Unitus Seed Fund invests $400K in online healthcare marketplace Medypal

Bangalore-based Commerzpoint Networks Pvt Ltd, the company behind the online healthcare marketplace Medypal.com, has raised funding from Unitus Seed Fund (USF), a seed-stage impact venture investment firm.

While the firm did not officially disclose the deal value, according to a TechCrunch report, Unitus has put in $400,000 or Rs 2.5 crore in the company.

"We are investing in a team which has demonstrated success in scaling healthcare services to the masses in India," said Dave Richards, managing partner, Unitus Seed Fund. "They bring many relationships, networks and experience to developing a compelling solution for both patients and healthcare service providers," he said in a statement.

Medypal offers a platform to patients to ascertain cost and quality across healthcare service providers. It creates a marketplace which helps consumers find a medical service provider at a particular price. Patients can get quotes for medical procedures from multiple health service providers who bid for their business. It also seeks to help medical services providers attract customers more efficiently to improve their financial margins.

This seed funding will help Medypal to go live with its solutions with various healthcare service providers across south India.

Commerzpoint was founded by serial entrepreneurs P Rammohan and Brahmesh Jain. Previously they co-founded and successfully exited Healthsprint Networks, a health insurance exchange. The founders aims to build India's first healthcare marketplace with direct impact and touching lives across the globe.

Healthcare service in India is estimated to become a $100 billion market by 2015 with 70 per cent of people paying out-of-pocket for services. Right now, consumers rely on friends, family and advertisements to select their service provider. There is no easy way to get objective information on service provider availability, quality and to compare pricing. This is especially challenging for low-income families who have even less information, education, connections, and financial reserves.

On the supply side, healthcare service providers often struggle to keep their facility and staff utilisation high, which makes it challenging for them to manage cash flow and achieve and maintain profitability.

This is USF's first investment in the country after it received the approval for its impact investment VC fund Unitus Seed Fund India (USFI) last month from market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) under the new alternative investment fund norms.

The fund already has Rs 20 crore ($3.3 million) of committed capital and is planning to raise a total of Rs 50-75 crore ($9-12 million) from local investors to take minority positions in bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) startups, or startups serving low-income consumers.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)