Fintech startup ImpactGuru raises $2 M in Series-A round, led by Apollo Hospitals Group and Venture Catalysts

Fintech startup ImpactGuru.com, which is a healthcare, nonprofit and personal cause donation crowdfunding platform, has announced a Series-A round of $2 million co-led by Apollo Hospitals Group and Venture Catalysts India.

Singapore-based VC fund RB Investments, an existing investor, also participated in the round along with Currae Healthtech Fund. Other key investors include various family offices and Indian diaspora from the US, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Healthcare crowdfunding is an alternative method of raising funds online for medical expenses, with the patient or his/her friends or family primarily relying on social media networks to mobilise donors to finance the relevant medical bills.

The capital raised will enable ImpactGuru.com to scale crowdfunding in India by ramping up sales and marketing as well as technology development including artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and vernacular language support. It was incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab in 2014.

Piyush Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of ImpactGuru.com, said, “ImpactGuru.com is thrilled to receive the backing of Apollo Hospitals Group, Venture Catalysts, Currae Healthtech Fund, and RB Investments to scale crowdfunding in India and make healthcare affordable for all. Every social cause deserves a chance to succeed. The potential to use technology to crowdfund for help is limitless in the face of India’s accelerating smartphone, internet, and digital payments penetration.”

Suneeta Reddy, MD of Apollo Hospitals, said, “Apollo Hospitals is pleased to partner with ImpactGuru.com to provide the best and most cost-effective patient financing solution in the market today. As a CSR initiative, Apollo Hospitals has decided to make crowdfunding free for all of our patients nationwide. We will also pioneer the matching of CSR funds from within the group as well as other organisations from outside along with the generosity of the crowd, as we are determined that no one should be denied access to quality care.”

Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder and President, Venture Catalysts, said, “Crowdfunding to solve India’s healthcare and nonprofit crisis is a disruptive innovation led by ImpactGuru.com. ImpactGuru.com has immense potential with banks/NBFCs unable to provide sufficient medical loans due to low credit scores, lack of collateral, high risk of death and default.”

Harsh Bothra, RB Investments, said, “Donation crowdfunding is a proven business model in the US, the UK and China, with platforms seeing exponential growth year on year. With this round of funding, ImpactGuru.com is well-positioned to become the market leader in India.”

Apoorva Patni, Founder, Currae Healthtech Fund, said, “Through the power of crowdfunding, ImpactGuru.com has often mobilised Rs 25 lakh for cancer or transplant surgeries in 48 hours. As India’s healthcare out-of-pocket expenditure at approximately 60 percent is among the highest in the world, healthcare crowdfunding is a highly scalable solution given the low insurance penetration in our country.”  

A study commissioned by World Bank says that the global crowdfunding market could reach between $90 billion and $96 billion by 2025.