US-based health consultation app First Opinion raises $1.2M in funding

By VCPOST Staff Reporter

Jan 15, 2014 12:15 AM EST

Mobile health consultation app First Opinion secured $1.2 million in funding for its growth and expansion. Greylock, Felicis Ventures, Yuri Milner, 500 Startups, and other investors participated in the round, wrote TechCrunch.

First Opinion founder McKay Thomas wants to fill in the deficiencies of the healthcare system by providing a way for customers, especially moms, to text message a physician any time. Together with co-founder Jay Marcyes from Path, Thomas built First Opinion and launched it last month. The app quickly succeeded in hitting the fourth rank in the App Store's health care category after two days, the report detailed.

After a user downloads the First Opinion App, they are matched to the "right" doctor based on a set of profiling criteria. According to Thomas, the matching usually takes less than one hour. After that, the user can start chatting with a doctor for free and ask any questions they would like, the report explained.

When the first chat is done, the user will be asked to subscribe to the app for a monthly fee of $9 to gain unlimited access to the First Opinion consultant. From there, the customer can chat with the same doctor for their health concerns, the report stated.

With the new capital, First Opinion will recruit more doctors for its mobile service. The company will also use the fund to expand its team, TechCrunch reported.

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