Berlin-based HealthTech startup doctorly, which developed Germany’s first fully cloud-based, VC-backed and regulated practice management software, has been acquired in full by FREY ADV, a longstanding software provider in the German healthcare market.
The 100% share-deal marks a turn of events for the startup, which today announced the withdrawal of its insolvency application.
“doctorly has successfully been sold to FREY ADV, who have purchased 100% of the organisation in a share-deal,” said CEO and Co-founder Samir El-Alami in a public statement. “FREY has been building software for German healthcare over the past 35 years & is one of the leading software suppliers in Germany, serving thousands of customers. The German healthcare industry is at the cusp of a meaningful digital renaissance, & I could not think of a better new home for doctorly to take the next big step.”
Founded in 2018 by Samir El-Alami, Nicklas Teicke, Anna von Stackelberg, Sebastian Lau and Alexandru Boghean, doctorly set out with a mission to modernise the outdated practice software used in German medical offices.
The core software was launched in 2022, presenting a cloud-first approach to managing medical records, billing, appointments and prescriptions – an offering largely unavailable in the traditionally local and on-premise German health IT landscape.
Doctorly had raised nearly €16 million in total, including backing from Simon Capital, Horizons Ventures, UNIQA Ventures, Calm/Storm, Speedinvest, Seedcamp, and The Delta.
El-Alami said that in the past eight years doctorly “onboarded 100s of practices, treating hundreds of thousands of patients“, and that it was “The first tech-startup in German history to be regulated.“
In March 2025, however, El-Alami announced that doctorly had filed for preliminary insolvency following unsuccessful efforts to close a new funding round within the desired timeline. In an update, El-Alami emphasised that the team’s aim was always to avoid entering full insolvency – highlighting their focus on protecting jobs, customers and partnerships.
Eventually, FREY ADV emerged as an adequate buyer. FREY ADV has over three decades of experience in German healthcare software, making it a strategic match for doctorly’s technology and vision.
The acquisition enables doctorly to continue operations and align with a company embedded in the digital health transformation in Germany.
With the sale now complete, doctorly has withdrawn its insolvency application and confirmed that operations are continuing as normal. El-Alami also announced his departure from the company, effective at the end of June, ending an eight-year chapter since founding the company.
“After 8 years, since founding & leading the company in the role of CEO, I will be leaving the organisation as of the end of June. The personal growth & learnings that have come with such an endeavour have been immense, & for this I am forever grateful,” added El-Alami.
Doctorly’s remaining Co-founders – Teicke, Lau, Boghean and von Stackelberg – will remain with the company under FREY ADV’s ownership.
FREY ADV is expected to leverage doctorly’s cloud-native, fully regulated SaaS product to broaden its digital offering and expand further in the primary care software sector.
The acquisition also highlights the broader urgency and potential in the digitisation of healthcare infrastructure in Germany, a market that, according to El-Alami, is still dominated by legacy software systems from the 1980s and 1990s.
As the company enters its next phase under new ownership, Nicklas Teicke, Co-founder of doctorly, made clear that this transition is not an ending, but rather a new beginning grounded in a solid foundation and mission.
Teicke tied the sentiment to a phrase that became something of a rallying cry within the team: “I didn’t hear no bell.” Repeating the line from the film Rocky, he closed with a note of determination: “Resilience carried us here, and I couldn’t be prouder. Because … we didn’t hear no bell.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/06/we-didnt-hear-no-bell/
