Raffi Elliott
09:44 | 05.06.15 | Articles | exclusive 6138
GetTreated Armenian startup enables people living abroad to order surgeries in Armenia online.
This platform is aimed at developing medical tourism in Armenia and acts as an intermediary between the customer and the medical institution. It offers consultations, online registration of surgery dates, as well as other services related to flights and booking a hotel.
Founder and CEO Raffi Elliott is a repat from Canada. He told Itel.am that medical tourism is not a new thing in the world, what makes it new in this case is its online component.
“I had to go to the hospital in Armenia around 10 months ago. It’s when this idea occurred to me. Unlike Canada or the U.S., medical services are way affordable in Armenia and there are high-quality specialists among the doctors. Thus, I thought we can develop medical tourism here. In this respect, Armenia is attractive for especially the citizens of those countries from where there is a direct flight to Yerevan. Now it will take only a few minutes for the customer to enter the platform and book the medical service he needs in Armenia,” said Raffi Elliott.
According to him, this platform has already brought 20 foreigners to Armenia to get medical treatment. Half of them are Diaspora Armenians, and the rest – people of other nationalities. They usually come from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Great Britain, Russia, Canada, U.S. and France.
“We are now focusing on the dental procedures and plastic surgeries. We cooperate with two plastic surgery and four dental clinics in Armenia. In the future, we might also have the option of heart surgery in Armenia,” noted Raffi Elliott.
Touching upon funding, GetTreated Founder said that they have received initial private financing and are going to enter other markets once they complete the testing stage in Armenia.
“We are going to test the platform in Ukraine in around six months. The choice of Ukraine is accounted by the number of direct flights to the country. Plans for future include Eastern European countries and Thailand. In any case, the company’s headquarters will be in Armenia in the future as well,” stressed Raffi Elliott.
Narine Daneghyan