Acumen and Hindustan Latex to provide country with micro-hospitals

In a joint venture, Acumen Fund and Hindustan Latex will begin the development of hospitals with 25-30 bed capacities throughout India to help address the dearth of low income maternal and child healthcare services.

To be labeled LifeSpring Hospitals, the venture will build upon the success of the phase I hospitals established since 2005 that have yet to experience a single mortality. According to VC Circle, he new funding will help the organization scale up to 140 similar centers by 2012.

Acumen’s initial $2 million equity investment in the new company, a 50/50 equity partnership between Acumen and HLL, will support LifeSpring’s plan to open five hospitals in 2008 and thirty across India by the end of 2010. LifeSpring charges between 30-50 per cent of the prevailing market rates. With 80 per cent of all health care expenditures in India out-of-pocket, LifeSpring aims to significantly lessen the burden of rising health costs to low-income communities.

While numerically the effects of such a venture may not seem substantial in relation to the need, if successful it will demonstrate a scalable and viable funding model for future services.