Mark Zuckerberg invests in Beep Saúde from Rio de Janeiro, known as the ‘Uber of vaccines’ – 03.11.2022.
The value of the deal was not disclosed by the company, which is trying to be discreet in relation to the current startup austerity scenario. The flight of venture capital resulted in 2022 not only in mass layoffs, but also made stories of major investments in the country rare. “Discovering value could convey the idea that we have an abundance of money while, internally, our speech is maximally effective,” explains Estadão Vander Corteze, the company’s founder.
Although it does not have a number to boast of, Beep is attracting attention with a new international investor. Healthtech is CZI’s first global healthcare investment – although Priscilla is a pediatrician, the company has traditionally focused on education startups. In February 2021, CZI led an $84.5 million round in Descomplica, the company’s first foray into Brazil.
“Our team is very excited about Beep’s potential to use technology to evenly expand access to high-quality healthcare, which aligns with CZI’s mission to build a more inclusive, fairer and healthier future for all,” Vivian Wu, CZI Investment Management Partner.
Talks between Beep and CZI started at the beginning of the year – the bridge was built by other investors of the Brazilian company. “The first talks carried a lot of euphoria in 2021, which ignored the cash position and focused on growth. That had to change,” says Corteze. Thus, Beep is talking about the fact that in the first half of 2023 it will break even (that is, stop operating in the red).
This, says the executive director, was essential for CZI to decide to invest – he also reveals that the investment was of the up round type (that is, it corrected the company’s market value upwards). In April 2021, when the company received a contribution of 110 million BRL, Beep was valued at 670 million BRL – the current value was also not disclosed.
The ‘Amazon’ of health
While Beep is known as the “Uber of vaccines,” Corteze prefers to shy away from the comparison. “The idea of Uber is closely related to the gig economy, to the work of partners. All our employees are CLTs,” he claims. He prefers to target another tech giant. “We want to be the ‘one-stop shop in the healthcare universe,’ just like Amazon is in e-commerce,” he says.
The comparison makes sense. Beep Health has licensed clinics that function as hubs to support the operation – just like the distribution centers of US retailers. It is from these places that a couple of nurses and drivers leave to respond to the request made through the application. In fact, the care of this division of the company is reminiscent of the giant founded by Jeff Bezos. During 2022, Beep made adjustments in the logistics branch, mainly in route optimization, which allowed it to increase its margins by 20% – a move that helped convince investors to take a fresh check. The collection projection for 2023 is R$ 250 million.
Before becoming an all-in-one health store, Beep plans to leverage the investment on two fronts. The first is to consolidate its business as a service for vaccines – the company is present in 150 municipalities in six states (SP, RJ, ES, MG, PR and DF) in the country.
Another front is the development of the at-home laboratory test arm, launched after the contribution of 2021. “In our last contribution, we ‘bought’ a ticket to the party. Now we want to be present,” explains Corteze. Part of that challenge is increasing health plan coverage for the service. Currently, the company is already part of 40 health plans covering 5 million people. “We want to consolidate leadership in diagnostic medicine. And in the future offer new services, such as drug infusion, drug delivery, eye health and telemedicine,” he says.
