Healthcare financing platform LetsMD gets $1-mn top-up from Orios Venture Partners

Healthcare-focused fin-tech startup LetsMD has topped up its pre-Series A funding round with an additional $1 million (Rs 7.3 crore) from early-stage investment firm Orios Venture Partners, a company statement said.

The investment is a combination of a primary and secondary transaction, including Rs 4 crore of new equity funding, the statement added. Existing investors SRI Capital and Waterbridge Ventures also participated in the secondary transaction.

“The majority of our individual angel investors have exited as we prepare the company for larger institutional rounds of financing, going forward,” said LetsMD's chief executive officer Nivesh Khandelwal.

In its first round of pre-Series A funding in April this year, the company had raised $1 million led by SRI Capital and ThinKuvate. Existing investor Waterbridge Ventures had also participated in the round.

For its pre-Series A round, the company has raised a total of Rs 13 crore.

The startup will use the capital primarily to expand its operations. Currently present in three cities namely Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, the company plans to set up shop in Pune and Bengaluru by the end of this year. It will also spend on strengthening its tech infrastructure, Khandelwal told TechCircle.

“There will be a demand-supply gap in healthcare financing due to rising out-of-the-pocket expenses and healthcare inflation in the next five to 10 years. The focus has to be on ensuring the last-mile availability of financing at tertiary care facilities. LetsMD aspires to create a viable option for financing the healthcare needs for people of all strata,” Khandelwal said.

He further claimed that the company is growing 30% month-on-month.

Operated by Medbay India Pvt. Ltd, the startup runs an online marketplace which helps patients finance elective surgeries. Customers can opt to convert their surgery bills into equated monthly installments.

In 2016, LetsMD had raised Rs 3.4 crore (around $500,000) in angel funding at a valuation of $3-4 million in a round led by WaterBridge Ventures.

Other investors who also put in money included Calcutta Angels Network (CAN), LetsVenture, People Group founder and CEO Anupam Mittal and Currae Healthtech Fund.

Affordplan, another Delhi-based fin-tech startup that makes healthcare services accessible through planned savings for non-emergency treatments, recently raised fresh capital in its Series B round from its existing as well as new investors, including Lok Capital and Omidyar Network.

Orios Venture Partners

The Mumbai-based early-stage venture capital firm was set up by Rehan Yar Khan in 2013. It raised its maiden fund in August 2014, mopping up about Rs 300 crore.

Its portfolio includes companies such as online drug delivery platform PharmEasy, packaged food startup Yumlane, lingerie e-tailer Pretty Secrets, automobile servicing platform GoMechanic and beauty services app Zooty.

In June, Orios brought on board Anup Jain as a managing partner to beef up its top deck