Osigu is transforming healthcare with fintech innovation

By Santos Nagore, Partner

Anyone who has been to the doctor’s office recently can vouch for the fact that payments are a headache. There is simply not enough transparency and efficiency in the healthcare payment space.

This pain is even more acute for medical professionals. Providers often don’t know how much they’ll get paid, when they’ll get paid, or if the payment is accurate.

That translates to a broken market in which, in the U.S. alone, $300 billion of the $4 trillion annual spending is administrative opex.

However, the tides are turning as the healthcare industry undergoes a significant transformation driven by the convergence of healthtech and fintech. This integration aims to streamline financial processes, enhance patient experiences, and improve overall efficiency. A notable example is Waystar, a U.S.-based healthcare revenue cycle management solutions firm. In June 2024, Waystar raised a $968 million IPO, marking one of the largest healthtech IPO.

Outside the U.S., there remains a sea of opportunity to improve healthcare using digital payment solutions and financial technologies. For the past decade, Miami-based Osigu has streamlined revenue cycle and claims management across LatAm, transforming how payers and providers handle healthcare transactions. Their comprehensive approach has filled a crucial gap in the region’s healthcare infrastructure.

Building on the network it has developed over recent years by digitizing the healthcare industry in Latin America, Osigu is quickly becoming a central player in the push to modernize healthcare across the region. With their recent partnership with Visa and successful expansion to Brazil, a thriving $40B healthcare market where the company has already secured two key deals with local industry leaders, the time is now for Osigu to bring this region’s healthcare into the 21st century.

The opportunity in Latin America

The healthcare sector in Latin America is burdened by significant administrative and operational hurdles that create insurmountable difficulties for payers and providers alike. These include:

• Payment and claims inefficiencies are draining healthcare resources.
• For healthcare providers, EHR systems serve as the clinical source of truth, but a financial source of truth doesn’t yet exist.
• Continued reliance on paper represents a missed opportunity to capitalize on digital payment innovations, which could stabilize revenue and improve financial forecasting.
• Outdated and often manual systems slow down transactions and increase the risk of errors and fraud.

As a result, our research shows that the annual healthcare claims volume in LatAm exceeds $60 billion, highlighting a considerable entrepreneurial opportunity for savvy players in the healthcare industry.

LatAm’s health tech ecosystem was catalyzed by the COVID-19 crisis but has since cooled in line with global funding markets and the return of traditional healthcare service delivery. Nevertheless, the region remains a significant opportunity for startups introducing new and innovative models of care.

That’s where Osigu comes in

Osigu, an IDC Ventures portfolio company, is bridging the gap between healthcare and fintech, revolutionizing healthcare payments across the region. Their highly innovative vision was clear to us the moment we met the team — and a few years later, no one else was tackling this issue. That’s why, since then, we have doubled down on our investment in Osigu.

Osigu’s journey can be categorized into three key phases:

1. Developing infrastructure

Osigu needed to establish a robust foundation that bridged the key players in the ecosystem. This involved connecting both ends of the transaction chain — the payers and the providers — to facilitate seamless interactions. By creating an integrated network, Osigu laid the groundwork for a more efficient and reliable healthcare payment system.

2. Gaining momentum

Building upon this integrated network, Osigu focused on streamlining the flow of information and approvals. The company implemented automation technologies to enhance efficiency, reduce processing times, and minimize errors. This phase was crucial in demonstrating the practical benefits of a digitalized payment system within the healthcare sector.

3. Scaling with financial products

With a solid infrastructure and proven traction, Osigu began to scale by introducing healthcare payments and financial products like cross-border payments, B2B and B2C financing, etc. These offerings further simplified reimbursement and collection processes, reducing labor and administrative costs for healthcare providers.

And this is just the beginning for Osigu

“We’re infusing innovation into the space through our unique suite of digital products,” said Fernando Botrán, CEO and founder of Osigu. “With our aggressive roadmap, including major AI developments, we’re poised to accelerate this innovation within the next 12 months.”

Osigu has expanded its operations across Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Spain. With nearly a decade of experience in the Latin American region, this Miami-based company is well-positioned to replicate Waystar’s success story. Osigu processed $650 million in claims volume in 2023 — a 360% increase from the previous year. This growth highlights the robustness and reliability of its platform. In 2023, Osigu acquired Servinte, a leading EHR and revenue cycle company in Colombia, and expanded into Brazil by partnering with Salux Technology in 2024.

Osigu recently secured funding in the first closing of its US$25M Series B round, led by IDC Ventures, with Visa participating as a strategic investor. A testament to Osigu’s groundbreaking vision, this partnership not only validates the company’s critical role in building a modern healthcare ecosystem in Latin America but also enables Osigu to focus on developing financial products such as credit enabling, using Visa’s vast expertise and resources in this field.

The future is fintech and healthtech integration

The integration of fintech and healthtech is creating a new financial operating system for healthcare, addressing inefficiencies and enhancing patient experiences through automated processes and real-time data.

This integration is nowhere more visible than in Osigu’s partnership with Visa. Leveraging the payment giant’s unique resources, Osigu is transforming healthcare payments in the region by automatizing transactions, streamlining reimbursements, and offering a suite of digital tools to providers and payers alike. Additionally, Osigu is developing a groundbreaking financial product that taps into Visa’s extensive payments technology expertise.

In addition, Osigu plans to invest further in generative AI, developing products that recommend documents for prior authorization submissions and flagging potential reasons for claims denials using machine learning. The company believes that regulations will drive more payers and providers to its offerings, reducing administrative burdens for payers and achieving more approvals for providers.

Mirroring Waystar’s success in the U.S., Osigu is at the forefront of healthcare fintech innovation in Latin America. With robust expansion across key markets and strategic partnerships, Osigu is set to become a leader in the sector.