By Judith Sudilovsky, NoCamels -
Blossoming from a nascent idea in Mexico after co-founder Yam Derfler found himself ill and grappling with an unfamiliar medical system in a language he didn’t understand during a trip to South America, Air Doctor has transformed the way travelers access medical care worldwide.
The user-friendly platform connects globe trotters with local doctors, sometimes through travel insurance companies, ensuring seamless medical assistance wherever they may roam.
Available via iOS, Android and web applications, Air Doctor offers a safety net for travelers needing medical assistance abroad who can browse doctor profiles, see pictures of the clinic, read reviews and schedule appointments connecting with vetted local doctors who speak their language.
“You will see how far the doctor is from you, which languages he or she speaks, so that you get all the information. You choose the doctor, you set the appointment, and that’s it,” co-founder and CEO Jenny Cohen Derfler tells NoCamels.
Doctors who are poorly reviewed by travelers are removed from their list, she adds.
The startup was nurtured in Cohen Derfler’s garage almost six years ago. CRO Efrat Sagi-Ofir, and VP and CTO Yegor Kurbachev soon joined the company as co-founders, and in its initial stages Sagi-Ofir and Cohen Derfler went to Greece, with the name of one Greek physician in hand, to personally recruit their first doctors.
Cohen Derfler left her last position as chairwoman of the Intel manufacturing facility in Kiryat Gat after 20 years of working with the international company, in order to move into the start-up world and create something “from zero,” she says.
Working with her son Yam, now VP innovation, on her second startup venture has been a bonus.
Today boasting a worldwide network of more than 20,000 multi-lingual doctors, the Jerusalem-area company has positively impacted the entire travel health infrastructure.
It has instilled confidence in travelers, provided supplementary income avenues for medical professionals and diminished expenses for insurers when clients are able to go to a private doctor either at their clinic (rather than a more expensive hospital visit) a private visit to their hotel or hostel or telemedicine consultation.
Though not an insurance company, Air Doctor partners with insurance companies in 80 countries, including the US, European nations and Israel, to offer travelers seamless medical treatment. Next year it will add partnerships with insurance companies’ customers in Asia as well.
“We work with insurers to offer our services to their customers,” explains Cohen Derfler.
“This eliminates the hassle of claims and reimbursement for travelers, streamlining the process and ensuring access to timely medical care when it’s needed most. If your insurance doesn’t work with us, you will pay by yourself and get our invoice and get reimbursed by your insurer.”
In 2023, global travel numbers reached the pre-Covid number of about 1.6 billion, notes Cohen Derfler, providing a very large market.
“Around 10 percent of travelers get sick, so we are talking about millions and millions of people who are our potential customers,” she says, explaining that 85 percent of medical issues during travel are related to illnesses rather than major issues necessitating hospitalization.
Air Doctor has so far raised $30.9 million, with four rounds from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Munich Re Ventures, Vintage Investment Partners, Kamet, Phoenix Insurance Company and Mass Challenge and employs more than 75 workers on its team.
Rather than lay off their team during the Covid pandemic, Air Doctor used the downturn in travel to add video telemedicine consultations on their platform, collaborating with doctors across the world who can write prescriptions for medicines locally and in 21 different languages.
“We have an algorithm that will connect you to a local doctor who has the ability to prescribe medicine wherever you are,” says Cohen Derfler. “This allows us to cover the whole world 24/7.”
In addition, she said, they have demonstrated that Air Doctor has reduced insurance claim costs by 54 percent worldwide.
“When you are sick, you can hardly do anything; or when you are traveling and you have a sick child, you need help,” Cohen Derfler points out.
“I feel that we can help people in those bad times. It’s very rewarding that you are helping a person. I always say: every minute that we are talking, a doctor is helping someone that is sick in the world.”
The Israeli business publication Calcalist named Air Doctor as one of the ten most promising start-ups in Israel for 2023 and they received the award at Calcalist’s annual Mind the Tech New York conference in March.
“There are many businesses you can make money in, but there are few businesses that you can feel that you are doing something that is rewarding, because you are doing something good for someone,” Cohen Derfler says.
“I think with our company we feel that we are a business that is doing good.”
