SAO PAULO, Sept 12 (Askume) – Brazilian mobile vaccine provider Bep Saude said on Thursday it had turned a profit and announced an investment of 100 million reais ($17.64 million) from a U.S. company focused on climate change as rising global temperatures could boost demand for vaccines.
Bep Saúde is a Rio de Janeiro-based company founded in 2016 that provides vaccines and diagnostic tests in over 100 cities.
It serves consumers who have private health insurance or are willing to pay the cost of home delivery and administration of the vaccine, who are generally not covered by Brazil’s public system.
The new round of investment was led by New York-based Lightsmith, the company said. Lightsmith Managing Director Jay Koh, who will join Beep’s board of directors, said climate change could increase mosquito-borne diseases and increase the need for vaccinations.
Koh said in an interview that the investment firm has calculated that this type of climate-related work makes sense but is not yet a major part of Beep’s business.
Beep currently offers more than 30 vaccines, including those for meningitis and influenza, as well as tests such as blood and urine. It has also recently begun offering medical infusions.
Wrightsmith’s rationale for the investment initially surprised the company. “We don’t even consider ourselves a company solving the climate challenge,” Beep founder and CEO Vander Cortez told Askume.
The Brazilian company, valued at 1.2 billion reais ($211.7 million) in the new investment round, said it made a profit earlier this year but did not disclose the profit.
Cortez said Beep will have to cut jobs and renegotiate deals with suppliers in 2022. He added that the company intends to use the new funds to expand and improve logistics efficiency.
Beep is also backed by CZI, the philanthropic investment vehicle founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.
(1 USD = 5.6454 Real)
