SUMMARY
The Funding Round Was Led By SRI Capital With Participation From Existing Investors
Delhi-NCR based LetsMD, which offers a platform to discover healthcare financing options, has raised $1 Mn in Pre Series A round of funding led by SRI Capital with participation from existing investors Waterbridge Ventures and Thinkuvate.
The startup plans to use the funding to scale up its pan-India operations.
Commenting on the funding, Nivesh Khandelwal, founder and CEO, LetsMD said, “With private insurance penetration pegged at less than 10% and healthcare inflation growing at more than 15%, financing Out of Pocket (OoP) expenses will be healthcare’s most important challenge in the next decade. LetsMD aims to create a viable option for financing OoP expenses through its low-interest patient financing and health savings account options.”
Founded in 2015 by Khandelwal, LetsMD allows users to discover and compare the costs and offerings of various medical procedures offered by healthcare networks and hospitals. At the same time, the startup also provides facilities for healthcare loans for 10-24 months.
LetsMD leverages technology to originate loans fast and cater to a wide segment of borrowers. According to an official statement, LetsMD has tied-up with more than 200 reputed hospitals and super specialty chains like Fortis Healthcare, Max Healthcare in the Delhi-NCR region so far.
In December 2016, the startup raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Calcutta Angels Network (CAN), LetsVenture, Anupam Mittal of Shaadi.com and Currae Healthtech Fund.
On the investment, Sashi Reddi, SRI Capital, said, “We are delighted to back a seasoned entrepreneur like Nivesh as he builds a leadership position in the medical lending space. Moving people from informal and often predatory lending to low, or even zero, interest options is exactly what Indian consumers need.”
A December 2017 report by The Hindu suggested that out of pocket medical expenses make up about 62% of all healthcare costs in India. “This is extremely high and leads to the impoverishment of patients. In comparison, out of pocket hospital expenses in developed countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. is 20% and in BRICS countries about 20-25%,” as Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Chairman T.S. Vijayan shared in the said report.
Further, as per IBEF, Healthcare has become one of India’s largest sectors both in terms of revenue & employment. The total industry size is expected to touch $280 Bn by 2020.
Other similar Indian startups engaged in saving healthcare costs for the patients are Portea Medical, Medecure, Healthindya, Zywee, Affordplan and more. Many of these players are well funded and are aggressively looking to achieve their product market fit in the Indian healthcare market. With the latest Pre-Series A funding round, will LetsMD be able to achieve its goals, only time could tell.
