HealthcareMagic
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Bangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) | Kunal Sinha,[1] Shekhar Sahu,[2] Nitesh Pant, Abhilash Thirupathy |
| Key people | Kunal Sinha (CEO), Abhilash Thirupathy (Co-founder), Shekhar Sahu (Co-founder), Nitesh Pant (Co-founder) |
| Industry | Healthcare |
| Employees | 76 |
| Parent | Ebix Inc.[3][4] |
| Website |
www |
| Written in | Java |
| Alexa rank |
 18258 (January 2014)[5] |
| Type of site | Electronic Commerce, Question and Answer (Q&A) Site |
| Registration | Required |
| Launched | Feb 2008 |
| Current status | Active |
HealthcareMagic is a question-and-answer website which provides answers to medical questions for a fee. A user is required to register to post a question in HealthcareMagic, paying a variable fee to receive the answer.
History
HealthcareMagic was launched in January 2008 by Kunal Sinha, Abhilash Thirupathy, Shekhar Sahu and Nitesh Pant. Kunal Sinha founded this company after he left Unified Technologies, an internet technology company based in Bangalore.[1][6] In 2009, the company collaborated with Atom Telecom to launch an IVR-based payment service.[7] The website provides answers to health queries from qualified medical practitioners registered with it from around the world. It currently gains around 1,900 new users a day and receives 4.5 million unique visits per month.[6] In September 2013 they released an App for their service on Android and iOS, named Ask a Doctor.[8]
Funding
HealthcareMagic received $2.5 million in seed funding from Accel Partners in 2009 in exchange for ~20-25% equity, separated into $0.5 million tranches.[9][10][11] HealthcareMagic was acquired by Ebix Inc. on May 27, 2014 for $18.5 million.[3][4]
Controversy
NextBigWhat author Ashish Sinha said that the company "used to flood" various forums with tons of health related content".[11] The Wall Street Journal was provided a response which was too broad during their review in 2012,[12] and The Washington Post found their answers "too broad".[13]
References
- 1 2 "Kunal Sinha - Profile". Crunchbase. Retrieved January 2014.
- ↑ "Shekhar Sahu - Profile". Crunchbase. Retrieved January 2014.
- 1 2 "Ebix Fueling Growth by Going Back To Its Bread and Butter". GuruFocus.com. 2014-08-15. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- 1 2 "Ebix Acquires Healthcare Magic". NASDAQ.com. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ↑ "HealthcareMagic.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
- 1 2 Preethi, J (2011-05-04). "Online Health Takes Off: Healthcaremagic.com Adds 1,900 Registered Users A Day". Techcircle.in. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
- ↑ "HealthcareMagic inks alliance with Atom Telecom to launch IVR-based payment service". India Telecom. HighBeam. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2013-01-22. (subscription required)
- ↑ Murali, Anand (2013-09-10). "With Ask A Doctor App, the Doc Will Come to Your Smartphone". NextBigWhat. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
- ↑ "$2.5 Million funding for HealthcareMagic". NextBigWhat. Retrieved January 2014.
- ↑ "HealthcareMagic Receives $2.5 Million from Accel. Expansion Plans". MediaNama. Retrieved January 2014.
- 1 2 "HealthCareMagic secures funding from Accel India". NextBigWhat. Retrieved January 2014.
- ↑ Dizik, Alina (2012-08-06). "A Review of Telemedicine Websites". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
- ↑ Fard, Maggie Fazeli (2013-07-30). "Beyond WebMD: Magazine Rates Services That Offer Online Access to Doctors". The Washington Post. HighBeam. Retrieved 2013-01-22. (subscription required)