Thiruvananthapuram-based PurpleHealth raises $100k funding from Katabole Technology Venture
Thiruvananthapuram-based on-demand health platform PurpleHealth has raised $100,000 from tech investor Katabole Technology Venture. The fresh funds will help the startup build collaborative healthcare distribution models with a common customer pool, through integrated technology.
Founded in 2014 by Vikram Nair, Prakash Sathyapalan and Mini Balaraman, PurpleHealth is a 360-degree health and wellness platform that delivers a diverse spectrum of solutions, services and products to consumers, corporates, healthcare providers and institutions. The platform allows users to choose the right medical practitioners, schedule appointments, set up video and audio chats with doctors, and helps better manage their health and wellness interactions.
Vikram claims that PurpleHealth works with a unique ‘total health’ approach that focusses on meeting the country’s healthcare challenges with integrated solutions through a 360-degree health platform delivered to individuals, corporate and institution.
PurpleHealth enables healthcare providers with tools and technologies that assist them to better engage with their customers. The platform currently has a network of over 38,000 doctors and 4,000 hospitals, with a range of products and services that spans the entire spectrum of health and wellness needs. PurpleHealth has a team of 15 employees and it generates revenue through SaaS-based model.
Investors say
Balaji Jagannathan, Founder and CEO, Katabole Technology Venture, says,
PurpleHealth recognises the scale of the problems the health space presents, and looks for sustainable solutions that deal with the ecosystem, and involves all stakeholders, small and big - healthcare providers, corporates, other institutions and individual consumers.
Katabole invests in disruptive ideas across education, healthcare, fintech, digital, security, storage, IoT, mobile, social networks and data analytics.
A sneak peek into the market
In 2015, the funding in India’s healthtech space reached $277 million with 57 deals. According to IBEF, the healthcare market in India was worth close to $100 billion as of 2015, and is expected to touch $280 billion by 2020, clocking a CAGR of 22.9 percent. Of the overall market, the healthcare delivery sub-segment accounts for 65 percent.
About 90 percent of the startups evaluated in 2015 were working on preventive healthcare and monitoring solutions, revealed an InnAccel’s report. Hospitals, medical devices, clinical trials, outsourcing, tele-medicine, medical tourism, health insurance and medical equipment collectively form the pillar of healthcare sector.
Tencent-backed Practo is among the leading players in this space, having acquired multiple startups such as Fitho, Genii and Qikwell and entered the online medicine-ordering segment. Accel and IFC-backed Portea is another established player in this sector that acquired a majority stake in PSTakeCare in January this year. The list of dominant players also includes names like MedGenome, Lybrate and Medwell Ventures.
