ElderAid Wellness Pvt. Ltd, a Bengaluru-based enterprise that provides at-home healthcare services and social care support for senior citizens, has raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding from Rugmini Menon, a Hong Kong-based entrepreneur.
The startup will use the funds to bolster its operations in Bengaluru besides strengthening its critical customer management technology, marketing and brand building efforts, ElderAid said in a statement.
The startup was founded by Vandana Nadig Nair and Santosh Abraham in 2015. The company provides a range of at-home healthcare services including caretaker support, emergency assistance and doctor home visits besides social care supports such as accompanying the elder to the hospital and social events, supporting volunteering interests and hobbies, making bill payments and managing properties.
“ElderAid Wellness was founded in response to a growing need within my own extended family. I saw my aunts and uncles in Bangalore with children in other cities and countries, who needed help and support and children who visited as frequently as once a month to tend to their parents. It is our dream to be the ‘proxy child’ and support seniors in fulfilling all their needs and aspirations. Our vision is to help elders live happy, healthy and secure lives,” Nair said.
The startup offers services as different packages such as comfort pack at Rs 1,900 per month, get-well pack at Rs 4,200 per month and premium pack at Rs 7,200 per month. The services include emergency assistance, medical history documentation, weekly telephonic check-in, monthly BP check-up and social-cum-errands visits.
Other related health, concierge and wellness services like accompanied hospital visits, nursing staffing support, bill payments, shopping assistance, at-home tech support, accompanied travel and social visits are offered as add-ons on a pay-as-you-use basis.
“Elder support is an evolving space which will come into its own in the next three-five years. Our current focus is to stabilise and grow operations in Bangalore before we set up in other cities across India,” Abraham said.
According to the firm, the proportion of Indians aged 60 and older will rise from 7.5% in 2010 to 11.1% in 2025. In 2010, India had more than 91.6 million elderly and the number of elderly in India is projected to reach 158.7 million in 2025.
The home healthcare industry is still at a nascent stage but some startups have already raised multiple rounds of funding.
India’s home healthcare industry was worth $2 billion in 2014 and has been growing at 20% annually, according to accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The sector has caught the attention of entrepreneurs and investors alike and is evolving as an organised, technology-led industry with standards and protocols.
In September, home healthcare aggregator HealWell24 raised angel funding from three high-net-worth individuals.
Another home healthcare firm Medwell Ventures Pvt. Ltd, which was founded by former Fortis Healthcare CEO Vishal Bali, raised $21 million (around Rs 136.7 crore) in a Series B funding round led by Mahindra Partners, the private equity arm of Mahindra Group, early this year.
In April this year, healthcare-focussed private equity firm Quadria Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd committed to a milestone-based investment of up to $40 million in Burman family-backed home healthcare provider Health Care At Home India.
One of the prominent ventures in the space is Portea Medical Pvt. Ltd, which is owned by Bengaluru-headquartered Healthvista India Pvt. Ltd. In September 2015, the firm—which is controlled by serial entrepreneurs Krishnan Ganesh and his wife Meena Ganesh—had raised $37.5 million (Rs 247 crore) in its Series B round of funding led by existing investor Accel Partners and International Finance Corporation, among others. Portea is in advanced talks to raise $25 million (Rs 160 crore) in a Series C round from three potential investors.
MyCareLine, Care24, Zoctr and Healers At Home are among the other funded startups in the home healthcare space.
