Home healthcare aggregator Zoctr raises pre-Series A funding

Zoctr, a startup that allows users to buy health-related services and home-based wellness packages online, has raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-Series A round of funding from Dubai-based NB Ventures Ltd, a company statement said.

A host of angel investors including Udaipur Angel Network also participated in this round.

With this round, the total funds raised by the company has crossed $2 million, the statement added.

Zoctr will use a significant portion of this funding to build deeper technology and domain expertise, the press note said.

The startup also plans to add electronic health dashboard as well as remote monitoring features to its recently launched mobile app. Besides, it intends to enter the home cancer care and chemotherapy market soon.

Founded in January 2015 by Nidhi Saxena, Zoctr aggregates a portfolio of home-based medical services, including long-term intensive care, chronic care, health check-up and others. It also provides services such as tele-consulting, home laboratory pick-ups, online pharmacy, emergency management support, medical equipment and ambulatory support.

“Home healthcare is a huge market and we are in it for the long haul. Rather than pursue senseless growth with huge cash burns, we are focusing on creating a highly differentiated niche play around cancer care, particularly home chemotherapy as well as leverage technologies such as remote monitoring, IoT etc. to add value to the customer,” Saxena, Zoctr’s founder and chief executive, said.

The company claims to have served more than 5,000 patients and has aggregated over 3,500 blue collar workers so far across India.

“We find Zoctr’s business model and vision of an integrated cancer homecare company compelling. Home healthcare being a huge but still evolving market, we believe Zoctr can earn a fairly niche positioning,” Neelesh Bhatnagar, director NB Ventures, said.

Zoctr is in the process of creating a pan India database of qualified and registered blue collar workers including nurses, attendants, baby care nurses and nannies on the backend of its app. The company said it is currently in advanced stages of discussion with a few venture capital funds in India and abroad to close a larger $3-5 million Series A round.

NB Ventures is a $50-million Dubai-based fund. In January this year, it participated in a $3-million funding round into online fraud detection platform IDfy.com. The fund’s other notable investments include fitness startups HealthifyMe and MobieFit, transportation firm TempoGO, home tutor provider Qriyo, and logistics startup LetsTransport.

India’s home healthcare industry

The home healthcare industry is still at a nascent stage in India but some startups have already raised multiple rounds of funding.

According to estimates by market research, consulting and advisory services firm Cyber Media Research (CMR) Ltd, India’s home healthcare market was around $3.2 billion in 2016, and is expected to grow to around $4.46 billion by 2018 and $6.21 billion in 2020.

One of the prominent ventures in the space is Portea Medical Pvt. Ltd, which is owned by Bengaluru-headquartered Healthvista India Pvt. Ltd. It raised $26 million (Rs 168 crore) in a Series C round led by new investors Sabre Partners and MEMG CDC in November last year.

Most recently, HWell24 Plus Healthcare Pvt Ltd, which operates home healthcare aggregator under the brand HealWell24, raised $200,000 (Rs 1.4 crore) in its pre-Series A round of funding from new and existing individual investors.

Other big players in the space include Medwell Ventures Pvt. Ltd, which runs home healthcare services under the brand Nightingales, and Quadria Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd-backed Health Care At Home India.

MyCareLine, Care24, and Healers At Home are among the other funded startups in the home healthcare space.