Patient financing startup Healthfin secures pre-Series A funding

Pune-based patient financing platform Healthfin has raised pre-Series A funding from Axilor, Sprout Venture Partners and a few individual investors, the startup said in a statement.

Healthfin, operated by Plus Worth Solutions Pvt. Ltd, didn’t disclose the amount it raised. It also didn’t reveal the name of the individual investors.

This is the startup’s first round of funding. It said it will use the funds for hiring and technological upgrades.

The company offers financial assistance to patients who do not have medical insurance or those who are under-insured and need funds for medical procedures. It claims its services are available in six cities across 40 hospitals and speciality clinics. It has about 40 employees.

The startup was founded by Parvaiz Hussain and Sonia Basu in 2016. Hussain has worked with ICICI Bank and HSBC. Basu is a doctor who practised medicine for seven years and holds a degree in hospital administration.

“At a time of crisis, patients or their relatives find it challenging to arrange for funds immediately. Healthfin’s solution comes in at a time when a patient or their family is in dire need,” Hussain said in the statement.

Healthfin was part of the fifth accelerator batch of Axilor Ventures.

“We live in a country where seven out of 10 people are uninsured. In such a scenario, patient finance at an hour of emergency is a huge need for majority of the market,” said Asutosh Upadhyay, head of programmes at Axilor.

Axilor was founded in late 2014 by Infosys co-founders SD Shibulal and Kris Gopalakrishnan, Srinath Batni, professor Tarun Khanna and Ganapathy Venugopal. It supports early-stage entrepreneurs through its accelerator and scale-up programmes. The accelerator programme runs twice a year, in March and September.

Healthfin is among a handful of fintech startups that are focusing on the healthcare sector.

In April, LetsMD, a fintech startup in the healthcare sector, had raised $1 million in a pre-Series A round of funding led by SRI Capital.

The same month, Affordplan, a Delhi-based fintech startup that makes healthcare services accessible through planned savings for non-emergency treatments, had raised fresh capital in its Series B round.