Digital Diagnostic Startup 5C Network Receives Investment From Tata 1mg, Others

Gurugram-based healthtech startup, Tata 1mg has invested an undisclosed sum in Bengaluru-based digital diagnostic startup 5C Network.

The round saw participation from other investors including Vikram Vuppala (founder, and CEO at Nephroplus), Om Manchanda (managing director at Lal Pathlabs), Viren Prasad Shetty, (COO of Narayana Health), among others, as per Mint. 

“Building India’s digital diagnostic infrastructure, 5C Network has found the perfect partner in 1mg to make this vision a reality. Through our proprietary AI-powered reporting platform, 5C has the ability to report even complex radiology cases in less than 60 minutes and have helped deliver over 3.5 Mn diagnoses to patients in 27 states,” said Kalyan Sivasailam, CEO, and cofounder, 5C Network told Mint.

Initiated in 2016 by Sivasailam and Syed Ahmed, 5C Network offers radiology services across India. The digital platform has a panel of radiology experts that interpret radiology images, in turn, aiding hospitals and diagnostic centers in increasing their return of investment (ROI) on their machineries.  

5C Network allows hospitals and diagnostic centres to upload a patient’s reports to the cloud-based platform where automated data extraction and analysis is done by its proprietary ML algorithm.

The startup raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding round in 2019 from Unitus Ventures, Axilor, and Ahmedabad CIIE to expand its service across cities and integrate more innovative solutions into the platform.

Coming back to the present investment round, Prashant Tandon, cofounder, and CEO of 1mg, told Mint that the vision of 1mg strongly resonates with 5C Network which is to improve healthcare outcomes using technology.

Founded in 2011 by Tandon, Gaurav Agarwal and Vikas Chauhan, Tata 1mg is a healthcare digital platform that provides healthcare services such as epharmacy and econsultation, among others to the general masses. 

Earlier in 2020, Tata-backed startup raised a Pre-Series A funding round of $1.2 Mn from Unitus Ventures and Axilor Ventures. In June 2021, Tata Digital, a 100% subsidiary of Tata Group, acquired a majority stake in 1mg.

Another healthtech startup Curelink bagged $3.5 Mn in seed funding round led by Venture Highway and Elevation Capital in March this year. The round also saw participation from Digital Sparrow Capital and angel investors including Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm), Ankush Sachdeva and Farid Ahsan (Sharechat), Gaurav Agarwal, Prashant Tandon (Tata 1mg), Rajat K Dhawan (McKinsey), Rohit MA (Cloudnine), Ritesh Malik (Innov8) and Harsh Mahajan (Mahajan Imaging), among others.

Curelink would deploy money for geographical expansion and diversification of services across different medical specialisations such as dermatology, pediatrics and psychiatry. 

Women-focused healthtech startup Proactive For Her grabbed $5.5 Mn in Series A funding round led by Vertex Ventures South East Asia and India in February 2022. The round also saw participation from existing investor Nexus Venture Partners. The startup deployed money to expand digital product offerings, grow its online customer base, and launch a flagship clinic in Bengaluru.