Information-sharing App for Doctors Figure 1 Expands with Branded Content

In over 190 countries, Figure 1 is a clear example of a Canadian tech success story.

Since 2013, Figure 1 has had amazing traction from the medical community, being used by millions of doctors around the world, including 75% of students in med school.

However, one of the biggest hurdles for the growing company is how to generate revenue, a problem they’re addressing head-on with sponsored content.

“Doctors are used to being spammed by pharma companies, medical device makers, clinical trial people, and they hate it. Laymen spam them too, with stuff that’s just way below their level of expertise,” says CEO and co-founder Gregory Levey in an interview with TechCrunch. “They do, however, love to hear from other doctors. So when we thought about how to monetize our platform, we didn’t want to do targeted display ads or hit them with anything that didn’t feel like another valuable part of the platform.”

Figure 1’s solution is peer-to-peer sponsored content, with the aim to become a “central nervous system” for healthcare professionals. Their new content includes tutorials by doctors for doctors on Figure 1’s platform, sponsored by brands. The seminars are on a variety of topics, such as rare diseases, procedures, or new medical applications. There are “Grand Rounds,” in which an institution can showcase their staple procedures, “Figure 1-on-1’s,” where users ask and vote on questions questions addressed to specialists, and “Figure 1 insights” comprising polls verified by healthcare professionals.

Figure 1 is a Ryerson Futures alumni company and has worked with Fortune 50 health companies including Novartis and the CDC Foundation. For more information, check out Figure1.com.

Flickr: Jeff Eaton