ZocDoc infused with $25M from Goldman Sachs

Healthcare startup plans to use the funds to expand nationwide and globally

New-York-based startup ZocDoc, which helps patients find and book appointements with doctors, announced Thursday that it raised $25M Series C funding from Goldman Sachs.

The round of financing comes right after raising $50 million in funding from DST, bringing ZocDoc’s total capital raised to $95 million. Previous investors include Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, Marc Benioff and Jeff Bezos.

”ZocDoc's plan is to use the investment to expand into new regions and to go fully nationwide in the next 12 to 18 months," said Cyrus Massoumi, CEO of ZocDoc, in an email. "We hope to ultimately bring improved access to healthcare to the entire world."

Since its launch in 2007, ZocDoc has increased its presence from four cities to 11 metropolitan cities. It also offers more than 5.3 million available appointments over the next three months. Given its breadth of usage, it's not surprise the startup is growing gangbusters. Its user base is at 700,000 and growing 10 to 50% monthly, said Massoumi. 

What to do with all this money - Go global

ZocDoc also plans to remain affordable to the consumer.

"ZocDoc will always be free for patients," he added. "Our mission is to improve access to healthcare and we don’t want to introduce any financial barriers for the patient. Doctors pay $250 per doctor per month for the service."

As part of their expansion plan and goal to reach as many people as possible, ZocDoc has recently introduced an Android App, following the iPhone App. "We’d like to bring ZocDoc onto more mobile platforms," Massoumi said.

ZocDoc lets you search by cities, specialty, insurance, doctor name, practice name, hospital affiliation, or procedure.

The point is nobody wants to wait weeks to see a doctor

It seems ZocDoc is fulfilling a real need as getting appointments with a physician can take weeks.

A research published in 2007 by the University of California concluded that a patient waiting for a botox injection had a better chance to see a doctor rapidly than one waiting for a mole removed. The research concluded that nationwide a patient wanted botox waited an average "eight days for an appointment, while those seeking an appointment for examination of changes to a mole, which could indicate skin cancer, waited 26 days."   

This type of quick service is apparently in demand.

Massoumi said  that using its service, "you can find a doctor who accepts your insurance, view their real-time calendar, and click to book an appointment instantly. 40% of our patients book an appointment same day, and 60% book within three days."