{"id":489796,"date":"2026-02-19T09:10:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/489796\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:10:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:10:22","slug":"hotdoc-goes-from-gp-to-pe-as-founder-confirms-sale-to-potentia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/489796\/","title":{"rendered":"HotDoc goes from GP to PE as founder confirms sale to Potentia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HotDoc, the Australian tech platform connecting patients to their preferred GP, has a new set of owners in private equity firm Potentia, which stands alongside health tech investor Acclivis Group and long-term backer Airtree.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CEO and co-founder Ben Hurst confirmed the long-expected news on Wednesday, saying Potentia led the bid for a majority stake in the 13-year-old business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTogether, we will do our darndest to help GP practices and practitioners to deliver the best possible experience for everyone in Australia,\u201d said Hurst, in a statement shared to LinkedIn. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A valuation was not disclosed, but the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afr.com\/street-talk\/potentia-capital-signs-deal-to-buy-hotdoc-besting-pep-20251218-p5nouu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Australian Financial Review <\/a>reports the HotDoc deal likely came in between $250 million and $300 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HotDoc allows patients to book appointments online, fill new patient registration forms, undertake telehealth check-ups, and receive SMS updates on important test results.<\/p>\n<p>\tSmarter business news. Straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n<p>\n                            For startup founders, small businesses and leaders. Build sharper instincts and better strategy by learning from Australia\u2019s smartest business minds. Sign up for free.                        <\/p>\n<p>By continuing, you agree to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartcompany.com.au\/terms-conditions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Terms &amp; Conditions<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartcompany.com.au\/privacy-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It says 13 million patients and 23,000 medical practitioners use the system, which now processes around 2.5 million appointments each month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The business grew out of Hurst\u2019s frustrations with existing medical administrative processes and the difficulty of building a practice from scratch.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tRelated Article Block Placeholder<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tArticle ID: 290700\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartcompany.com.au\/opinion\/opinion-hostplus-employment-hero-airtree-battle-for-truth\/\" class=\"\" target=\"_self\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"145\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SMartCO-7.png\" class=\"aspect-video object-cover h-auto w-auto\" alt=\"Opinion: Airtree the victim in Hostplus and Employment Hero battle for the truth\"  \/>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A former healthcare professional himself, Hurst built HotDoc with the help of two initial investors \u2014 his parents, whose experience as a GP and an ENT specialist also informed the startup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HotDoc soon gained the attention of Airtree, which in 2015 invested <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartcompany.com.au\/startupsmart\/medical-startup-hotdoc-gets-a-healthy-cash-injection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">$2.2 million into HotDoc\u2019s Series A capital raise.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time, Airtree partner Daniel Petre said HotDoc had \u201cachieved the best traction in market with the least resources\u201d by prioritising doctor-patient relationships. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hurst praised Petre on Wednesday, saying he was \u201chappy to invest in a budding startup whose ambitions did not include global domination. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBuilding stuff to help Australian GP medical centres run more sustainably was ambitious enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HotDoc \u201cnever would have made it this far without Airtree in our corner,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HotDoc raised <a href=\"https:\/\/www.startupdaily.net\/topic\/healthtech-startup-hotdoc-raises-5-million-series-b-round-led-by-right-click-capital\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">$5 million in its 2018<\/a> Series B round, led by Right Click Capital, with further participation from Airtree Ventures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The venture only grew through COVID-19, when Australians flocked to telehealth appointments and adopted digital tools to book their vaccinations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The startup sought further capital in 2021, as it built its platform to accommodate more specialists, dentists, and allied health professionals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SmartCompany has contacted Potentia and Hurst for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HotDoc, the Australian tech platform connecting patients to their preferred GP, has a new set of owners in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[247526,64,63,137,500,247527,247528,1482],"class_list":{"0":"post-489796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-airtree","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-healthcare","13":"tag-hotdoc","14":"tag-potentia","15":"tag-private-equity"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}