Japanese Health Tech Startup Ubie Secures $18.7M Series B Funding to Accelerate Commercialization of Hospital SaaS Platform

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on June 4, local time, Japanese healthtech startup Ubie announced the completion of a $18.7 million Series B financing round and the establishment of strategic partnerships with investment institutions. The round was led by Suzuken.

The startup will use the new funding to expand the adoption of its medtech platform, enhance its product R&D capabilities, and staff its various sales and engineering teams with professionals. The capital will enable the company to reach new partners and customers across Japan, rapidly scaling the use of its hospital SaaS product, “Ubie for Hospital,” as well as its consumer app, the AI-powered symptom checker “Dr Ubie.”

In addition, Ubie also plans to expand its overseas business in the future.

Ubie is a Tokyo-based healthtech startup that provides AI-powered medical products. Its flagship product, “Ubie for Hospital,” also known as AI Monshin, is an AI-driven medical questionnaire software designed for healthcare institutions to support the creation of clinical documentation under expert supervision. Launched in 2017, Ubie’s SaaS solution integrates multi-workflow enhancements with clinical decision support (CDS).

Patients will answer questions posed by the AI Monshin in the waiting room, and their responses will be translated and summarized into text compatible with Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. Subsequently, physicians will review test results in the examination room, and finally, they will analyze and integrate the collected information to evaluate and diagnose the patients. According to the startup’s latest data from January 2020, more than 200 medical institutions in Japan are using its products.

The second product is Dr. Ubie, an AI-powered symptom checker for consumers. This physician-supervised app allows users to assess their symptoms by answering questions and provides disease-specific feedback to help them learn how to manage their conditions.

During the peak of Japan’s COVID-19 outbreak last month, Ubie launched an additional COVID-19 triage system on its Ubie for Hospital platform to help physicians and healthcare workers make more accurate and efficient diagnoses. Ubie stated that its online screening and classification tool can rapidly distinguish between patients likely infected with COVID-19 and those suffering from life-threatening conditions, thereby helping to prevent hospital overcrowding and nosocomial infections.

“Today, technology underpins every aspect of our lives,” said Kota Kubo, co-founder of Ubie. “Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, new technologies are being deployed for disease monitoring, prevention, and control. However, many of the technologies and products we use daily in Japan are developed by foreign tech companies. As a Japanese tech entrepreneur, I find this reality disheartening. Although the COVID-19 situation remains severe, the progress achieved thus far has demonstrated to the world that Japan’s healthcare system is effective and resilient. I believe it is now our turn to support and protect our healthcare workers.”

He stated, “I firmly believe that our company will play a pivotal role in addressing the current crisis. During these severe pandemic times, our mission—‘to create healthcare guidance for everyone’—has become even more critical. Since 2013, we have been developing AI-powered symptom checking and clinical decision support systems, aiming to make healthcare accessible to all by creating a medical ‘search engine.’ With the support of this new round of financing and the unwavering commitment of all our partners, we will go all out to fulfill our company’s mission as soon as possible.”

Suzuken, established in 1932 and headquartered in Nagoya, Japan, is a pharmaceutical company engaged in the production and sales of prescription drugs. Its extensive healthcare operations encompass the research and development and manufacturing of new pharmaceutical products, support for pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as pharmacy insurance and care services.