Calcutta Angels Network invests Rs 1cr in health-tech startup LetsMD for 8pc stake

Calcutta Angels Network today announced that it has invested more than Rs 1 crore in LetsMD, a Delhi-based health-tech startup, for eight percent stake.

The fresh round of funding will be utilised to develop robust technology, strengthen the technology and marketing teams, and expand to other cities.

However, LetsMD did not disclose the total amount of funding they raised. The current round saw participation from Anupam Mittal, Calcutta Angels Network, Currae Healthtech Fund, and other investors on LetsVenture.

LetsMD is an integrated classified allowing users to compare surgery prices of hospitals. It addresses the discovery, transparency, and affordability problem in healthcare through a marketplace-based approach.

LetsMD was founded in December 2015 by serial entrepreneurs Nivesh Khandelwal, Prakhar Gupta, and Tenzin Thargay. Nivesh is a Wharton MBA with more than a decade of entrepreneurial experience across sectors. Prakhar is a Purdue university graduate with startup experience across Silicon Valley and India. Tenzin is an IIM-B graduate with more than a decade of experience across consumer internet and digital health platforms.

Nivesh said,

LetsMD will enable accessibility and affordability of tertiary level healthcare in India. We believe CAN, with its large and diverse network of investors will play a key role in enabling relationship acquisition for LetsMD. This fund raised will be used to build the technology, develop the team and marketing.

LetsMD has already on-boarded around 300 hospitals and single specialty chains in Delhi-NCR as partners for the marketplace, including big names like Fortis Healthcare, BLK Hospital and Apollo Hospitals.

LetsMD addresses two of the biggest problems of the Indian healthcare industry: price transparency and timely financing for an almost uninsured population. Shanti Mohan, Founder of LetsVenture, said that patients need such platforms to compare the quality and pricing of procedures across hospitals and be able to pay for them before it is too late.

Siddharth Pansari, President of Calcutta Angels Network (CAN), commented, “LetsMD is in the process of creating a unique platform by bringing together all stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem on to a single integrated marketplace. It is CAN’s first round with LetsMD and incidentally, is the biggest investment for CAN members in terms of the amount invested.”

CAN has established associations with angel networks, accelerators, incubators and institutes for knowledge sharing, deal flow sharing, and co-investments.

Market overview

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.

Tencent-backed Practo, Accel Partners-backed Portea Medical, Ratan Tata-backed Lybrate, Medwell Ventures, and MedGenome are some of the bigger names in the digital healthcare space. Medwell raised $10 million from Fidelity Growth Partners India (FGPI) and Fidelity Biosciences, while MedGenome raised $20 million from Sequoia Capital.

Website: LetsMD