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Doximity Hopes Doctors Buy Into Its IPO

— MD social networking site sets aside 15% of shares for physician members

Ƶ MedicalToday
The Doximity website as seen on a computer monitor and smartphone.

Physician social networking site Doximity has as much as $100 million in an initial public offering -- and it's hoping to entice physicians to invest.

Though the San Francisco-based company has yet to disclose its pricing or how many shares it plans to issue, it has made public some of the details of a sizable allocation for doctors.

Through a reserved share program, Doximity will set aside up to 15% of its shares for member physicians at the institutional investor rate, the company said in its IPO filing. That program is similar to those seen at two high-profile companies, Airbnb and Uber, though both allocated fewer shares.

When Airbnb went public in December, it set aside some 7% of shares for hosts on the platform. The company's stock jumped 112% in its debut, and hosts who bought the maximum number of shares made a profit of more than $15,000 on day one, .

However, that outcome isn't guaranteed. Uber earmarked up to 3% of its 2019 offering for drivers. However, buyers "at the IPO price are up just 14%, while the Nasdaq Composite has jumped 74% over that stretch," according to the CNBC article.

Book of Business

Described as a "LinkedIn for doctors," Doximity was founded in 2011 by entrepreneurs Jeff Tangney, MBA, and Nate Gross, MD. The company said in its IPO filing that it has more than 1.8 million medical professional members as of March 31, and that its members include more than 80% of physicians across all 50 states and every medical specialty.

However, the company didn't state a specific number of physician members or how the statistic was calculated.

Neither the American Medical Association nor the American Hospital Association had numbers on physician or hospital usage, respectively, when contacted by Ƶ.

Doximity said in its filing that its cloud-based platform is designed to help its members collaborate with colleagues, coordinate patient care, conduct virtual patient visits, stay up-to-date with medical news and research, and manage their careers.

Though membership is free for physicians, the company is profitable.

Doximity's revenue-generating customers -- including pharmaceutical manufacturers, health systems, and medical recruiting firms -- pay for commercial solutions that benefit from broad physician usage, the company said in its filing.

For the fiscal years ending March 31, 2020 and March 31, 2021, the company reported revenue of $116.4 million and $206.9 million, respectively, representing year-over-year growth of 78%, according to the filing. For the same years, Doximity's net income was $29.7 million and $50.2 million, respectively.

The company said in its filing that its customers purchase subscriptions for its marketing, hiring, and telehealth solutions. In fiscal year 2021, Doximity said it had more than 600 subscription customers, of which 200 contributed at least $100,000 of subscription revenue.

Of those 200 customers, 29 contributed at least $1,000,000 in subscription revenue, the company noted in its filing. In fiscal 2021, 93% of revenue was generated from subscriptions. Marketing accounted for 80% of those subscriptions.

The company cited growth milestones that include inking a partnership with U.S. News & World Report in 2014.

Potential business challenges include failing to retain existing members or add new members, failing to attract new customers, and losing one or more key customers, the company said in its filing. They also include increasing competition for its solutions, and the ongoing pandemic.

Use of Proceeds

Last year, Doximity launched its first telemedicine offering. The company said at the time that the offering lets doctors video call their patients while being HIPAA-compliant.

In its IPO filing, the company noted the potential for moving into other new areas of service.

Doximity said that it plans to use the proceeds from its IPO, together with existing cash, equivalents, and marketable securities of about $142 million as of the end of March, for working capital, other general purposes, and to fund its growth strategies and make continued investments in its business.

The company added that it may also use a portion of the proceeds to acquire or invest in complementary businesses, solutions, services, technologies, or other assets. It did not specify areas of interest.

Doximity has not yet said what exchange it will trade on, but did say in its filing that its ticker symbol will be DOCS.

As for what doctors may qualify for its reserved share program, the company said in its filing that physicians must meet criteria based on their platform activity or attendance at member advisor meetings.

Doximity declined Ƶ's request for comment due to the IPO quiet period.

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    Jennifer Henderson joined Ƶ as an enterprise and investigative writer in Jan. 2021. She has covered the healthcare industry in NYC, life sciences and the business of law, among other areas.