Rivaara Labs Pvt. Ltd, a development-focused molecular diagnostics company, on Monday announced raising Rs 60 crore ($7.3 million) in its first institutional round, a person aware of the development told VCCircle requesting anonymity.
The Rs 60 crore funding was led by Amicus Capital and Kotak Investment Advisors Limited (KIAL). Rivaara’s founder Bharat Daftary also invested in the round.
The company plans to use the proceeds to accelerate development and commercialization of proprietary test kits, upgrade the manufacturing facilities, expand its lab network and scale up the scientific sales force as well as technical talent across the country.
Rivaara is a vertically integrated molecular diagnostic company founded in 2019 by Daftary, who is also the erstwhile promoter of Bharat Serums & Vaccines Limited.
Rivaara has developed PCR (polymerase chain reaction)-based test kits in collaboration with European research labs. The research company claims that the tests are specifically developed for detecting pathogens prevalent in India and therefore will lead to early and effective treatments to save lives.
Dhiraj Rajendran, executive director, Kotak Investment Advisors, noted that advances in molecular diagnostics over the last few years have opened up possibilities for faster and more accurate ways to detect pathogens at affordable price points. “Adoption of some of these advances such as RT-PCR tests was witnessed during the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The tests will also reduce the misuse of antibiotics which has led to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant strains, the company said in a release. It will provide tests for areas such as respiratory diseases, sepsis, TB (tuberculosis), anti-microbial resistance, etc., and will initially be made available via its own molecular diagnostic lab network.
“The vision for Rivaara is to positively impact patient care by addressing gaps in widespread adoption of molecular diagnostics through a scientific sales force to create the right awareness, presence of local labs for faster processing of samples and international quality kits at affordable prices. Amicus and Kotak have an in-depth understanding of the healthcare sector and are aligned with our vision,” said Daftary.
The Mumbai-headquartered company plans to expand its network from the existing 12 labs to around 60 labs across India in a bid to lessen the turnaround time for its patients. It also aims to provide the kits to other diagnostics players, with aspirations to tap international markets.
