Chiratae leads seed funding in healthcare startup WeInnovate Biosolutions

By Joseph Rai

  • 25 Sep 2020
(From left) Weinnovate founders Anupama Engineer, Milind Choudhari and Prasad Bhagat

Venture capital firm Chiratae Ventures has led a seed investment in infection prevention and control startup WeInnovate Biosolutions Pvt. Ltd.

The startup was part of Chiratae's DeepTech Innovators programme, the venture capital firm said in a statement. It did not disclose financial details.

The company will use the funds for product approvals, sales and marketing, it added.

WeInnovate was founded in 2016 by Milind Choudhari, Prasad Bhagat and Anupama Engineer with an aim to ensure zero infections during a hospital stay.

The startup says it has developed antimicrobial solutions that are helping reduce hospital-acquired infections, which account for 2 million cases and 80,000 deaths a year globally, the statement noted.

Sudhir Sethi, founder and chairman, Chiratae Ventures, said the VC firm's goal is to invest in startups working across the broad spectrum of deep technology.

With WeInnovate’s patented technology, the startup has the potential to be a market leader and capture a significant differentiated market share in India and go global, he added.

Chiratae Ventures

Formerly known as IDG Ventures India, Chiratae invests in companies across seed, early- and expansion stages.

Funds operated by it have over $700 million under management. Chiratae is currently raising its fourth fund.

Last month, CDC Group Plc, the UK-based development finance institution, committed $10 million to the fourth fund.

Last year, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) planned to commit $20 million (around Rs 144 crore) in Chiratae's new fund.

The venture capital firm has investments in more than 80 companies in sectors such as health-technology, fin-tech, and consumer media.

Some of its portfolio companies include Bounce, Curefit, FirstCry, Forus, Lenskart, Manthan and Flipkart.

Just last month, VCCircle reported that Chiratae led seed funding for a bioprocess startup.

In June, Chiratae invested in bionics company Aether Biomedical.

In April, VCCircle reported that Chiratae had invested in a travel-technology startup. Other companies that the firm has bet on in the space include Yatra and Tripoto.