Kites Senior Care, a geriatric care service provider, on Thursday said it has raised $2 million (around Rs 17 crore) in a pre-series A round from Ranjan Pai, chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG).
The company will use the fresh capital to scale its operations in Bengaluru and expand into cities such as Hyderabad and Chennai.
It also aims to launch an integrated technology platform that connects the entire senior care ecosystem in its health management and well-being.
“I have been closely observing the trends in the emerging elder care space both globally and specifically in India. I believe the elder care space is at the same cusp, what private hospitals were in early 1980,” said Pai.
Kites, which is run by Lifebridge Senior Care P Ltd, operates and manages two care facilities with 70 beds in Bengaluru. It also focuses on ‘Out of Hospital’ care services, covering both pre and post hospitalisation rehab care, palliative care and dementia care. It was launched in February 2016.
“The Investment from Dr Pai’s family office is a very strong endorsement of our journey,” said Rajagopal G, co-founder and chief executive of Kites.
“What excites us more is the fact that we will be able to leverage the deep insight and experience of Dr Pai & his team and create a formidable enterprise in this still nascent and emerging healthcare space, intertwined with technology backbone,” he added.
The latest round comes almost seven years after the company raised its seed round in 2016. It had raised $200,000 from medical professional-turned-healthcare strategist AS Arvind and two others investors.
It claims to have provided care to over 4,500 seniors and elders in Bengaluru. It also partners with few retirement homes and assisted living facilities in providing medical care for their senior residents.
KITES has signed-up a large 80 bedded rehab unit in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, which is expected to go-live in February 2023. It has also entered into a managed contract model with an industrial house in Chennai, which would go live this quarter. The tech platform will be launched in the market place by February.
