iMedix - Say Hello to Healthcare 3.0... we've got invites!

The below article has been written by Roi Carthy who is an Israeli-based startup consultant. Roi is covering the Israeli startup scene for CenterNetworks.

Folks, I've found a winner and its name is iMedix. The team, the product, the niche, the model--all par excellence. I am willing to go on a limb and venture that they'll see a liquidation event in the next 24-36 months. Let's dive in...

iMedix is a community powered healthcare search engine. Here's how it works: Based on proprietary algorithms, iMedix evaluates healthcare related sites to generate results for what it considers "top sources". Then, users interact with the results and add their feedback ratings, generating even better results. Underlying magic includes a neural network based feedback analysis mechanism.

The company was founded in 2006 by Amir Leitersdorf (CEO) formerly CTO of Tapuz (a major Israeli web property) and Co-Founder & VP Technology of Movota (acquired Arvato), and by Iri Amirav (CMO) formerly Senior Marketing Director of MetaCafe. The rest of the team includes the former lead developer of aniBoom, a guerilla marketing specialist, a mathematics academic and former graduates of various IDF signal corps.

The idea for iMedix came about when Iri and Amir noticed that healthcare info was far lagging compared to news and entertainment. They then discovered 80% of US online users search for healthcare info. Realizing the potential, the duo began developing a prototype at nights. The result was impressive enough to motivate a number of undisclosed private investors to make an Angel investment large enough to carry the team at least another year from today.

I've had a chance to play with the engine and I'm impressed by the search results. These will only get better seeing as the iMedix engine is designed to improve as user interaction increases. The engine features a "did you mean" feature which I've found to be more effective than Google's in terms of the type healthcare related searches iMedix focuses on.

The engine is currently in closed-Alpha but I was able to arrange for 50 exclusive invites… Send in your details to get on the list!

iMedix is very conscious of the user experience and have been going back and forth on whether to incorporate an iMedix frame in the header of search results users click through. While I really hate About.com's frame, I actually feel most iMedix users would benefit from one, especially if it is able to provide the user's search results.

Other than the search engine, iMedix.com also features a blog zone. I have a couple of issues with it. First, while I can appreciate the importance of cultivating a community, I feel there is a dissonance between "running an engine" and "running a community". Personally, I feel iMedix would be wise to focus on the former. Second, I feel that if they do elect to go with a blog zone, then the wise route would be to integrate a 3rd party platform such as WordPress. My reasoning is simple: iMedix should focus on its competency and building and maintaining a blog platform is not it (even if it serves a tactical purpose).

If you're going to build your business on an advertising revenue model, you better know the dynamics. If you need further testament that Iri and Amir are a couple of business savvy founders here it is: Brace yourself… 10,000,000 US users perform healthcare searches daily(!) I was blown away by this figure. This is the same number of users paying bills online in the US. And it gets better… Healthcare related advertising is growing at a rate higher than other industry standards and feature lucrative ad costs. You might want to scroll-up and re-read my first paragraph...

Let's talk competition: The biggest wave in recent years was made by Steve Case's RevolutionHealth which seems to be gunning at WebMD. Both are destination sites as opposed to being search driven. Traffic-wise, in second position is Healthline which is doing a pretty good job, although it too is more destination oriented. An upstart in the field is Healia which positions itself specifically as a "health search engine". I gave it a spin and wasn't all that impressed, especially with the thought placed on user interaction.

If they haven't yet, smart VC's should place iMedix on their radar. I don't foresee an IPO but an acquisition by the likes of AOL, Fox Interactive, Yahoo!, IAC, or one of the big competitors sounds just about right.

iMedix--remember the name.

Update: Charles at Alt Search Engines has a review of some additional Health Search Engines.