NEWPORT BEACH, CA–(Marketwired – Jul 7, 2015) – Today, three Singularity University graduates unveiled Curely, the first mobile application using a marketplace model to connect doctors and consumers around the world. The company has secured $2 million in seed funding and currently features a network of nearly 600 board-certified physicians from 17 countries. The app is available for download on iOS and Android.

Co-founded by Christian Assad, M.D., Paul Lee, M.D. and new media entrepreneur Joshua Hong, Curely is built on the premise that healthcare is a fundamental human right. Countless people around the world lack access to affordable, accurate health information, and the U.S. fares no better. Predictions show America will face a shortfall of 46,100 doctors within 10 years — particularly in rural and poor areas.*

Curely has created a mobile-first marketplace where doctors can easily supplement their physical practice by reaching the nearly 2 billion people in the world who own a smartphone**. Using an in-app messaging platform augmented by IBM Watson, Curely’s Live Chat and Inbox Mail features need less bandwidth, targeting the 80% of the world’s population that doesn’t have 3G connectivity.

“At our core, we believe reliable health care is a fundamental human right, one that transcends political, socio-economic and physical borders,” said Paul Lee, co-founder and CEO of Curely. “The telehealth industry is projected to grow to $4.5 billion by 2018***, and with solutions like Curely, people won’t be forced to wait until their situation is urgent to consult a doctor.”

Early stage venture fund Exponential Partners led Curely’s seed round, with additional participation from the former CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe and the current CIO of GE Health. Together, investors in the round collectively bring extensive experience in a variety of industries including online games, aerospace technology and consumer electronics in addition to designing and implementing the data growth engines for Google, Facebook, Baidu, Tencent, and Twitter.

Curely’s key benefits include:

• Borderless Healthcare – people can get trusted, accurate advice from board-certified doctors when and where they need it instead of self-diagnosing from unreliable Web sources. Text a physician in real-time with Live Chat for an average price of $10 or get answers within 24 hours using an Inbox email request for as little as $2.
• Dynamic Market Pricing – rather than hire concierge physicians, Curely’s marketplace model crowdsources doctors from the around the world who set their own availability and prices based on market demand. There are NO annual membership or subscription fees to use Curely and doctors can help people with or without health insurance.
• Open Communication – identities remain anonymous throughout all Curely correspondence. Both Live Chat and Inbox Mail sessions give people the freedom to be fully upfront and honest with doctors about their symptoms.

About Curely
Based in Newport Beach, Calif, Curely is a telehealth application using a mobile-first marketplace model to connect doctors and consumers around the world. The company was founded in 2014 by Singularity University graduates Christian Assad, M.D., Paul Lee, M.D. and new media entrepreneur Joshua Hong, on the premise that healthcare is a fundamental human right. To date, Curely has raised $2 million in seed funding led by Exponential Partners. Curely is free to download on iOS and Android. For more information, please visit www.curely.co and like us on Facebook. For real time updates, follow Curely on Twitter.

* Source: American Association of Medical Colleges
**Source: eMarketer
***Source: IHS