Delhi-based Affordplan, a savings led platform for medical expenses has raised $3 Mn (INR 20 Cr) as part of its Series A funding, led by Prime Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital as a co-investor. The startup plans to use these funds to expand the current team, build the network, and scale the business to new cities across India.
Founded by Tejbir Singh and Hemal Bhatt in December 2015, Affordplan has been piloting the service since May 2016. It is focussed on making healthcare accessible and affordable through planned savings for non-emergency medical services. What it does is allowing consumers to decide how much to save on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis – as per their chosen plan and then make regular payments at their convenience. They can do so via online payments, by depositing money at the hospitals during their visits, or by availing pickup services directly from their home. Consumers also receive discounts on medical bills and diagnostic services when they use Affordplan services bringing the overall treatment costs down by as much as 15%-20%.
The solution is ideal for non-emergency procedures which can be planned for in advance such as pregnancy, eye care, dental, plastic surgeries, orthopaedic, bariatric, and more. Thus, it provides the hospitals with the visibility of future cash flows, enabling them to deliver the prescribed treatment without any interruptions. Additionally, it also decreases incidences of refusing treatments to patients because of cash issues.
Tejbir Singh, CEO and co-founder, stated, “It is a very exciting time for us at Affordplan. We deeply believe in the need for widespread health care access and affordability in India. In less than a year, we have been fortunate to partner with Prime Ventures and Kalaari Capital – two top-tier investors with deep fintech and operational expertise. We have built a unique solution and are seeing excellent traction from hospitals and patients alike.”
With the funding in place, the startup now plans to launch a mobile app that has a hospital interface as well as a patient interface. Over the past year, the savings led platform for medical expenses has on-boarded several hospitals with several hundred patients. It is currently operational in the Delhi/NCR region with plans to expand to three other cities over the next 12 months. As of now, the number of hospitals it is partnering with or the number of customers on board was not disclosed. It will monetise by charging the hospitals for the technology platform, the product, the collection services offered, and patient life cycle management.
Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner, Prime Venture Partners stated, “Application of fintech in order to make healthcare more accessible and affordable is the need of the hour in India. Backed by an excellent founding team, we are excited about the possibilities which Affordplan will open for millions of Indians.”
Reports by IRDAI indicate that less than 20% of Indians have health insurance cover. Thus, millions of Indians struggle to get quality medical care, with liquidity constraints preventing a number of patients from paying a lump sum amount at the time of hospital admission. With limited solutions outside cash, patients end up paying out of their pockets for healthcare expenses, one of the highest in the world. It is this drain which Affordplan is aiming to target with its solutions.
Prior to this round, Affordplan had raised $500K (INR 3 Cr) when it was selected as part of Kalaari Capital’s accelerator program Kstart in May 2016. Meanwhile, Prime Venture Partners’ portfolio includes exciting startups such as KredX, Maya, MoneyTap, NiYO, Ezetap, SmartOwner, Synup, HackerEarth, happay, Nimble Wireless, Vidgyor and ZipDial (acquired by Twitter).
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