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Link to original content: https://www.b4i.unibocconi.it/news/doctorsa-medical-assistance-for-travelers-worldwide
Founded by Nadia Neytcheva (CEO), and Francesco-Maria Serino (Chief Operating Officer), Doctorsa operates throughout all of Europe, ensuring that illnesses don’t ruin long-awaited vacations or important work trips. The idea emerged from personal experiences as Nadejda witnessing her family struggle during travels or hearing similar stories from friends, recognized the difficulties in finding reliable medical help abroad.
The testimonial of one of Doctorsa's users highlights the platform's impact: a family vacationing in Portugal nearly had to cut their trip short when their child developed a respiratory infection. By using the platform, they connected with a local pediatrician via video consultation, received a prescription immediately, and were able to continue their holiday without further interruptions. Stories like this illustrate the immediate and tangible impact of the service on people’s lives.
To learn more about how Doctorsa works, its international expansion, and future goals, we interviewed Nadejda Neytcheva, its CEO and co-founder, to gain deeper insights into this innovative startup.
Doctorsa full video interview“Most people don't plan to get sick while on holiday or a business trip. But when it happens - and it's more common than you think - they can feel completely lost. Imagine your long-awaited vacation interrupted by a painful sore throat or irritating rash. Instead of scrambling to find a local doctor, you can simply open Doctorsa.com, fill in a quick form describing your problem and within 3-4 minutes you'll receive several offers from licensed doctors who can help. You can compare their fees, check reviews from other patients and choose the doctor that best suits your needs. Within minutes, you're on a video call with a doctor who speaks your language, getting the prescription you need and heading to the nearest pharmacy. All without interrupting your journey.”
“We initially launched in Italy, a market we knew well. Once we had established a product-market fit, we expanded to countries with similar tourism dynamics, including Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, and later the entire EU and Turkey. This growth took place between December 2023 and April 2024. From there, we entered Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam, making minor adjustments to the platform as needed. Overall, the expansion went smoothly thanks to a scalable international growth model. We've encountered few obstacles and have always found effective solutions to keep things running smoothly.”
“At the beginning of 2020, we had just launched the first version of the platform under the name Doctors in Italy. At the same time, Bocconi 4 Innovation was launching its first accelerator. We saw it as a solid opportunity, with great people involved and a fair and transparent environment. It came at the perfect time - we needed to broaden our knowledge about startup growth, VC funding and scaling a business, and other key topics that we had neglected while working on solving our users' problems. I was also happy to reconnect with my alma mater and meet some wonderful people along the way.”
doctorsa.com“It was a very welcome surprise to be featured alongside some very well known and successful startups and scaleups. We're currently in the process of raising a round of funding that will help us continue to expand our international presence and work on getting more travellers to discover Doctorsa. Once they've tried it, we know they'll use it again and again. The most common feedback we get from our users is that it was so easy and good that they wish they could use it in their home country: we're working to make that possible by building a strong presence in as many countries as possible.”
Chase impact above all else: it's so easy to get overwhelmed, between the day-to-day tasks you must take care of, the administration, and the endless growth opportunities and directions. Choosing what to do, but more importantly what not to do, is what sets you apart. If you work on something that impacts your key metrics, you will be 10 times happier, and your startup will grow. Leave the rest, you'll figure it out later.
Unless you're an exited founder with a fancy background or other strong signals that make you personally an attractive investment, your best bet to get funded is to get jaw-dropping traction. Be frugal, creative and relentless in building a product that can grow without relying on outside funding.
Be persistent and stay with the problem long enough to find new ways of looking at it that aren't obvious and that others haven't found. If you show up every day and keep at it, good things will happen. At the same time, keep a sense of urgency and don't kill your startup.
Think only of your product without considering your distribution channel. Imagine needing a sales force for a product that costs a few dollars. If you don't have an effective and scalable way to get your product in front of users, this can easily kill your startup.
Don't fall in love with your idea, especially at the beginning. You're probably doing it wrong, and the "right way" is something you'll find by testing and iterating. The first version of your product has no value to anyone but you, because it will teach you what didn't work. Which leads to number 3.
Don't worry about your competitors stealing your idea. If anything, worry about them being better at implementing it! There are lots of ideas out there, and they have no value until someone turns them into great businesses.
