Yessica Klein
8 min read
09 November 2025
As a medical doctor, researcher and entrepreneur, Matilda Lundblad has spent her career rethinking how healthcare is delivered. Based in Gothenburg, where she lives with her family, Matilda is a sports medicine specialist with a PhD, a history of working across Europe and a clear focus: creating healthcare that starts from the patient’s perspective. In 2016, she founded a digital care platform offering chat-based, vertically tailored health services. By 2022, it was acquired by Doktor.se, where she now leads the digital business.
What first drew you to entrepreneurship after a career in medicine and research?
I’ve always had that interest. I used to buy small stocks when I had no money, just to learn. I was also constantly starting things as a doctor in the public healthcare system. One day, someone told me, “You’ve built seven companies inside the region, but what happens if you leave?” That made me realize I wanted to build something sustainable, something that would last even if I stepped away.
How did your first company begin?
In 2016, there weren’t really any digital healthcare providers in Sweden. I started with something very slim: urinary tract infections for women. We built a narrow, very accessible service and just validated the idea. Then we added other verticals like menstrual issues, Lyme disease and acne. Patients loved it. Doctors liked working on the platform. That feedback loop told us we were onto something.
What was it like to bootstrap a healthcare company?
We had no money for marketing, so I started recording short videos of myself explaining common health issues and how our platform worked. I just called up women’s magazines and offered to speak as a doctor. The media coverage came from that. We grew organically. Even when we were offered investment, we said no from 2016 to 2022. We wanted to stay in control, keep the team engaged and build something that served the patients, not just the business.
How did the company eventually scale up?
We reinvested everything. Every patient interaction gave us new insights. We’d adjust, test and track outcomes. That learning loop never stopped. Today we handle over 35,000 doctor consultations per month. We kept the team small and focused on doctors and developers: the core of our work. We also tried to minimize management structures. I wanted the doctors to feel heard. If they suggested a feature and it made sense, we’d implement it the next day. That kind of responsiveness really matters.
What led to the decision to sell?
We didn’t go looking for buyers, but once we began partnering with regional healthcare providers, many of them said, “If we sign this contract, we won’t be able to afford to buy you later.” So they asked to include an acquisition in the deal. We had a great product and were scaling well, so we negotiated on our terms. We chose Doktor.se because we believed we could keep building and improving their existing services too.
“If you stop learning, adjusting and iterating, the company flatlines. A good product comes from staying in the feedback loop.”
What were the biggest lessons from that process?
Don’t underestimate how draining a due diligence process can be. It’s heavy. We split the work among the three cofounders: one led the documents and legal, one negotiated the main agreement, and I kept running the business. That was intentional. Often, the buyer overloads the smaller company, hoping they'll give in and accept anything, but we knew our value. We kept scaling through the entire process.
You mentioned your company was user-focused from the start. What did that mean in practice?
Healthcare is usually built around the needs of staff and institutions. I wanted to start with the patient. What’s the easiest, fastest and least intimidating way for them to get care? That was the core question. And the digital format helps. For example, a young person with acne might avoid going to the doctor entirely, but they’ll send a photo. That lowers the barrier. I’m proud we’ve helped bring the power back to patients.
And now, even post-exit, you’re still working in digital care?
Yes, I’m CEO of the digital business at Doktor.se. I try to run everything like a set of scaleups – not one big system where everyone shares responsibility and no one is truly responsible. Each service runs with ownership and speed. We’re now moving into more complex areas like digital obesity clinics and chronic-disease management. The healthcare system can’t keep up with demand. We need to provide more care with fewer people, and we can do that if we stay focused and efficient.
What’s your advice to new founders in the space?
Don’t try to serve everyone. Find a very specific target group and build for them. Learn from that, then grow into new verticals. If your service is “for everyone,” you’ll never know how to speak to your audience.
What keeps you in Gothenburg?
I’ve lived abroad for eight years, spending time in France where I played basketball, as well as in England and Norway. Now our headquarters are in Stockholm, so I work between Stockholm and Gothenburg. We also launched a digital caregiver service in Finland and recently acquired a company in Oslo. But I wanted to move back to Gothenburg when I started a family, and I now have three kids. That’s probably the main reason for being here. I’m working as the CEO of a company that operates across Europe, so in my career I haven’t really stayed in Gothenburg – but my home is here.
“When the doctors see their feedback implemented the next day, they want to stay. That’s how you build a product people are proud of.”