Ayu Health, a chain of hospitals started by founders of Sequoia-backed Zefo, has raised $6.3 million (about Rs 46 crore) in a Series A financing round from Vertex Ventures, Stellaris Venture Partners and others.
The round also saw angel investors including Varun Alagh of Mamaearth, Ashish Gupta of Helion, and Rajat Goel of EyeQ Hospitals.
Stellaris had invested in Ayu Health in 2019.
The startup was founded in 2019 by Arjit Gupta and Himesh Joshi, both of whom also founded used-goods marketplace Zefo along with others, which was acquired by Quikr in 2019.
Zefo, which was founded in 2015, had raised close to $20 million from investors such as Sequoia Capital, Helion Ventures and Beenext.
Ayu Health's hospitals are in Chandigarh and Bengaluru. The company claims that its proprietary technology allows hospitals to serve patients at lower costs.
The investment in Ayu Health shows sustained investor interest in the sector that has received tailwinds from the coronavirus pandemic.
Listed firms in the healthcare sector have traded at premium valuations of more than 50% during the quarter ended June 2021, according to a report by Duff & Phelps.
In July, Tata Capital Healthcare Fund II invested in a diagnostics firm.
Dealmaking in healthcare across private equity, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions touched a peak amid the pandemic during the first half of 2021 both in terms of volume and value.
Interestingly, not only did dealmaking peak in value terms at $4.7 billion but also more than doubled from the average of the last four six-monthly periods.
Investors
Vertex Ventures’ investments in India include Delightful Gourmet Pvt Ltd, which operates meat and fish ordering platform Licious; Kapiva Ayurveda, a five-year food brand that specialises in ayurvedic products; OnEMI Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd, which runs digital lending startup Kissht; and Hansel Software Pvt Ltd, which operates real-time mobile app management platform Hansel.io.
Stellaris was started by Alok Goyal, Ritesh Banglani, and Rahul Chowdhri after they quit Helion Venture Partners in 2015.
Its portfolio includes logistics-tech startup Loadshare, social commerce startup Shop101, fast-moving consumer goods brand Mamaearth, marketing intelligence startup Slintel, last-mile ride-sharing service Loca Rides, and education financing platform Propelled.