How Keva Ayurveda increased its revenue from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 crore in 4 years

Ayurvedic treatment and services are gaining ground driven by factors like no side effects, reliability and affordability. Riding high on the natural methods of therapy for various ailments, Bengaluru-based Keva Ayurveda increased its turnover from Rs 4 lakh in 2012 to Rs 6 crores in 2016.

Founded in 2011 by Dr Krishna Kumar, Keva Ayurveda has been offering holistic healthcare services that include authentic consultation, treatments, medicines and yoga.

Our vision is to create awareness on Ayurveda and its benefits by providing expert and professional Ayurveda treatments at a reasonable cost,” says Krishna (32)

Started in 2014, Keva Ayurveda’s e-store offers multiple range of products including skin care, hair care, nail care, lip care, immunity boosters and organic products. For outsourcing of the products, Keva Ayurveda has tied up with 24 Mantra Organic and Organic Mandya.

The number of orders has gone up to around 30 to 40 orders per day (growing at a rate of 10-20 percent per month), with a cliental base of more than 30,000. The average ticket size is Rs 1,500 per order and all payments get processed through PayUBiz.

Story behind

After completing his education from JSS Ayurveda Medical College, Mysore-based Krishna joined Kerala Ayurveda Limited, a public limited company, which became his inspiration for starting Keva Ayurveda. He has 11 years of experience in  the field of panchakarma, arthritis management, obesity management, infertility management, psoriasis management.

Finalising on the standard operating procedure, products range and financing of Keva Ayurveda took almost two years. However, with the seed fund of Rs 70 lakh that they received from an angle investor in 2011, they were able to start a 1,200sqft clinic in Bengaluru. Keva Ayurveda now boasts of having a 27,000sqft clinic. Krishna says, “We did two months of survey to know more about the competition in the market and what is lacking in existing Ayurveda clinics/hospitals/ wellness centres.”

It now has branches in HSR layout, Indiranagar, Marathahalli and New Thippasandra. Keva Ayurveda expanded its presence to Mumbai, Delhi and Tamil Nadu this year. By March 2017, it plans to enter in Perth, Australia, through franchise model.

Keva Ayurveda today has a team of 60 people, and among them 10 are doctors. “Dr Deepika Chandrshekar, Dr Tanmaya Acharya, Sudhir Gawandalkar are considered to be the backbone of this business and they have certainly carved a niche for themselves through Keva Ayurveda,” avers Krishna.

Vying on natural methods of therapy

Keva Ayurveda focuses on effective Ayurveda treatments in various areas like weight management, spine and joint care, skin and hair care, insomnia and stress, panchakarma/detoxification and rejuvenation of the body.

Krishna is of the view that affordability and fast recovery are something which patients expect from Keva Clinics. From arthritis to infertility management, Keva Ayurveda has served over 15,000 patients in the past five years across India. It also offers consultations for IAS officials, celebrities and corporates.

The social media affair is taken care of by a separate team who updates clients with health posts, home remedies, health tips and articles on a regular basis. Patients from overseas and outside Bengaluru can also avail the free consultation through email, telephone and skype.

Keva Ayurveda even caters to old-age homes, orphanages, schools and temples in Bengaluru through its charitable trust, which offers medical camps and free medicine distribution.

Revenue generation and expansion plans

Keva Ayurveda generates revenue from clinics through Ayurveda treatments, medicine sales, organic store, franchisee fee and royalty from franchisees. Krishna says, “For first three years, the year-on-year growth was 40 percent but from fourth year onwards it was almost double.”

He adds that Keva Ayurveda’s treatment cost is 30 percent less than competitors. The approximate cost (including medicines) for 15 days is Rs 1,000 and it goes up to 20,000 to 30,000 depending on the chronicity of the disease / ailment.

In the next fiscal year, Keva Ayurveda is targeting to hit Rs 8 crore and is planning to set up wellness resort (catering to Ayurveda, yoga and organic diet), organic stores and Ayurveda Academy for doctors and therapists/yoga institute.

The mobile app of Keva Ayurveda (which is yet to be launched) will help customers book appointments for consultation, treatment, order medicines, read health articles, blogs and home remedies.

We are planning to take over some of the Ayurveda centres which are not functioning well and re-launch it under the brand name of Keva Ayurveda,” says Krishna.

Though considered as traditional healthcare system, Ayurveda medicines and treatment go hand-in-hand with the modern allopathic treatment. Major players like Dabur, Baidyanath, Zandu, Himalaya Drug Company, Charak Pharmaceuticals, Vicco Laboratories and Emami group have already thrived with its dominant market share in the Indian Ayurveda industry.

One of the prominent frontrunners in the industry is Patanjali Ayurved. Started in 2006, Patanjali with its wide range of products already hit Rs 5,000 crore and aims to touch Rs 7,000 crore by FY 2016-17.

According to Exim Bank Report, the Indian herbal industry is estimated to be around Rs 4,205 crore with export of Ayurvedic medicines and herbal products worth Rs 440 crore. The industry has the potential to scale up to Rs 7,000 crores by 2020.

Website: Keva Ayurveda