Gunit Chadha, former Asia Pacific chief of Deutsche Bank, is in talks with private equity firm Multiples Alternate Asset Management Pvt. Ltd to raise funds for his non-banking financial services company, according to financial daily Mint.
APAC Financial, which Chadha launched after leaving the German bank, plans to raise Rs 300 crore, the daily said citing two people in the know who wished to remain anonymous.
The NBFC had received the final regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for its launch in March 2018. Its housing finance business, APAC Housing Finance, has also got a certificate of registration from housing regulator National Housing Bank, the Mint report stated.
The Renuka Ramnath-led PE firm had early this year begun raising money for its third fund alongside a sizeable side-car or co-investment fund that would double the size of its assets under management.
The PE firm’s investment in the financial services space from its previous two funds include private sector lenders RBL Bank, South Indian Bank, NBFC Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd and housing finance firm Vastu Housing Finance Corp.
Reliance's health-tech investment
In another development, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has invested Rs 10 crore in a digital healthcare technology platform KareXpert Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a report in Mint stated citing two persons aware of the development.
The investment was made through its unit Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Ltd (RIIHL), the report added.
KareXpert Technologies was founded in 2014 by Nidhi Jain, a graduate of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, according to her LinkedIn profile. Its design patented ‘Advanced Health Cloud Technology Stack’ helps connect patients with care providers. The company made its soft launch in April 2017 in Gurgaon by signing up few hospitals, clinics, residential high rise communities, and enterprise organisations.
Digital healthcare startups have attracted significant funding from investors in the past years.
Practo Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs a doctor-appointment site and offers an ad platform to clinics, hospitals and diagnostic centres, is the most highly funded startup in the sector. In January last year, it raised $55 million in Series D funding led by existing investor China’s Tencent.