Hospals Bags $3.5 Mn To Expand Cross-Border Medical Care Network

Cross-border health benefits and travel startup Hospals has raised $3.5 Mn in a Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures, 9Unicorns and Singapore-based Wavemaker among others. 

Angel investors including Kunal Shah and Sanjeev Mishra also participated in the round along with existing investor Venture Catalysts. The startup will deploy the funds towards expanding geographically in line with its aim to reach 1.5 Mn subscribers and patients and realise a GMV of $900 Mn.

Founded in 2018 by Danish Ahmed, Hospals offers medical services to patients with its international network of doctors, medical care practitioners and hospitals. Using its health benefits membership, subscribers from Africa and Asia get unlimited teleconsults and free surgical treatments worth up to $15k.

It claims to have served over 22,000 patients from 38 countries, helping them access medical advice, teleconsults and surgical treatments through its network of hundreds of hospitals. 

“Healthcare expenses which include treatment costs and travelling expenditure can be daunting for a family. Having a guided advisory from companies like Hospals can ease the stress as their model connects you with the best doctors and surgeons in their respective disciplines. They also provide translation & residential assistance close to the hospitals,” said Vinay Bansal, founder and CEO of Inflection Point Ventures.

In terms of value, the global medical tourism market was estimated to be worth $104.68 Bn in 2019 and was projected to reach $273.72 Bn in 2027, growing at a CAGR of 12.8% during the period. 

In volume, the market accounted for more than 23 Mn patients in 2019 and was projected to reach 70.3 Mn patients in 2027, registering a CAGR of 15% from 2019 to 2027. However, travel restrictions due to the pandemic are expected to dull those numbers significantly before the market picks up again.

“India is one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for medical tourism on the back of affordability and accessibility of high-quality healthcare treatments. Hospals has reinvented itself to cater to the rising demand from this sector by facilitating end to end services including providing medical loans to the patients,” said Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, cofounder of 9Unicorns and Venture Catalysts.

This week we saw dental care startup Smiles.ai to raise $23 Mn (INR 171 Cr) in a Series A funding round led by Alpha Wave Incubation. Another dental tech startup Toothsi had raised $9 Mn (INR 66.6 Cr) too in a debt funding round led by Stride Ventures.