NELLY
Healthcare / Telemedicine — South Africa
Client Profile
Industry
Telemedicine (South Africa)
Size
Startup connecting 280+ doctors, targeting 50,000 patients Year 1
Business Model
Subscription (R299/month) plus consultation fees
Challenge
Build from scratch, 5-month deadline, $180K budget,
support poor connectivity
Business Problem
→ Building competitive telemedicine from zero
→ No existing patient data infrastructure
→ Required HIPAA-compliant video consultations
→ Needed prescription management and EHR integration
→ Payment processing for subscriptions (multiple currencies)
→ 280+ provider scheduling
→ Limited budget prevented pre-built solutions
→ 5-month deadline or lose first-mover advantage
Objective
Launch within 5 months under $180K
Support 280+ doctors, 50,000+ patients Year 1
<15 minute consultation wait time
99.9% uptime, zero security incidents
Enable poor connectivity operation
Generate R2M monthly revenue by Month 12
Meet all regulatory compliance
Automation Details
Smart Matching
Algorithm matches patients with doctors (specialty,
language, rating, wait time)
Queue Management
Automated system balancing load across
doctors, emergency priority
Video Optimization
Adaptive bitrate streaming adjusts for connection
speed (works on 3G)
Prescription Flow
Doctor writes in platform, auto-sent to pharmacy
with SMS
Medical Records
Automated organization of visit notes, prescriptions,
lab results into timeline
Payment Automation
Subscription billing, failed payment retry,
automatic receipts
Compliance Engine
Automated audit logs, consent management, data
retention, regulatory reports
Notification System
SMS/email reminders 24hr and 1hr before
appointments
Solution Overview
→ Full-stack telemedicine SaaS in 4.5 months
→ Patient portal (booking, history, notes, prescriptions)
→ Doctor dashboard (schedule, queue, clinical tools, EHR)
→ HD video consultation (screen sharing, file transfer, chat, low bandwidth
optimization)
→ E-prescription with 450+ pharmacies
→ Secure payment gateway (credit cards, mobile money, medical aid)
→ Admin panel for management, analytics, compliance
→ Mobile-first responsive design
Technology Stack
Frontend
Vue.js 3, Tailwind CSS, PWA
Backend
Django 4.2, Django REST, Celery
Database
PostgreSQL 15, Redis
Video
WebRTC (Jitsi Meet), bandwidth adaptation 2G/3G
Prescriptions
450+ pharmacies via HL7/FHIR
Payments
Stripe, PayFast, M-Pesa
Storage
AWS S3 encrypted at rest
Infrastructure
AWS (EC2, RDS, ElastiCache) Cape Town region
Security
End-to-end encryption, HIPAA compliance, audit logging
CI/CD
GitLab, Docker, Kubernetes
Outcome & Impact
→ Launch Success: 4.5 months at $165K (under budget)
→ Scale Achieved: 280 doctors, 14,500 patients in 6 months (29% of Year
1 goal, projected to exceed)
→ Wait Time: 8 minutes (47% better than target)
→ Uptime: 99.94%, zero security incidents or HIPAA violations
→ Patient Satisfaction: 4.7/5 stars, 87% recommend
→ Doctor Income: Average R28,000 monthly supplemental
→ Revenue: R1.8M MRR by Month 8 (ahead of R2M Month 12 goal)
→ Geographic Reach: 42 cities/towns including rural
→ Cost Efficiency: R180 vs R800+ in-person
Why This Matters for Similar Clients
Healthcare Startups
Build compliant telemedicine platforms in 4–6
months without enterprise budgets
Telehealth Providers
Support thousands of patients with limited staff
through automation
Mental Health & Therapy Platforms
Launch video, scheduling, and
payments with minimal customization
Rural Healthcare Initiatives
Deliver care in low-connectivity regions
using optimized video and mobile-first design
International Health Platforms
Expand to new regions quickly with
modular architecture
Digital Health Entrepreneurs
Reach profitability faster without heavy
upfront infrastructure costs
ROI
Telemedicine platforms typically reach profitability within 12–18
months with 200–400% ROI over 3 years
Months Platform Launched
Uptime with Zero Security Incidents
Monthly Revenue by Month 8