Originally published by Mobi Health News on February 22, 2022
Indian virtual care company MediBuddy announced a $125 million Series C funding round led by Quadria Capital and Lightrock India.
Founded in 2013, this brings the Bangalore, India-based company's total raise to just over $191.1 million, according to Crunchbase.
Bessemer Venture Partners, India Life Sciences Fund III, Rebright Partners, JAFCO Asia, TEAMFund LP, FinSight Ventures, InnoVen Capital, Stride Ventures, and Alteria Capital also participated in the funding round.
WHAT THEY DO
The tech-first health company offers a number of services including round the clock access to telehealth visits with doctors and specialists. Its members can use the service for at-home lab tests. During the COVID-19 pandemic the service expanded to include pick up of at-home RT-PCR tests, as well as providing COVID-19 vaccinations. The service also opened up a COVID-19 help line and added a function that can track the number of beds for COVID-19 patients.
The company runs on a membership model and is currently working with over 700 employers across India. Its subscription, MediBuddy Gold, covers the primary membership holder and their families.
WHAT IT'S FOR
The company plans to use the new funds to build out its platform, specifically its data science capabilities and clinical research. This infusion of cash will also help the company to hire more staff and continue its product development.
"From the inception of MediBuddy, we have envisioned making high-quality healthcare easily accessible to a billion people in the country," Satish Kannan, Co-founder, and CEO, MediBuddy, said in a statement. "Digitisation of the healthcare industry has helped people living even in the most remote parts of the country avail timely medical care by professionals. With the latest round of funding, we will capitalize on strengthening our network of healthcare service providers and our team while launching new services on the platform."
THE LARGER TREND
Like many parts of the world, telehealth has increased in popularity in India since the pandemic. According to Statista, willingness to use telemedicine in India increased across all age groups from pre-COVID-19 to post-COVID-19.
Several telehealth-focused companies are working in the region. AkosMD Healthcare launched its smart, automated retail clinic in India over the summer. Additionally, in 2021 Lytus Technologies launched a telemedicine business in India.
New York-based provider Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center launched a branch in India and announced its plans to offer remote video and written consultations to cancer patients.