Japanese HealthTech Startup Ubie raises $5M in Series C extension to expand to the US and fuel growth

You were sick but you didn’t exactly know what it was. It was in the middle of the night and you couldn’t reach your doctor. What about if you could check your symptoms and find possible causes for free in just three minutes? That’s exactly what this health tech startup has done.

Enter Ubie, a Tokyo-based startup founded by doctors. With an easy 3-minute questionnaire, Ubie’s AI-powered AI-powered symptom checker app will generate a free report on possible causes. To constantly improve its AI-powered symptom checker, the Ubie team has collaborated with experienced doctors and medical institutions around the world to help people find the right medical care.

To further expand its global reach, Ubie announced it has closed a $19 million extension to its previous Series C round. The new cash infusion brings its total funding to $45.2 million in Series C. The new funding will enable Ubie to accelerate its growth and strengthen its presence in the U.S., following strong interest and traction in that market. Ubie has raised a total of $76 million since its inception in 2017. However, Ubie declined to comment on its valuation.

The extension round money was back with funding from SOGO MEDICAL CO., LTD., AAIC Investment Pte. Ltd., Japan Impact Investment II Limited Partnership, and Rakuten Capital, while loans extended from the Shoko Chukin Bank, Ltd., Japan Finance Corporation, and Mizuho Bank.

Founded in 2017 by medical doctor Yoshinori Abe and engineer Kota Kubo, Ubie is one of Japan’s top-growing startups in the healthcare space. Ubie currently provides its services in Japan, the United States, and other countries around the world.

“In light of information removed from around 50,000 clinical exploration papers [created by more than 50 physicisans], computer-based intelligence Monshin [automatically] chooses and makes an inquiry or two 20 inquiries from 3,500 sorts of inquiry information,” Kubo said.

Ubie Co-founder and CEO Yoshinori Abe, MD, added: “Not only in Japan, but also in other countries, the current healthcare system is suffering from various losses due to the fragmentation of information held by patients, medical institutions, and pharmaceutical companies. This fundraising aims to accelerate collaboration with pharmaceutical companies and create an unprecedented consumer-centered medical experience utilizing Ubie’s data platform. Ubie already has business with more than 20 major pharmaceutical companies in Japan and other countries, and this brings Ubie closer to realizing its mission ‘To develop a healthcare guide for everyone,’ both in Japan and the U.S.”

The startup claims that over 1,100 medical institutions in Japan use its AI Monshin. Ubie also has more than 7 million monthly active users (MAUs) of its symptom checker app. Ubie employs approximately 200 people.

Ubie is one of the few companies in the world having direct contact with both patients and medical institutions. With AI as its core technology, the company provides AI symptom checker Ubie as the gateway to medical care.