Dialogue, a Canadian telemedicine company, announced a strategic commercial partnership and $32.7 million equity investment from Sun Life.
Sun Life will hold minority ownership in Dialogue with customary rights to acquire additional equity, the company said.
The equity round also includes follow-on investments from existing investors, including Portag3 Ventures, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), White Star Capital, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, First Ascent Ventures, and Walter Ventures.
National Bank Financial acted as a financial advisor to Dialogue in this financing.
Dialogue offers a business to business telehealth platform for Canadian employers. The employers offer Dialogue telehealth services as part of their Employee Benefit Plan, which employees and their families can use.
The company says over 25,000 employees and their families use its telehealth platform across Canada. With new funds, the company plans to further expand its business-to-business telehealth services in the European market.
“Virtual care will remain an essential resource now and in the future,” said Cherif Habib, CEO of Dialogue. “While we navigate the changing healthcare landscape, Dialogue is proud to provide a virtual health care service that is easy, convenient, and helps keep Canadians safe at home. Having strong support from partners such as Sun Life allows us to remain focused on providing quality care and expanding our services to help millions of Canadians stay healthy.”
The equity investment follows Sun Life’s rollout of Lumino Health Virtual Care (Lumino), powered by Dialogue in March 2020.
Lumino, which connects Canadians with local healthcare providers, is offered to Sun Life Group Benefits Clients with an Extended Health Care (EHC) benefit.
In March, Dialogue launched an automated medical assistant called Chloe for COVID-19. The assistant app was created to provide Canadians with access to the latest public health information and advice to prevent COVID-19 infection, according to the company.
Dialogue, founded in 2016, has raised over $60 million to date, including a $12 million in a Series A funding round in 2018.
Telehealth companies raised almost $1.9 billion in 1H 2020. Recently, the telehealth company raised Heal raised $100 million from Humana.
Image Credit: Dialogue
