Mumbai-based, content platform for chronic health issues Sepalika.com announced a $750K Seed round of funding from Accel Partners.
The platform was launched in March 2016 by Sharda Agarwal and Mahesh Jayaraman (an acupuncture specialist) as a portal to help patients dealing with chronic lifestyle-related illnesses and dependence on drugs. Their mission is to help people counter their illnesses through lifestyle changes and dietary supplements and, ultimately, cut down drug intake.
Commenting on the investment, Barath Shankar Subramanian, Principal, Accel stated, “Sepalika is delivering on its mission to transform lives with its unique business model. The research-backed content platform aims to bring down the dependence on drugs and partner patients, caregivers, or experts in functional medicine to reverse chronic illnesses. With people increasingly becoming health-conscious and resorting to natural methods to cure their illnesses, the resources at Sepalika such as the use of researched dietary supplements, exercise and stress management have a very important role to play in the effort to stay in good health.”
Sepalika takes a novel approach to treating chronic illnesses – the website partners with people looking to reverse chronic health conditions through guidance on lifestyle, dietary supplements, and exercise. The platform also looks to help those dealing with prescription drug abuse. The website gives guidance and counselling in the form of articles, question and answer sessions with experts as well as a search box to identify and select the necessary health supplements required to make a beneficial health change.
With a focus on users in India and the US, Sepalika provides information and guidance on 11 chronic illnesses – Type 2 diabetes, cardiac diseases, hypertension, arthritis, mental health and depression, Alzheimer’s, and other dementias, osteoporosis, respiratory illnesses, hypothyroidism, acid reflux, and insomnia.
Sharda Agarwal, co-founder added, “At Sepalika, we’re committed to helping patients alleviate their suffering through simple diet and lifestyle changes, optimal use of dietary supplements and by addressing the side effects their medicines may cause over the long term. Our mission is to transform the lives of people by covering a gamut of disorders and addressing each of them with a 360-degree approach.”
The latest round of capital raised aims to further boost the platform offerings and strengthen core proposition, according to an official statement.
As per Inc42 DataLabs, 183 healthcare startups have been funded in the period of 2014-2016 (till October 2016), with the sector seeing an infusion of around $600 Mn investment. And, as per the 2016 Healthtech funding report, Accel Partners is a major investor in the healthtech space with nine deals being struck in the timeline.
The latest healthcare investment happened in April 2017, with Credihealth bagging $1.5 Mn in Pre-Series A funding round from Mountain Pine Capital and Tolaram Inc. and a few angel investors. Other healthtech startups that have attracted investor attention in the past few quarters are Oxa Medical, SigTuple, Healthians, AlternaCare, CureFit, Celes Care and more.
