The healthcare startup secured the investment from Tolaram Inc., the family office investment arm of Tolaram Group, and Mountain Pine Capital.

Bala Swaminathan, a former partner at consulting firm KPMG and one of the earliest investors in the platform, also took part in this round, the startup said in a statement.

The startup aims to use the money to augment technology and infrastructure to expand services and introduce new products.

Credihealth claimed that it has achieved break even and has been maintaining a positive cash flow from an early stage.

“More than money, it is innovation and steady growth that are needed to survive in the market today,” said Ravi Virmani, founder and managing director of Credihealth.

Credihealth was started in 2013 by Virmani, Gaurav Gaggar, Saurabh Uboweja and Piush Kumar.

Virmani is the founding managing director of Hewitt Associates India and former COO of Max Healthcare. Gaggar is an investment banker and earlier co-founded two e-gaming ventures. Uboweja, an alumnus of IIM Calcutta, also runs brand consulting and design firm Brands of Desire. Kumar runs investment firm Hausela, which funds digital technology startups.

The company provides domestic and international patients with information on Indian healthcare providers. It aims to solve the patients’ problem of looking for the right doctor or diagnostic centre, besides being an additional sales channel for hospitals. The startup also fixes patient follow-ups with the doctor. The company has tie-ups with 630 hospitals such as Fortis, Medanta, Columbia Asia, Paras and Artemis.

Started in 2013 by Ravi Virmani, Gaurav Gaggar, Saurabh Uboweja, and Piush Kumar from Gurgaon, Credihealth initially focused on Delhi–NCR market. And now, it has presence in the six major metropolitans across India. The company claims to have 2.5 million visitors and served 50,000 patients last year.

Speaking about shift of users towards digital channels, Ravi says,
People from all walks of life are on the internet and we see a phenomenal increase in the percentage of people in India choosing the digital healthcare space to make informed decisions. We are confident about seeing these figures increase by many folds in the coming years.

Genesis of Credihealth and current traction

In a developing country like India, people primarily trust anecdotal evidence while selecting a doctor. This is not only convenient, but references through word-of-mouth attract lower chances of misguided advice from a specialist. Ravi says, At Credihealth, based on your symptoms or treatment required, our in-house doctors hold your hand right from the first doctor's visit to post-operative care – giving personalized medical guidance throughout the hospitalisation process. This augmentation in a patient's journey has contributed the maximum traction.
As of now, the company has more than 7,000 super-specialist doctors from 500 plus hospitals listed. Gaurav points out, We've received more than 60,000 requests till date seeking information about tertiary-care medical problems such as cancer, cardiac ailments and neurology.

Focus on tertiary care is a major USP of Credihealth

While a plethora of players in the healthcare industry are in the primary healthcare business, focusing on booking clinic appointments and queue management, Credihealth seems to be a significant player in the hospitalisation business with tertiary care as a primary focus.
Owning an entire value chain and seamless integration enhance consumer experience in a big way. Credihealth helps users to seek information such as hospital, doctor credentials, procedure, feedback, price comparison, etc., and at the same time it also ensures delivery part through credible partners who support the patient through the entire experience of their hospital journey.

Healthcare is democratic in nature and has no boundaries

Credihealth is bridging the gap between patient and doctor by enabling people, both in India and abroad, to access information on experts and treatment options regardless of thousands of miles of distance between them. Saurabh outlines, For instance, we have eight liver transplant patients across the globe who will be getting treatment done in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore through our services. Accessibility to healthcare is not limited nationally, it goes beyond borders.

Content is key for us to drive engagement

Moving away from the conventional approach, the company also leverages content (via social media and blog) to engage with users. It claims to have over 250 famous doctor interviews and patient feedback.
To promote survivor stories of patients who've struggled through serious illnesses, Credihealth launched CrediHeroes a few months ago. Gaurav adds, Inspiring stories of mental and physical hardship are motivational for patients who are unwell and informative for others.

Road ahead

At present, it has a team of 30 people and it's actively looking for VC round to accelerate its growth. Since it's a source of patients, Credihealth's main source of revenue comes from market development fee from hospitals. Credihealth is operational in six cities and planning to have its presence in 15 major cities in India by the end of 2015.

YourStory's take

The estimated healthcare expenditure in India in 2013 was $96.3 billion which constituted almost 5% of the GDP. With a growth rate of ~12%, this number is expected to cross $195 billion in the next three years.
Healthcare in India is very poor when compared to the West and other developing nations. Over the past few years, the state of healthcare has improved with adaptation of new technology and innovation. Although metro and tier I cities have access to good doctors, tier II and III cities still lack experts for consultations. It's highly unorganized, inefficient, and full of middlemen in smaller cities.
As we pointed out, there are a plethora of startups in the healthcare industry that focus on primary healthcare business, but tertiary care is evangelised by only a handful of startups. Credihealth broadly competes with Ask4healthcare and Medipal. However, with Instahealth acquisition by Tencent-backed Practo, Credihealth will also compete with it.

Digital healthcare startups have potential to optimise inefficiency and bring transparency to the current state of healthcare in India. Sensing the wide scope of digital healthcare solutions in India, conglomerate like Tencent had pumped in $90 million in Practo.

Going forward it would be exciting to watch how tertiary care and overall digital healthcare space evolve this year.

Since word of mouth has always been the best method to judge a doctor, long lists of certified doctors and hospitals, often confuse people. Thereby pushing them, to use these portals just for booking appointments after taking information from their trusted ones.In order to bridge this gap, Ravi Virmani, Gaurav Gaggar and Saurabh Uboweja, came up with Credihealth in 2013. As posted on the website, the team aims to be the first port of call for customers having healthcare related need, doubt, or query.

This Gurgaon based startup, as compared to other portals, provides personalized guidance in hospitalization services to patients. The portal works with a team of in-house doctors to sort out all queries and confusions of the patients. Also, there are dedicated discounts available on all doctor’s appointments.

The interested user can reach them via website or their Healthline, or one can do live chats on website or on Whatsapp. After understanding the patient’s medical need, they are suggested suitable options of the best doctors available. The patients can go through all credentials of the doctors and can book appointments accordingly. Also, followups are done, until the team receives a feedback or they make sure that patient is now healthy.

At this point, building trust among patients and making them believe that their medical problems could now be personally catered to by doctors through the internet was the primary challenge. “Surprisingly 2014 has been an overwhelming year for Credihealth. Within months, we have served over 20,000 patients for their hospital needs. Such a response has given us tremendous encouragement,” said Ravi. There are 200+ contracted hospitals across Delhi/NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai Region and Hyderabad, and has achieved a GMR of around $1 Mn.

Since Credihealth is focused on Hospitalization, they are currently targeting digital marketing at people looking for tertiary care such as a neurologist or oncologist. The portal till date has got a traction of 450,000 unique visitors and 3000+ active members in 5 health communities. With its targeted online advertising, it is reaching more than 10 million people via Google, facebook and other media. Also, it runs a health blog on the site which currently have around 1000+ articles on medical conditions and 250+ exclusive doctor videos.

Plans Ahead

Credihealth team plans to raise an funding round soon and launch services in 15 major cities across the nation this year. Eventually, they want to cover the entire Indian geography, with a focus to help people deal with all non-clinical pain points during their hospital journey. There is a 17-18% rise of CAGR in the healthcare industry and founders see a 40% increase in the number of people making informed decisions in the digital healthcare space.

Quick Facts About The Healthcare Industry

1.  Online healthcare startups which have recently raised fundings include Lybrate ($1.23Mn), HelpingDoc ($1.5Mn) and OurHealthmate ($440,000).

2.  The healthcare industry is predicted to grow from $40 billion in 2010 to $280 in 2020 and e-healthcare services are estimated to reach approximately 10% of this figure.

3.  Per capita healthcare expenditure in India is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 15.4 per cent during 2008-15 to reach US$ 88.7.

4.  Of total healthcare revenues in the country hospitals account for 71 per cent.

5.  Private sector’s share in healthcare delivery is expected to increase from 66 per cent in 2005 to 81 per cent by 2015.

We reached out to Piush Kumar, Chairman & Group President of Hausela Capital Partners, and an investor, to know more about this sector. Here are the edited excerpts:

Inc42: What is the market opportunity in the online health care segment?

Piush: The market opportunity here is significant, to say the least. In an increasingly technology-based world, it is imperative and inevitable that our medical care and hospitalization channels come online. This combined with one of the world’s largest populations that are in need of a medical information and infrastructure overhaul lends itself well to the expansion of the digital healthcare segment online.

As per a 2010 McKinsey report, the Indian healthcare industry has reached $40 billion and is estimated to reach $280 billion in 2020. The current bed utilization is around 60% or less and we estimate that online players will increase this by at least 10-15%, if not more over time.

In the last one year of operations, we have seen a 40% increase in the number of people making informed decisions in the digital healthcare segment and we have every confidence that we will see this trend increase by many folds in the coming years.

Inc42: Where do you see this space 5 years ahead?

Piush: The online healthcare industry is anticipated to generate an estimated 10 – 15% of total hospital revenue and Credihealth aspires to capture 30-40% of the market share. With internet / smartphone users in India set to increase by almost 20% by 2017, and the capability for the average Indian to come online expanded considerably, we expect to see a significant increase in the number of people able to benefit from our services.

Inc42: What is your say for new entrants in this space?

Piush: New entrants do not have it easy in a country with over 1.2 billion people. If however they can create a healthcare service providers’ network and deliver their proposition successfully, they increase their chances of standing out exponentially.

Inc42: How is the Indian market different from global markets? What potential do you see in Indian markets as compared to portals abroad in similar space?

Piush: The global market and consumers alike have accepted this technology enabled healthcare solution as can be evidenced across all major markets around the globe. The macroeconomic momentum in this industry will continue to drive consumer adoption in India as well.

The differences in the global market or the West are that a majority of patients are utilizing medical insurance, where the insurance company negotiates the costs and provides access to hospitals and doctors. On the other hand, the Indian market has a greater number of cash patients without insurance, who thus have to fend for themselves, for information, access, and costs of the medical procedure.

The differences in the global market or the West are that a majority of patients are utilizing medical insurance, where the insurance company negotiates the costs and provides access to hospitals and doctors. On the other hand, the Indian market has a greater number of cash patients without insurance, who thus have to fend for themselves, for information, access, and costs of the medical procedure.

Inc42: What do you look into a company before investing?

Piush: With over 30 years of building and mentoring companies across USA, Canada, China & India, Hausela® capital Partners team and I look for 3 main factors before investing in a company.

1.    Big ideas: Credihealth is building a technology enabled solution that will bring premium healthcare access to the common man. This should be a right and not a luxury. In the same light, the company has a clear business proposition and its forte lies in the concierge service style delivery of credible, transparent and detailed information to enable and empower patients in their decision-making process. This is a big idea.

2.    Differentiators: We look for innovative ideas that can revolutionize industries. Credihealth differs from other online startups as it is not just a ‘book appointment’ portal and seeks to provide a personalized end-to-end guidance to the patient by qualified in-house doctors, along with transparent price quotes for treatment and procedures direct from the healthcare provider… all of which empowers the patients to plan their own best course of action to receive treatment. In addition, CrediHealth is only scratching the surface of community-based sourcing of knowledge, advice and support. If you haven’t had a chance to check out their virtual clinics, you should, and again this is only the beginning.

3.    Team: we look for startup teams who have the inspiration, drive as well as capability to pursue a big idea, and work with them to bring together the funding and resources to help them succeed.

Editor’s Take

The idea of providing a companion, right from evaluating options to post-op care, is a unique concept. However, a high level of monitoring would be required in order to see that it does not get turned into another booking portal. The data above clearly highlights that this sector is far away from saturation right now. There is enough competition as well as opportunity and it would be worth watching how upcoming startups will maintain this innovation trend.

The funds will be invested in scaling up its operations as well as for expansion. The firm will open a Mumbai office in the next couple of months, post which it plans to expand pan-India. It is also looking at global expansion to Singapore and other Asian countries.

“We are in talks with two-three PE funds that are open to investing in early stage and tier 1 funding,” said Ravi Virmani, co-founder, Credihealth.com.

Without naming them, he mentioned that two of them are American funds that have offices in the country and have invested in Indian companies before. The third one is a specialist American healthcare fund that hasn’t done any investments in India directly till date.

Started in 2013 by Virmani, Gaurav Gaggar, Saurabh Uboweja and Piush Kumar, Credihealth.com provides its clients (domestic and international patients) with information on Indian healthcare providers that is credible, reliable and transparent. The company aims to solve the patient’s problem of looking for the right doctor or diagnostic centre, besides being an additional sales channel for hospitals.

Virmani is the founding MD of Hewitt Associates India and former COO of Max Healthcare. Gaggar is a CA & an I-banker, and had earlier co-founded two e-gaming ventures. An alumnus of IIM Calcutta, Uboweja has been running Brands of Desire, a brand consulting and design firm that consult startups, mid-size and large size companies. Kumar runs an investment firm, funding startups in the digital technology space. Gaggar, Uboweja and Kumar are part-time directors of the company.

The patient follows up with the doctor are also fixed by Credihealth, and they (the patients) and can also seek second opinions from doctors at any of the registered hospitals. As of now, Credihealth has contracted over 300 hospitals, diagnostic centers and standalone centers.

Over the last six months, the portal has had over 1.5 lakh visitors, and has helped more than 3,000 patients. It is currently targeting Rs 10 crore of additional revenue for its hospital partners. The team size is around 25 people.

USP & revenue generation

According to the company, its USP is its ‘virtual clinics’ that are the first of their kind in this space. The clinics provide end-to-end information about complicated medical conditions in patient friendly language, and also offer curated videos of patients who have been through similar health conditions and treatments. Interviews with renowned medical specialists giving insights on different treatment options are also being provided

Credihealth also organises live chats among potential patients and specialist doctors, in order to pacify patients who are about to undergo serious treatment. The company is also building customised offline solutions for schools, colleges and corporate, wherein their staff and other stakeholders can benefit from its services.

While the company is yet to make money, for revenues, it will charge a subscription fee from standalone centres like a hair transplant centre or a dental clinic that registers with Credihealth.

Online healthcare space in India

Recently, India and US-based Lybrate Inc., the company behindLybrate.com, an online platform for patients to book appointments with doctors, raised $1.23 million in funding, the company said in a filing with the US Security and Exchange Commission. The names of the investors are unavailable. Earlier this month, Delhi-based HelpingDoc.com, an online platform that lists medical professionals and enables patients to book appointments, raised over $1.5 million in its Series A round of funding from Senior Marketing System (SMS), a provider of health-related information services for professions and public in Malaysia.

Ebix Inc, an international supplier of on-demand software and e-commerce services to the insurance, finance and healthcare industries, had acquired Bangalore-based Unified Health Solution Pvt Ltd, the company behind HealthcareMagic, a medical advisory service with an online network of approximately 15,000 general physicians and surgeons in a $18.5 million cash-cum-earn out deal.

India and Singapore-based online healthcare services provider OurHealthMate, raised $440,000 (Rs 2.7 crore) in seed funding led by Bimal Shah, former CFO of Nomad Digital, a global provider of wireless solutions to the transportation sector. During the same time, Bangalore-based Commerzpoint Networks Pvt Ltd, the company behind the online healthcare marketplace Medypal.com, raised $400,000 in funding from Unitus Seed Fund (USF), a seed-stage impact venture investment firm.

AntFarm has previously built business with Stylista.com, a collaborative fashion label, and Fork Media, a native advertising platform.

Stylista has grown significantly since its launch, carving a niche in the e-commerce domain. Stylista recently collaborated with fashion e-tailer Myntra.com along with Flipkart.com to facilitate better access to affordable designer wear for new-age shoppers.

With its recent acquisition of ClickZoot, a performance ad network, Fork Media has emerged as a one-stop destination for advertisers with a reach of over 80 million users.

AntFarm’s recent venture Arrive.com is a travel discovery platform that is close to rolling out a mobile app for the East Asian market.

“With more and more start-ups in India entering the billion-dollar club, AntFarm is poised to explore business opportunities in the dotcom and mobile space in high impact markets and create products that are disruptive. Over the last year, we have already made successful forays in the fashion, advertising and travel industry verticals. We are now gearing up to disrupt the multi-billion dollar health/fitness space,” said Rishi Khiani, Managing Director and CEO, AntFarm, said in a statement.

AntFarm follows a unique approach in jumpstarting successful businesses by putting together unique cross-functional teams led by industry veterans and entrepreneurs that work on business opportunities identified internally at AntFarm. Bay Capital is an independent investment management firm while Hausela Capital Partners is the investment office of Piush Kumar with the objective of funding start-ups in the digital technology space.

AntFarm, a digital innovation company, has raised Series-A funding from Bay Capital and Hausela Capital Partners. The funds that have been raised will be channeled to reinforce the current portfolio, grow upcoming businesses in the travel space and to build new early stage ventures in the fitness, hyper-local and mobile categories.

“With more and more start-ups in India entering the billion-dollar club, AntFarm is poised to explore business opportunities in the dotcom and mobile space in high impact markets and create products which are disruptive. Over the last year, we have already made successful forays in the fashion, advertising and travel industry verticals. We are now gearing up to disrupt the multi-billion dollar health/fitness space,” said AntFarm managing director and CEO Rishi Khiani.

AntFarm has a track-record of building profitable business units in a year’s time with Stylista.com, a collaborative fashion label, and Fork Media, a native advertising platform.

AntFarm’s most recent venture, Arrive.com, is a travel discovery platform that is close to rolling out a mobile app for the East Asian market.

AntFarm follows a unique approach in jumpstarting successful businesses by putting together unique cross-functional teams led by industry veterans and entrepreneurs that work on business opportunities identified internally at AntFarm.

Hausela Capital Partners MD Piush Kumar said, “The digital landscape in India is on an exponential growth trajectory. This dynamic landscape has thrown open exciting opportunities to create new products and innovative business models. AntFarm has demonstrated its mettle with successful ventures in the digital space. They bring a unique mix of industry experience, technology expertise and entrepreneurial spirit. And, we are confident that they will be able to build successful digital business models.”

Antfarm has previously raised an angel round from Bennett Coleman & Co CEO Ravi Dhariwal and leading entrepreneur, Sanjay Kalra, who previously served as the CEO of Tech Mahindra.

Bay Capital is an independent investment management firm while Hausela Capital Partners is the investment office of Piush Kumar with the objective of funding start-ups in the digital technology space.

AntFarm has a track-record of building profitable business units in a year’s time with Stylista.com, a collaborative fashion label, and Fork Media, a native advertising platform.

Stylista has grown significantly since its launch, carving a niche in the e-commerce domain. Stylista recently collaborated with fashion e-tailer Myntra.com along with Flipkart.com to facilitate better access to affordable designer wear for new-age shoppers.

Fork media has become one of the largest native advertising platforms in India. With its recent acquisition of ClickZoot, a performance ad network, Fork Media has emerged as a one-stop destination for advertisers with a reach of over 80 million users.

AntFarm’s most recent venture, Arrive.com, is a travel discovery platform that is close to rolling out a mobile app for the East Asian market.

“With more and more start-ups in India entering the billion-dollar club, AntFarm is poised to explore business opportunities in the dotcom and mobile space in high impact markets and create products which are disruptive. Over the last year, we have already made successful forays in the fashion, advertising and travel industry verticals. We are now gearing up to disrupt the multi-billion dollar health/fitness space,”said Rishi Khiani, Managing Director and CEO, AntFarm.

AntFarm follows a unique approach in jumpstarting successful businesses by putting together unique cross-functional teams led by industry veterans and entrepreneurs that work on business opportunities identified internally at AntFarm.

Piush Kumar, managing director of Hausela Capital Partners, said,“The digital landscape in India is on an exponential growth trajectory. This dynamic landscape has thrown open exciting opportunities to create new products and innovative business models. AntFarm has demonstrated its mettle with successful ventures in the digital space. They bring a unique mix of industry experience, technology expertise and entrepreneurial spirit. And, we are confident that they will be able to build successful digital business models.”

Antfarm has previously raised an angel round from Ravi Dhariwal, Chief Executive Officer of Bennett Coleman & Co. Limited, and leading entrepreneur, Sanjay Kalra, who previously served as the CEO of Tech Mahindra Ltd.

Bay Capital is an independent investment management firm; while Hausela Capital Partners (www.hausela..com) is the investment office of Piush Kumar with the objective of funding start-ups in the digital technology space.

“With more and more startups in India entering the billion-dollar club, Ant Farm is poised to explore business opportunities in the dotcom and mobile space in high impact markets and create products which are disruptive,” said Rishi Khiani, managing director and CEO, Ant Farm.

Ant Farm had previously raised an angel round from Bennett Coleman & Co. Limited’s CEO Ravi Dhariwal and serial entrepreneur Sanjay Kalra.

Set up in November 2012, Ant Farm is a hybrid startup platform that brings together people, helps in ideation or scaling up an existing idea and sees through its execution. The accelerator claims that it has built profitable business units with Stylista.com, a fashion label, and Fork Media, a native advertising platform.

Stylista recently collaborated with fashion e-tailer Myntra (acquired by Flipkart) and Flipkart.com to facilitate better access to affordable designer wear for new-age shoppers. Fork Media claims to have a reach of over 80 million users and it recently acquired ClickZoot.

Ant Farm’s most recent venture, Arrive.com, is a travel discovery platform that is close to rolling out a mobile app for the East Asian market.

“Over the last year, we have already made successful forays in the fashion, advertising and travel industry verticals. We are now gearing up to disrupt the multi-billion dollar health and fitness space,” said Khiani.

Former Times Internet (TIL) CEO Rishi Khiani had left TIL after leading the digital business of the country’s largest media house Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd for three years. Prior to TIL, he was the chief operating officer (COO) at Web18. He joined the organisation after selling his company UrbanEye to the Network18 group.

Ant Farm’s framework has been built to accelerate early-stage company building with an intensive hands-on approach backed by a team with knowledge of building leading consumer verticals. Khiani had roped in former colleague Upen Rai for the new venture. While Khiani is CEO and MD of Ant Farm, Upen Rai, a former director at Times Internet Ltd, had joined the venture as COO and executive director. Rai, who quit TIL last month along with Sandeep Amar (head of marketing at Indiatimes), was previously the COO of the group’s lifestyle-related entertainment TV channel Zoom.

Bay Capital is an independent investment management firm, while Hausela Capital Partners backs firms in the digital technology space. This is Hausela’s first investment in the technology space in India. In the country, it has also backed Estee Advisors which provides risk-optimised returns in the Indian capital markets.

Antfarm had previously raised an angel round from Ravi Dhariwal, Chief Executive Officer of Bennett Coleman & Co. Limited, and entrepreneur, Sanjay Kalra, who previously served as the CEO of Tech Mahindra Ltd.

Founded in 2012, AntFarm is a start up platform that brings people together, helps in understanding and scaling up an existing idea and sees through its execution.

Led by entrepreneur and media professional, Rishi Khiani, AntFarm’s framework acclerates early-stage company through its experienced team with knowledge of building leading consumer verticals.

Rishi Khiani, CEO & MD at Ant Farm, founded the company after he resigned as CEO of Times Internet Limited and currently has a portfolio of five companies Stylista (collaborative fashion label), Arrive (a travel discovery platform), Social Plug, Fork (a native advertising platform) and Teach Cast(a education platform).

Bay Capital is an independent investment management firm founded in 2006, with investments targeted across various asset classes including PE, publicly traded equities and fixed income which are executed on a deal by deal basis.

Hausela Capital Partners is the investment office of Piush Kumar, a serial entrepreneur with the objective of funding startups in the digital technology space. He has funded, built and grown multiple businesses in USA, Canada, Hong Kong, China, and India over the last 30 years.