// STARTUP COMPARISON
Dr. Consulta vs Aplazame
Dr. Consulta failed in 2020 due to Unit Economics. Aplazame failed in 2022 due to Acquisition Gone Wrong. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 Dr. Consulta | 🔥 Aplazame |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Healthtech | Fintech |
| Country | Brazil | Spain |
| Founded | 2011 | 2013 |
| Died | 2020 | 2022 |
| Raised | $75M | €15M |
| Peak | $250M valuation (2019) | Acquired by WiZink 2017 |
| Primary Cause | Unit Economics | Acquisition Gone Wrong |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 Dr. Consulta
Unit Economics
Dr. Consulta opened 70+ clinics across São Paulo offering $20 consultations to underserved Brazilians — a compelling social mission. But physical healthcare clinics require CapEx of $400K+ per location, doctor salaries in a tight labor market, and 18-month payback periods. The company reached 3M consultations by 2019 but each clinic needed $800K annual revenue to break even. Average revenue per clinic was $600K. SoftBank withdrew its planned $200M investment in late 2019 as unit economics failed to improve. Filed for bankruptcy in 2020.
// LESSON
Social mission and unit economics are not the same thing. You can build a genuinely needed healthcare service and still fail if each location requires $800K revenue to break even and only generates $600K. Purpose does not override math.
Social mission and unit economics are not the same thing. You can build a genuinely needed healthcare service and still fail if each location requires $800K revenue to break even and only generates $600K. Purpose does not override math.
🔥 Aplazame
Acquisition Gone Wrong
Aplazame was Spain's early BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) leader, acquired by WiZink Bank in 2017 for an undisclosed sum. Post-acquisition, Aplazame was integrated into WiZink's consumer finance products and its brand gradually disappeared. By 2022, Aplazame as an independent product no longer existed — absorbed into WiZink's broader offering while global BNPL leaders like Klarna and Afterpay dominated the space the company had pioneered.
// LESSON
Being acquired by a traditional bank as a fintech is not an exit — it is a slow disappearance. Banks acquire to neutralize competition, not to scale the product. Aplazame pioneered BNPL in Spain and ended up as a footnote in WiZink's product catalog.
Being acquired by a traditional bank as a fintech is not an exit — it is a slow disappearance. Banks acquire to neutralize competition, not to scale the product. Aplazame pioneered BNPL in Spain and ended up as a footnote in WiZink's product catalog.
// EXPLORE FURTHER