IAN, Axilor, Munjal Group Invest In Healthtech Startup PlusPin

Hyderabad-based healthtech startup PlusPin has raised INR 5.25 Cr ($733.68K) in a fresh funding round led by Indian Angel Network (IAN). Sanjay Jesrani, Dr Vinay Tulla, Dr Kiran Peddi, and Rajan Anandan, among others IAN angels participated in the funding round.

PlusPin’s existing angels including Ambicare Clinics, participated as co-investors. Munjal Group, Axilor Ventures, among others also joined in as the new investors.

Santosh Kumar Panda, the cofounder of PlusPin, said that the funds will be used to scale to key target cities, strengthen its technology infrastructure, and augmenting customer engagement and experience.

The company also said that healthcare and wellness players of all sizes will be able to access PlusPin’s OTT platform and leverage its extensive network to pilot, launch and promote their products or services within a stipulated budget, driving greater ROIs and social impact.

Sanjay Jesrani, lead investor, Indian Angel Network said, “We believe that the segment PlusPin is targeting – is built on trust and relationships, and by providing quality services and products to the loyal clients of the standalone pharmacy owners – PlusPin is delivering a valuable service to valuable customer base, which is expanding its spend on the platform.”

PlusPin’s tech-enabled platform leverages the power of machine learning and analytics to drive better engagement and outcome based on data-mined insights. The company claims that it is being accessed by over 200 pharmacies in Hyderabad, more than 18,000 end-consumers, over 30 brands covering hospitals, fitness centres, diagnostic centres, wellness products etc, and over 70 healthcare providers.

The company is also looking to expand its service portfolio, which includes building an IoT-enabled GTM solution, developments in machine learning-powered image analytics, etc.

Founded in 2017 by Gopal Krishna Panigrahy and Panda, PlusPin is a healthtech platform which converts standalone pharmacies in micro-localities into a one-stop destination for basic healthcare needs. Following a B2B2C business model, PlusPin claims to enable pharmacy owners to offer a greater range of reliable, niche, and personalised healthcare services to customers, including diagnostics, healthcare-at-home, etc.

According to DataLabs by Inc42 estimates, the total market size of the healthcare industry in India is projected to be $202 Bn this year. This is a growth of 84% from the $110 Bn market size in the year 2016. The healthtech sector has gained significant investor interest as well. According to DataLabs, healthtech startups have raised $1.9 Bn across 405 deals between 2014-H1 2019.