Wellbeing Healthtech Pvt Ltd, which operates technology-based Ayurveda startup NirogStreet, has raised $2 million (Rs 14.6 crore) in a pre-Series A funding exercise.
The round in Delhi-based NirogStreet has been led by early-stage venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners and Amand Ventures. Japan-based existing investor Spiral Ventures also took part in this round, the company said in a statement.
NirogStreet was set up in 2016 by Ram N Kumar, Aradhna Rai and Shrey Jain. The company says its platform follows a business-to-business-to-consumer model by letting Ayurvedic doctors discuss cases and conduct real-time consultations with patients.
The company says it is focussed on addressing the issue of sub-standard medicines causing trust deficits for doctors practising Ayurveda. It also uses an e-commerce model to enable these doctors to distribute their medicines.
NirogStreet will use the capital raised in this pre-Series A round to enhance its technological infrastructure, expand its reach and offerings to doctors, and digitise its supply chain.
“As a B2B2C technology-enabled and doctor-led platform, we are consistently streamlining the supply chain of Ayurvedic services and medicine, transforming it into a proper healthcare system by engaging and empowering Ayurveda doctors and clinics,” Kumar said.
The startup says it is providing its services to more than 50,000 doctors through its platform. It also has a network of 200 NirogStreet-certified Ayurvedic clinics, which it says it is planning to expand to 5,000 by 2022.
In June 2018, the company raised $300,000 (around Rs 2 crore at the time) in a seed funding round led by Spiral Ventures. Others who took part in the round included angel investors Subho Ray, and Samir Kumar.
Then, in July that year, NirogStreet acquired Brahm Ayurved, a 60,000 member-strong community of ayurvedic doctors.