Last year, we judged Teladoc (TDOC) as the best investment into the telehealth theme – and that was just a few months before the company’s $18.5 billion blockbuster acquisition of Livongo, which developed an AI platform for managing chronic diseases like diabetes. The business model is all about providing services virtually through apps, chats, and video consultations. That keeps people out of the doctor’s office or hospital, which theoretically reduces healthcare costs by promoting a preventive self-care model. Teladoc has grown its business through technology development and a dozen acquisitions over a half-dozen years. Now a new threat is emerging on the public markets. London-based Babylon Health, which rose to prominence for its AI healthcare chatbot, is merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and is aggressively growing its telehealth business on U.S. soil.
Will Babylon Health be a contender or a pretender?
A Brief History of Babylon Health