Guilherme Weigert On Raising Over $60 Million To Build A Digital Health Platform Providing Improved Access To Telemedicine Solutions in Brazil

Guilherme Weigert’s story is one of remarkable transitions—from growing up in Rio de Janeiro to founding successful companies reshaping the healthcare landscape in Latin America.

In this riveting interview, Guilherme talks about pivoting, driving his company, Conexa, from growth to profitability, and navigating the ups and downs of building a business. Conexa has attracted investment from top-tier investors like Vivo Ventures, Endeavor Promessas, Wayra Brazil, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and Goldman Sachs Growth Equity.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Guilherme Weigert successfully pivoted Conexa from a clinic model to a digital health platform, fueling rapid growth.
• A blend of medicine and technology in his upbringing laid the foundation for Guilherme’s entrepreneurial ventures.
• Selling Jaleko for $8M allowed Guilherme to focus on larger opportunities in healthcare.
• Securing over $60M for Conexa was possible by nurturing connections with key healthcare and VC players.
• Conexa’s shift toward profitability involved strategic layoffs and operational adjustments.
• Guilherme learned the importance of focus and careful decision-making after early mistakes in scaling too quickly.
• Guilherme envisions 40-50% of Brazil’s consultations becoming digital, enhancing access and efficiency in healthcare.

 

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About Guilherme Weigert:

Guilherme Weigert, MD, is currently the co-founder, CEO, and Medical Director of Conexa Saúde, a company focused on digital health solutions to deliver healthcare to patients in LATAM.

Guilherme has had a varied and extensive career in the medical field. From 2011 to 2021, he held numerous positions in various organizations. In 2011, he founded Jaleko, a medical education platform focused on medical students.

In 2013, Guilherme was a hospitalist at Clínica São Vicente in Gávea, Rio de Janeiro RJ. From 2016 to 2017, he was a cardiologist at Hospital Samaritano and Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia Laranjeiras.

In 2020, Guilherme became a Founding Board Member at Saúde Digital Brasil. Finally, in 2021, he became a Board Member at Secad – Artmed Panamericana.

Guilherme Weigert, MD, began their educational career in 2006 when he enrolled in the Graduate Program in Medicine at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. He completed this program in 2012.

From 2013 to 2015, Guilherme participated in a Medical Residency Program in Internal Medicine at UERJ. In 2015, he began a Medical Residency Program in Cardiology at the Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia, which he completed in 2017.

In 2016, Guilherme became an Observer at Baylor College of Medicine in Cardiology. He then returned to the Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia and completed their Master’s degree in Cardiology in 2019.

Connect with Guilherme Weigert:

• LinkedIn
• RocketReach
• Instagram
• TheOrg

Read the Full Transcription of the Interview:

Alejandro Cremades: righty Hello, everyone, and welcome to The Deal Maker Show. We have a very exciting founder today joining us. ah We’re going to be talking about the building, scaling, financing, and exiting. ah Things like, for example, pivoting, how to think about putting the company from growth to profitability, you know that kind of transition, which is very hard.

Alejandro Cremades: ah and they you know the ups and downs of building a business. So brace yourself for a very inspiring conversation and without further ado, let’s welcome our guest today, Guillerm Vigard. Welcome to the show.

Guilherme Weigert: Thanks Alejandro. It’s really nice to be here. It’s a pleasure to share my my my my history here and see with all the founders ah in this podcast.

Alejandro Cremades: So originally from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Giosa walked through memory lane. How’s life growing up over there?

Guilherme Weigert: It’s really nice. It’s a beautiful city. ah So I live here in Panama. ah I was born in a really particular environment.

Guilherme Weigert: My father is a physician and my mother is a tech developer. So everyone, I was exposed to both technology and health, and it was amazing. So it’s really nice to be here.

Alejandro Cremades: So tell us about, you know in your case, getting into medicine. What really puts you in in the direction of medicine?

Guilherme Weigert: oh I really and really enjoy to talk to people. And I really enjoyed to understand more how to help ah ah users, patients. So, earlier on I was seeing all my, my father as a doctor, ah helping a lot of patients and it was really inspiring. So, that’s why I, I, I approached through medicine, but actually I, I was, uh, uh,

Guilherme Weigert: ah In the beginning, and when I was choosing the medicine, I was i did an exam to tech developer system here in Brazil, but I chose medicine. so

Guilherme Weigert: In one month, I changed my decision and then I go to medicine because I was was going for tech developer as a technical ah as my mother is, so and that’s a funny thing here.

Alejandro Cremades: So let’s talk about studying medicine and then really getting into entrepreneur entrepreneurship because that’s quite the detour. I mean, anyone that you know typically would go into studying medicine like you did you know would become a doctor versus becoming a founder. So what happened there along the way?

Guilherme Weigert: Yeah, i had I had some experience there that I changed my mind. ah So the first one, and i in in the and the as I was graduating in medicine, I really enjoyed to change the sports in my my university. So I invest a lot my time to help ah the the sports because In my university, we we don’t have a lot of ah ah lot of ah resource to increase, to improve, to ah ah like motivate ah medicine students as a sports team. So I invest a lot of my time. And we create ah sports leagues there. And it was amazing because we create a community of ah medical students

Guilherme Weigert: that was like competing by football, like volleyball. So it was their first experience as an entrepreneur during their university. ah But when I was finishing my university, I i saw that it was really ah ah changing the way that the the medical students students were studying. So we had like the big books with 2,000 page And then I was seeing the the medical students going for YouTube, for others kind of ah of ah learning steps. So ah then we start to to saw that we were like having opportunities to create um a medical education platform. So as we start Jaleco was my first startup. It was amazing because we changed the way that we were ah like teaching and helping

Guilherme Weigert: medical students to learn really well, to learn different from what was the traditional way. It was like a Netflix for medical students. So we go from the first degree to the last degree of university graduation. And it was amazing because we reached more than 200,000 medical students.

Guilherme Weigert: And was as we were growing a lot, we decided to sell the company. So we sold the company ah for an education group called Plus A Education. It was like $8 million dollars um valuation.

Guilherme Weigert: It was the first journey. It was amazing. ah But at that time, I was like, ah as an entrepreneur and as a doctor, deciding if yeah I was would be like just an entrepreneur, a founder, or if I would go like as a doctor, being a cardiologist. So i I made medicine, I made cardiology, I had yeah residency, I had made a master degree in cardiology. And then in 2017, I decided to jump

Guilherme Weigert: to be just an entrepreneur. And then I start Connexa. It was my second journey here in the entrepreneurship. And it was amazing because we saw that the the the system in Brazil, the health system in Brazil is like, it’s collapsing. So we we have no ah no access to to health. Less than 25% of the population has a health insurance. so The majority here has to rely to the public system. And even even the the the user that have the patients have that have ah access to a health insurance, they are not satisfied. So that’s that was motivating me to jump from a doctor for an interpreter.

Alejandro Cremades: So before we go into details with Connexa, I want to talk about Jaleco. How was it going through the journey of selling a business? It’s quite a success there. you know First company, first day you know acquisition. you know it’s a It’s pretty good, batting average. So how was it like going through um acquisition process like that?

Guilherme Weigert: Yeah, it was like a B2C, direct to consumer. So we were selling a medical education platform for medical students. So ah we are growing, but we saw that we have two two ways. Or we approach the the doctors in like in like a lifelong journey off ah for the doctor.

Guilherme Weigert: Or we were like deciding to sell the business because a lot of competitors were going for doctors and they have like a really um bigger term. So if you were like going for doctors, we would fundraise a lot of money.

Guilherme Weigert: Then which we start to to think about that and then we say, say oh okay, if you have like a lot of competitors that was going for doctors and we were like focusing on the medical students, we have a really differentiation here and probably would be better to sell the company for those that were focused on the lifelong journey journey for the doctor. And then we would be more like, uh, uh,

Guilherme Weigert: ah asset for them so because they were like they were going to convert these medical students as students for residency programs for medical education at all so ah continuous medical education so that was what we decide because um we should like ah it would be really tough to compete with these other competitors that work with a really big team. So that’s why we decide and then we start to to talk to them. we We had like four offers and then we decide for the offer that was from the group plus a education. Because I was not in the in the more in the operational side where we’re laughing leaving the the the the operation as executive, just going for the board.

Guilherme Weigert: But my other founder, they were like really, really ah happy to to join this more lifelong journey approach. So that’s why we decided to sell the company.

Alejandro Cremades: So then let’s go with Connexa, which is your latest journey now. What why ended up being the business model of Connexa now? How do you guys make money?

Guilherme Weigert: Yeah, so ah the way that we are digital health platform here, so we are the leading one. ah We have like we which we do more than half million consultations per month. So ah the way that we make money here is the B2B approach. So we sell products for employers and for health plans, health insurance plans. So ah to deliver more a health benefits for employers and a really good um ah digital health a network of professionals for the payers. So ah they they pay us as a PM PM model but remember per month and we have some case that they pay a fee for service model. So that’s the way that we make money here.

Alejandro Cremades: Okay, now I know that you guys have experienced pivoting the business ah a few times. So walk us through how those pivots look like and how has the journey been you know for really getting it all the way to where it is today.

Guilherme Weigert: Yeah, I think i think we the purpose here it was the same. We we have a really ah ah difficult health system, complex health system in Brazil. So we we would like to to to improve the access and and also to improve the outcomes. So we in the beginning, we start as a primary care clinic.

Guilherme Weigert: ah because ah telehealth, it was not allowed. So we don’t have a regulation to to do the telemedicine as we had in US, for example. So we we started a business as a primary care clinic, ah going for health insurance plans to to to to disable our products. So our network of providers. But the thing is that we have a really different different culture in Brazil. We don’t have a primary care culture in Brazil, so they are they are really used to go to the hostels, they go for like a specialist, because here in Brazil, it’s different from the US, like in the US, you have a health insurance plan, but we will pay like ah deductibles, we have like co-pays. In Brazil, we don’t have, so it’s really easy to go to the hostel.

Guilherme Weigert: and We don’t have anybody here. So the thing that we we saw that ah as a primary care clinic, we don’t have incentives for the patients that go that shift from the hospitals to the to the ah to the primary care clinic. And we were like going and developing a digital health platform to help ah engagement for users that were going to the to the primary care clinic.

Guilherme Weigert: We saw that we should shift pivot and close the the clinic and go for the digital health approach, because it was which was really much more like convenient. ah It was like the user experience was really, really nice. And that would probably ah shift the the the behavior of the user. So they would like it to be really convenient, go for a digital health consultation.

Guilherme Weigert: ah versus going to the hostel with a really ah long line waiting for two hours to have ah access to ah to the doctor. So that was ah that were the decision that we made. It was really, really good decision because it’s difficult to to do both the in-person primary care clinic and the digital health solution. We have to be focused, so that’s why we shift ah the approach here.

Alejandro Cremades: so then So then talk to us, too, about how has it been the experience of raising money, too? I mean, I know that you guys have raised the over $60 million, but how has it been the journey of of going through raising money? Because I know, too, being in Latin America, you know the venture ecosystem is is not, perhaps, as developed as say the one in the US. So how has it been the experience, too, of raising the money?

Guilherme Weigert: Yeah, so we we start as a feminine friends. So, and the family and friends that were like living the health system. So we attract doctors, we attract like managers in the health system. So they really enjoy, they really like to be with us, um ah helping to build a new way of consuming health.

Guilherme Weigert: So that was the beginning. And we had here a really good a really good ah ah investor ah because he was like Romeo. He was at the the chairman of Daza. Daza in Brazil is a really big diagnostic company. It’s the little one in the Latin America.

Guilherme Weigert: And they in he helps a lot with commercial side, helping to understand more the the the complexity of this health system. So the first the the beginning of the journey was funding with them. so And then we start to to go for a VC firm. So 20, I think it was 20,

Guilherme Weigert: 19, we joined with IGA. It was the first VC firm here with us. It was of fundraising. It was the the first check. so But it lasted like six months because then we have the pandemic. And as we were like, really, really, ah with a really good base of clients, we grow a lot. So we we grow from 2,000 consultations before the pandemic per month to more than 200,000 consultations per month in three months. So it was a huge growth here.

Guilherme Weigert: And then we fundraise with GA. It was amazing. They are really, really amazing investors. And they help us to in the strategy to go for organic growth and then for ah ah m and a journey so they help a lot they we we start to to so to to seek for some targets in the mental health space so we have done two m and a so far in the mental health space

Guilherme Weigert: bigger than the second player right now.

Alejandro Cremades: So how’s it been to going from growth at all costs ah versus like turning the switch of profitability, having to do that transition?

Guilherme Weigert: It was tough because i’m ah I’m an entrepreneur. So I didn’t have this experience before. Just growth and developing and I’m more a product founder.

Guilherme Weigert: So, and and and a commercial ah founder here. So, I i i didn’t have this experience before. And then ah we fundraised with ah Goldman Sachs in 2022. It was $40 million of fundraising in this year.

Guilherme Weigert: and the The year it was really tough because um the crash of technology funding was going during this year. But we we could like we were growing a lot. We we had a lot of the leading one and we could fundraise with Goldman Sachs. But we saw that the growth versus profitability, it was a really um

Guilherme Weigert: good decision to do. So we we should go for profitability because we wouldn’t like to to to have no more money to fund the company. So in 2022, we have done some adjustment adjustments of GNA. We have done a ah good ah work in the margins. But in this year, with in the beginning of 2024,

Guilherme Weigert: we decide with we don’t We have done i m and a called equal a company called Zen Club. We well acquired the company. And then we saw that it was this time, the the the moment to break even. So we go from like burning 10% of the revenue. Right now we are free cash for flow was positive. It was difficult because we had some layoffs. We increased a lot. of the operational efficiency here, the mindset, ah the mindset that it’s like tough. We would do like to decide for the best ah choice, we would like to have more ah opportunities to to to have some mistakes that we we had in the past. So we changed a lot the mindset. And right now, I think I don’t want to to burn more money anymore.

Alejandro Cremades: So tell us about, you know because these investors, when they um invest, they invest in people. know And not only investors, you know also customers, employees, it’s it’s really betting on on on people, but more importantly, in in the vision, not that these people have created, no especially coming from the founders itself. So if you were to go to sleep tonight and you wake up in a world where the vision of Connexa is fully realized, what does the world look like?

Guilherme Weigert: I think the first thing that we would have like the the share of the digital health consultations really higher. Like I really believe that 40 to 50% of the consultation that we have in this this more low complexity system, it should be digital. ah So the first one, it’s like seeing the share of the digital health really higher.

Guilherme Weigert: Right now we have like the digital health in Brazil is 3%, so we have a lot of room to grow. um The second thing is that ah we see a change, a change in the behavior of the user going not just for the disease approach, but seeing seeking for the prevention, seeking for the changing of behavior, seeking for more lifelong, a long that is like more ah healthy. So ah the way that we see here, the patients, they are going just when they are when they have some disease, some comorbidities. So i i do I do think that we could ah we should pursue a road

Guilherme Weigert: that is more ah about longevity, it’s more about how you you have emotional, ah healthy physical health. So I think we are going in this in this vision right now.

Alejandro Cremades: so then So then let’s talk about the tool because i mean we’re talking about the the future, but I want to talk about the past with a lens of reflection. So if I was to put you into a time machine and I bring you back in time to that moment where you were getting going you know with a you know finishing your medicine you know studies and and thinking about a world where you would perhaps launch out a company of your own. And let’s say you had the opportunity of having a chat with that younger self. What would be that one piece of advice that you would give to your younger self and why before starting a business?

Guilherme Weigert: That’s a good question. I think ah the first thing it was come down, ah make more clear decisions.

Guilherme Weigert: ah Things are not going to crash he knew as you think. So come down, plan more, have more strategic thinking because we have done a a lot of mistakes.

Guilherme Weigert: in this journey. we have ah We didn’t have some focus that we should have in the past, so we launched a lot of business units that didn’t go well, and we then we we we should ah be more like calm and plan more before ah going for um new business. So I think i should I would like to give this advice because right now that’s why what i mean I’m learning. And if I want to create a new business model, if I want to create ah create a new product, I’m planning a lot. I’m seeing a lot. I’m not rushing. So that’s I think it’s the the first ah good advice that I would give

Guilherme Weigert: but to myself.

Alejandro Cremades: So here for the people that are listening, that would love to reach out and say hi. What is the best way for them to do so?

Guilherme Weigert: I have a LinkedIn, so ah i can i can I can send in the in the description here. ah And that’s, I think, ah and the best way to reach me.

Alejandro Cremades: Amazing. Well, Guillerme, it has been an absolute honor ah to have you with us on the Dealmaker show today. So thank you so much.

Guilherme Weigert: Thank you, Alejandro. It’s really nice to to share my history with you.

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