Exclusive: Exakt Health launches certified physiotherapy app

The founders both come from N26. The app will initially focus on sports injuries. Exakt Health has already secured half a million US dollars.

Philip Billaudelle and Lucia Payo left N26 and founded their own company in January: Their startup Exakt Health is dedicated to digital physiotherapy for sports injuries, and the Berliners already raised half a million US dollars with this concept in January. Now the start-up is launching its app, which is available for Android and IOS and has already been certified as a Software-as-a-Medical Device by the European Medical Device Directive. This means the app is available everywhere in the European Union and the UK.

"Physiotherapy shouldn't be a luxury item. We give users direct access to information and tools for their recovery, exactly when they need it," explains Maryke Louw, who supports Exakt Health as a senior physiotherapist. The free app provides users with a personalized therapy plan that receives exercises and recommendations. Currently, the focus is on typical sports injuries such as an Achilles tendon injury from running.

Exakt Health will soon launch a pilot study to validate the effects of the app. It is also needed to get on the Digital Health App Directory in Germany and be prescribed by prescription. The process for this takes an average of three months, Exakt Health announced in March that it will also pursue this goal. It also plans to expand the app's offerings.

"Searching for reliable medical information online is frustrating because too often you can't find suitable or conflicting opinions," says founder and CEO Billaudelle, explaining the motivation behind the startup. Billaudelle knows a thing or two about digitization; at N26, he worked in product management and the data science team, among other things, and he most recently revealed his tips for "remote work" to Startbase. His co-founder Payo was a senior software developer at N26 for four years. In January, N26 co-founder Maximilian Tayenthal, Kelly Fors, former CMO at N26, and other business angels invested in the start-up.