Specialised diagnostics company Lilac Insights Pvt. Ltd on Friday said it has received fresh funding of Rs 50 crore ($6.88 million) for expansion.
The capital was raised from Rajiv Dadlani, processed food products exporter Allana Group, early-stage venture firm Rockstud Capital, and others, said Lilac Insights in a statement.
The funding round also saw participation from prominent venture capital investors, it added without disclosing their identities.
Existing investor IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd also pooled in capital. It had invested Rs 17.5 crore in 2017, according to VCCEdge.
Lilac Insights will use the funds to enhance its lab at Navi Mumbai and expand genomic facilities. It will also use the capital to build new regional and satellite labs.
VCCircle had reported last year that the company was looking to raise additional capital for expansion.
Lilac Insights was founded in 2011 by Subhamoy Dastidar, Rakesh Sharma and Gulshan Bakhtiani. The company offers diagnostics services for prenatal, newborn and cancer. It also offers genetics counselling.
Prior to starting the company, Dastidar and Sharma were with biotech company PerkinElmer. Dastidar was earlier associated with companies such as Allergan and Wockhardt while Sharma worked with GlaxoSmithKline. Bakhtiani has had entrepreneurship stints.
Mumbai-based Lilac Insights began by offering diagnostics services in biochemical genetics and cytogenetics. It introduced molecular genetics in 2015. The following year it added genetic testing for cancer. It raised PE funding in 2017 to boost its oncology vertical, among other things.
Lilac Insights’s revenue jumped 47% to Rs 32.1 crore for the year through March 2019 from Rs 21.2 crore the year before, according to VCCEdge and regulatory filings. It turned a profit at the operating level in 2018-19.
Dastidar had told VCCircle that Lilac Insights’ revenue increased to Rs 40 crore in the year ended March 2020.
The genomics and high-end diagnostics segment is at a nascent stage in India, but has been attracting private investments for a while.
The most heavily funded player in the segment is MedGenome Labs Pvt. Ltd. In April last year, the company raised $55 million in a fresh funding round led by LeapFrog Investments.
Other players include iGenetic Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd, which is backed by Manipal Education and Medical Group as well as UK-based development finance institution CDC Group Plc; Core Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd, which is backed by Artiman Venture and Eight Roads; and Quadria Capital-backed Strand Life Sciences.
