Further information (in German):
Freitag, 14. August 2009
flymedic closes another financing round
Medical tourism portal flymedic closes a new financing round with its current partners VC company The Medialab and JNB Healthlab. The additional funds will be invested in the further growth of its Russian and German portals as well as its internationalization strategy. flymedic´s vision is to become Europe´s leading medical tourism platform by 2010.
Sonntag, 19. Juli 2009
Do we already see a recovery of the VC financing market in the US?
According to a recent Article on Venture Beat the US market for Venture Capital is already recovering. In the 2nd quarter of 2009 almost 5.3 bn US$ have been invested by VCs in about 595 deals. Compared to the same time period in 2008 this is still a decline, however in the 1st quarter 2009 was a complete desaster with only 4 bn US$ invested. In fact, the figures for the 1st quarter 09 are the worst since 1998, so that 5.3 bn US$ in the second quarter are not looking bad at all.
The question is how sustainable is this slight recovery and how fast will the European markets also catch up and regain momentum.
After all we should not loose hope and look more optimistic into the future :-)
For more information on the US VC market you can follow the link:
http://deals.venturebeat.com/2009/07/17/q2-venture-investing-looks-like-its-2005-and-thats-a-good-thing/
The question is how sustainable is this slight recovery and how fast will the European markets also catch up and regain momentum.
After all we should not loose hope and look more optimistic into the future :-)
For more information on the US VC market you can follow the link:
http://deals.venturebeat.com/2009/07/17/q2-venture-investing-looks-like-its-2005-and-thats-a-good-thing/
Samstag, 4. Juli 2009
The financial crisis
Everybody seems to speak about the financial crisis. We can read daily on traditional companies like General Motors and banking institutions that have run into bankruptcy. Governments everywhere seem to invest incredible sums in order to save "systemcritical" companies from insolvency.
But which company is systemcritical?
What about startups? Why is nobody writing on the financing problems startups around the globe currently seem to encounter? Aren´t they also critical for our system? Why does no government currently invest money in order to boost entrepreneurship? What about the opportunities startups offer to society? Isn´t a crisis also a chance for renewal?
Being in the priviledged situation of working for a currently well-financed startup I am quite worried about the situation many other startups are confronted with. I wonder if it is healthy for a society to invest billions of Euros in "old economy" companies like car manufacturers in order to save them. Maybe we should think about giving the money directly to their employees so that they can start their own companies?
But which company is systemcritical?
What about startups? Why is nobody writing on the financing problems startups around the globe currently seem to encounter? Aren´t they also critical for our system? Why does no government currently invest money in order to boost entrepreneurship? What about the opportunities startups offer to society? Isn´t a crisis also a chance for renewal?
Being in the priviledged situation of working for a currently well-financed startup I am quite worried about the situation many other startups are confronted with. I wonder if it is healthy for a society to invest billions of Euros in "old economy" companies like car manufacturers in order to save them. Maybe we should think about giving the money directly to their employees so that they can start their own companies?
Montag, 30. März 2009
How large is the market?
Medical Tourism is a booming market - no doubt about that. But how large is really the market worldwide?
Unfortunately there are no realiable figures available so far. Even some official figures are either
- overstated as it is the case in my opinion with respect to some of the figures from Asia or
- understated such as the German figures from what I can tell.
As there are no realistic figures on a nationwide basis it is more than understandable that figures for the total market vary as well - no matter if you are talking of numbers of patients or of figures in US dollars. Thus there are many different studies out there trying to estimate the global market of Medical Tourism - ranging from the rather "pessimistic" (or maybe conservative) estimates by McKinsey to a more "optimistic" study of Deloitte or other institutions.
But what is a "Medical Tourist"?
Another reason for differences in the figures might also lay in the different definitions of a Medical Tourist. While some nations rather include all foreign patients in their official figures, it has to be questioned if this is really a fruitful definition of a Medical Tourist.
So how can you state that Medical Tourism (or Health Tourism) is a growth market?
Well, this is a good question. There are some indicators that might help interpreting Medical Tourism as a growing market:
- most (at least all that I am aware of) studies foresee a significant growth rate for the market
- many nations (e.g. Hungary, Singapore, Belgium) and regions (e.g. Bonn/Germany) are investing heavily in marketing activities and/or in improving the medical infrastructure
- a growing demand from emerging countries such as Kazakhstan which profit from their natural ressources and/or growing industrial power
Besides, in contrast to high spending level in their medical systems Arab nations like Kuwait and the UAE have not succeeded so far in establishing a comprehensive, high quality medical system.
Thus, while I totally agree that Medical Tourism is one of the most interesting growth markets today I still think that most figures out there are highly overstated or simply unreliable. Countries like Hungary, Singapore, India, but also Germany and the US will continue to benefit from a growing demand in medical services.
Unfortunately there are no realiable figures available so far. Even some official figures are either
- overstated as it is the case in my opinion with respect to some of the figures from Asia or
- understated such as the German figures from what I can tell.
As there are no realistic figures on a nationwide basis it is more than understandable that figures for the total market vary as well - no matter if you are talking of numbers of patients or of figures in US dollars. Thus there are many different studies out there trying to estimate the global market of Medical Tourism - ranging from the rather "pessimistic" (or maybe conservative) estimates by McKinsey to a more "optimistic" study of Deloitte or other institutions.
But what is a "Medical Tourist"?
Another reason for differences in the figures might also lay in the different definitions of a Medical Tourist. While some nations rather include all foreign patients in their official figures, it has to be questioned if this is really a fruitful definition of a Medical Tourist.
So how can you state that Medical Tourism (or Health Tourism) is a growth market?
Well, this is a good question. There are some indicators that might help interpreting Medical Tourism as a growing market:
- most (at least all that I am aware of) studies foresee a significant growth rate for the market
- many nations (e.g. Hungary, Singapore, Belgium) and regions (e.g. Bonn/Germany) are investing heavily in marketing activities and/or in improving the medical infrastructure
- a growing demand from emerging countries such as Kazakhstan which profit from their natural ressources and/or growing industrial power
Besides, in contrast to high spending level in their medical systems Arab nations like Kuwait and the UAE have not succeeded so far in establishing a comprehensive, high quality medical system.
Thus, while I totally agree that Medical Tourism is one of the most interesting growth markets today I still think that most figures out there are highly overstated or simply unreliable. Countries like Hungary, Singapore, India, but also Germany and the US will continue to benefit from a growing demand in medical services.
Sonntag, 29. März 2009
Improvements for flymedic sites
Currently new improvements for the various flymedic website are on their way...check out our Medical Tourism websites regularly for more details.
www.flymedic.de
www.flymedic.ru
www.flymedic.de
www.flymedic.ru
Dienstag, 24. März 2009
Join us at ECHT 2009 in Budapest
From April 1st to April 3rd there will be the 2nd European Congress on Health Tourism in wonderful Budapest/Hungary. The flymedic team will be an exhibitor this year, so please feel welcome to join us at stand nr. 6!
For more details on flymedic please check out our website in English:
Montag, 23. März 2009
Article on flymedic in "Management & Krankenhaus"
Indeed with greatest pleasure and joy we have noticed a very positive article on flymedic.ru, our Russian internet platform on medical tourism, in the current issue of "Management & Krankenhaus", one of Germany´s leading magazines in Health Care Management.
For more information please check out our Russian Portal:
Abonnieren
Posts (Atom)