, the Google-owned artificial intelligence company. Launched last February, the app is used by 250,000 people in the UK, paying £4.99 per month, with nearly 60 businesses, including Citigroup, Sky and Mastercard, Bupa and Aviva, signed up for the benefit of their employees. A trial is also being piloted in Birmingham for the NHS, with a view to making the app available to a wider audience. In an interview with BBC Future, Babylon chief executive Dr David Evans said that while it was still early days, he expected the company would be able to offer its services at lower prices as more hospitals adopted “I genuinely believe Britain has a great chance to be a global leader in digital health.”
A British digital healthcare start-up, Babylon, has raised $25m in the largest series A funding round seen in the sector in Europe. The app 'doctor' uses artificial intelligence, which can decode symptoms and prevent illnesses by tracking daily habits and integrating data about heart rates, diets and medical records, in addition to offering a pool of human doctors for video chats. Valued significantly higher than $100m, investors include founders of Innocent Drinks and DeepMind, the Google-owned artificial intelligence company. Launched last February, the app is used by 250,000 people in the UK, paying £4.99 per month, with nearly 60 businesses, including Citigroup, Sky and Mastercard, Bupa and Aviva, signed up for the benefit of their employees. A trial is also being piloted in Birmingham for the NHS, with a view to making the app available to a wider audience. “We can use artificial intelligence to start predicting the future of your health,” Ali Parsa, CEO, said. “I genuinely believe Britain has a great chance to be a global leader in digital health.”