Chhavideep Singh
Source: The Economic Times
Recently, Ratan Tata- Chairman Emeritus of the multi-national conglomerate, Tata Group has recently invested an undisclosed sum of money in iKure, a Kolkata-based healthcare start-up.
Upon asking, Ratan Tata mentions that in present times, iKure services are exactly what he believes the country needs, at the moment.
iKure offers primary healthcare and wellness services to the people of India through innovative advanced technology. The start-up is growing rapidly and catering to the healthcare needs of rural and urban India.
According to a statement issued by the company, iKure seeks to expand its operations in India and aims to provide medical healthcare services to over ten million people in the next five-six years.
Speculations suggest that the Kolkata-based healthcare and wellness start-up is in advanced talks to raise USD 5 million in its Series A funding round, it is unofficial and the details have been refused to share with the public.
According to regulatory filings and other sources, it has come to light that iKure has managed to raise a total amount of USD 1.5 million till date from investors in India and abroad- Japan, Singapore and the United States of America.
iKure uses hubs and spokes business model since its inception back in 2010 to deliver primary wellness and prevention services to different parts of India, catering to the healthcare needs of rural, semi-urban and urban people through their innovative technology.
So, what does it take to reach out to people from rural India and extend a helping hand?
Well, the healthcare start-up meets these needs through a mentioned combination of technology intervention, healthcare outreach initiatives and skills development. It is assumed that people from the rural side of India are not that educated to make a distinction of real and fake but as it turns out, it is not the case.
Value of a promising product excels and accelerates ikure’s healthcare initiative by overcoming obvious challenges of availability, awareness, accessibility and most importantly, affordability.
Source: YouTube
iKure has been doing pretty well in the industry and has previously raised an undisclosed sum from Inflection Point Ventures.
Reportedly, till date, the start-up has provided primary healthcare services to over 1.5 million people across the country and is also available in many African countries providing the same healthcare and wellness services there as well.
This fresh funding from Ratan Tata will help iKure in achieving more advancement in their technology, cater to the healthcare needs of more people and expand their services in other countries as well.