Bengaluru-based dental care startup Dezy has secured additional capital from its existing investors to expand its network of clinics in the city even as it plans to raise a larger round of funding.
The startup, which earlier went by the name of Smiles.ai, said Tuesday it has raised $6 million (Rs 50 crore) in funding from Alpha Wave, Chiratae Ventures and Peak XV Partners’ early-stage investment platform Surge. This is part of the company’s plan to raise about $8-10 million, it said.
A person familiar with the company’s plan said Dezy intends to raise a “larger” Series B in the next 12-18 months and expand operations in other major cities.
The fundraise comes more than two and a half years after Dezy mopped up $23 million in a Series A round of funding led by Alpha Wave in January 2022.
Hitesh Kakrani, co-founder and CEO at Dezy, said the company will use the fresh capital mainly to expand its clinic network, with a key focus on Bangalore and Hyderabad.
He claimed that Dezy's clinic model has achieved three times the average clinic revenue while maintaining strong profitability across most of its company-operated locations.
The company is looking to operate more than 2,000 dental chairs by 2028, with a revenue target of more than Rs 1,200 crore across major cities in India.
Hitesh Kakrani founded the company in 2019 along with his brother Jatin Kakrani, who is a dentist by profession. Hitesh earned a management degree from IIM Lucknow and worked with the consumer goods giant P&G for three years.
The brothers were soon joined by Prasantha Vadan and Sourav Sarkar, who are part of the founding team at Dezy and have worked across growth and technology domains.
