Telehealth | Coviu | Dr Silvia Pfeiffer

Dr Silvia Pfeiffer grew up in a small country town in South Germany. Growing up she wanted to be a doctor, but when it turned out that she couldn’t stand the sight of blood, she decided to go into technology. After working at CSIRO exploring video technology applications, Silvia identified an opportunity to develop Coviu – a telehealth software solution that is playing a vital role in connecting health professionals with patients and grown rapidly through COVID. Her biggest tip for female founders - “believe in yourself”.

Silvia was kind enough to share her journey with us.

Dr Silvia Pfeiffer, Founder Coviu

What gave you the idea for Coviu?

At the time, I was working at the CSIRO on Web video technology. I was actually involved in the standardization of HTML5 video and of WebRTC – two new developments that have changed the way in which the World Wide Web works. My interest in video technology went back a long time into my PhD thesis where I was analysing audio and video files to extract information. This time around at the CSIRO, I was working in a team that was developing use cases for video calls in healthcare, government and finance. The healthcare part was the one that interested me the most and I drove that interest further until we had co-developed Coviu through interaction with healthcare businesses.

How big is the telehealth opportunity?

Coviu is a telehealth software solution. Every single healthcare service provider – every doctor, medical specialist, psychologist, physiotherapist, dietitian, allied health provider and every hospital have a potential for using telehealth software to deliver virtual care. Thus, the potential target market is pretty big with approx. 380,000 clinicians in Australia and 5.6m clinicians in the US. A recent estimate says that the global telehealth software market is expected to reach $20b globally by 2025.

What does Coviu do? Who is the solution for? What problem does it solve?

Coviu offers a Web application as a solution for healthcare businesses who want to offer video visits to patients. This became particularly important through the COVID19 crisis where in-person visits to your healthcare provider were actively avoided to avoid the further transmission of the virus.

What is unique about Coviu?

Coviu is a highly configurable platform. We will create the workflows and activate the tools that the specific healthcare business requires to offer their specialized service. We do that through configuration rather than custom software engineering, which makes it more affordable and scalable.

Where do you see your proposition in ten years time?

In 10 years, I expect Coviu to be the communication centre for healthcare businesses. Whether a clinician needs to talk to a patient, provide group therapy, needs to meet with a peer, or needs to join company meeting – it will all be taking place in the same virtual clinic location that is provided through Coviu. We will be a hub for enabling digitally transformed healthcare businesses.

 If you are not from a Tech background how has that impacted you and what do you bring to the table?

I have a PhD in computer science and have developed the MVP of Coviu myself several years ago while working as a research scientist at the CSIRO. At the same time, I have a double degree in Computer Science and Business Management – the equivalent of an MBA from Germany. It’s a bit outdated, but I did learn how to read financial data. Further, Coviu is my second startup company and I learnt a lot about what to avoid during my first startup. Those are invaluable lessons and I encourage everyone to expect their first startup to be a learning exercise. Finally, I have been working with clinicians and healthcare businesses for more than 8 years now, so I also have a good grasp on the requirements in this space, which I believe is the most important knowledge you have to acquire to make your business successful.

Biggest challenge you have faced so far?

There have been several times where I wondered if it was worth continuing the business. While at the CSIRO, it was difficult to get approval to spin out. Then it was difficult to raise capital. Then it was difficult to survive with little income and low investor interest. All of this has changed through the COVID crisis, so I can’t complain. But it took a lot of persistence to get here.

Example of a good result with Coviu?

The biggest success of Coviu was actually during the COVID19 crisis – we scaled from doing 400 consultations a day at the beginning of March to 25,000 consultations a day by Easter. It showed the impact of COVID19 on the uptake of telehealth by private healthcare providers.

In what ways do you think female founders are treated differently?

In my personal experience, it’s much harder for female founders to raise capital. Most decisions about investment are being made by men, who feel more comfortable in investing in fellow men, which they find easier to judge than women. There is a lot of talk about how women led businesses perform better and a lot of lip service to having more women in leadership and supporting more female founders, but the reality is much harder. Once an investor commits to a female founder, they are also under a lot of pressure to succeed, so as not to make the investor look bad for making such a bold choice. I’ve been lucky to be backed by courageous investors. 

What is your focus now? And for the next couple of years? How has COVID impacted your activity?

As mentioned, COVID19 has boosted our business and given us probably 2-3 years of progress in one go. We are now on a mission to encourage clinicians that are still not embracing video telehealth to become advocates.

What tips would you have for female entrepreneurs?

The first and biggest advice I have is to believe in yourself. As women, we are typically much more critical of ourselves than men (I’m talking averages here – there are some very self-aware men as well!). If you have a market insight and you see an opportunity, believe in yourself and execute it. There will be plenty of people that will have objections – don’t let them deter you, but only take their input to be inspired to overcome the objections.

The second advice is that you will need a lot of energy and persistence to build a business. And time. Don’t give up too early. Build a network of support people around yourself that give you positive advice and mentorship. That will help you through it.

The final advice is for all founders: pick a problem that you are really passionate about. Because if you lose interest, that will be the end of the company.

What are the one or two lessons/principles/ you carry with you into everything you do?

Every problem can be solved – you might need to think about it differently and you might need more time.

One step at a time – don’t over-expect.

You can’t do it alone – make sure you have a great team around yourself.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

Coviu could be a listed company in 10 years and I could be part of an amazing leadership team that is executing on a mission to improve healthcare for everyone.

How do you balance your personal time and your ‘work’ time?

I try to have a regular schedule which includes me-time, family-time and work time. In the mornings, I focus on getting exercise and clear my head for the day. I have regular meal times during which I am more social. And the evenings are for family. However, if need be, work will dominate any of those times. If you want to achieve something, it’s not just a matter of executing, but also being timely, so sometimes work will just have to dominate all other times.