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Health search engine firm raises €1.25m in funding
Sunday, January 18, 2009 By Susan Mitchell
An Irish internet firm that is developing a search engine of health services around the world has raised €1.25 million in funding.

RevaHealth.com attracted the backing from private investors and a group of Irish technology industry veterans through Mianach Venture Capital. Enterprise Ireland has also invested in the company, which was founded in 2006 by Caelen King.

The website originally focused on providing information on so-called ‘medical tourism’, attracting users who wanted to find cheaper treatments abroad. It already has information on more than 60 ,000 clinics around the world, and now plans to expand its services to become a full-scale medical search engine. King said that RevaHealth.

com would develop listings and information on clinics and medical practitioners, with an initial focus on Ireland, Britain, the US and Far East. ‘‘Our ultimate aim is to help people find health clinics anywhere,” he said.

He said that Mianach and Enterprise Ireland had together invested €1 million in RevaHealth.com and the remaining €250,000 came from private investors .The Mianach team includes Paddy Holahan, founder and chief executive of Newbay Software, and Mike Fitzgerald, the chief executive of Altobridge.

They are investors in several other technology companies, including internet telephony firm Cicero Networks and Selatra Games.

RevaHealth.com is chaired by Ray Nolan, the co-founder of the accommodation booking firm Web Reservations International.

King developed the idea for RevaHealth.com after being impressed with hospital treatment he received while travelling in Thailand. The company now has 11 employees, and generates its revenue from clinics that advertise on the site to secure a higher profile.

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