Bhubaneswar-based Kanungo Institute of Diabetes Specialties (KIDS) has raised Rs 18 crore (around $3 million) from SIDBI Venture Capital’s Samridhi Fund to expand its presence across Odisha, according to a report by The Economic Times.
"The funding will help us continue to increase market share and innovate to provide affordable healthcare, especially in rural Odisha," the paper quoted doctor Alok Kanungo, who founded KIDS in 2008 along with his wife Mamata Tripathi, as saying. Kanungo, 54, has over 30 years of experience in tackling diabetes.
As part of the deal, Rajesh Kumar from Samridhi Fund will also be joining the board of the healthcare company, which is expecting to clock revenues of Rs 30 crore for the year ending March 2015, compared with Rs 9.4 crore in the year ended March 2014.
Kalozal Consultants acted as a financial advisor to KIDS for the deal.
Besides this, Kanungo has mobilised Rs 7 crore in debt to open 30 district centres across Odisha and doubling the number of beds in the main centre at Bhubaneswar to 200 over the next year, the paper said.
This was the second investment in healthcare sector by the Rs 350 crore Samridhi Fund, set up in association with UK’s Department for International Development. Samridhi Fund had invested Rs 24.6 crore in Glocal Healthcare System Private Limited, which owns and operates hospitals in rural India, in November last year.
The fund focuses on social enterprises in eight states—Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
The fund aims to invest in the MSME sector and provide financial assistance to companies that have projects with a developmental impact.
KIDS is a tertiary hospital that focuses on diabetes management and eyes to use technology to diagnose cases at the district level. It has also plans to expand its reach in Jharkhand and parts of Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
