AddressHealth, Indian primary healthcare network exclusively for children, has announced $1.5 million in Series A funding led by Gray Matters Capital with participation from existing investor, Unitus Seed Fund. The company, which runs innovative school-based neighbourhood clinics and school health programs, will use the investment to expand the model to other schools in Bangalore & other geographies. As per estimates from Unified District Information System for Education, there are more than 2 lakh schools in urban India, a large number of them catering to low and middle income population. Bangalore alone has nearly 2,500 private, unaided schools. By leveraging partnerships with schools, AddressHealth is able to reduce costs associated with retail healthcare while simultaneously increasing the reach of affordable preventive healthcare.
The disruptive 'School Clinic' model
AddressHealth, which is currently Bangalore's largest school health provider, has reached more than 1 lakh children through on-site services and screening programs to identify health issues and provided early intervention to prevent them from suffering as young adults.
Mrs. Sashi Anand, Principal of Pratibha Bala Mandira school said, “I am very glad that our institution is associated with AddressHealth since 2011. A team of committed doctors and nurses are providing comprehensive health programs which comprise thorough health check-ups, health education to students and teachers, environmental audit, counselling and nutrition audit.”
Schools can play a crucial role in pediatric health and their position in providing inclusive health care is a concept that is finding traction, not just in India, but worldwide. “School health programs save lives,” said Hesky Kutscher, Founder & CEO, Caredox, a free digital health tools startup for K12 public schools in the US which recently received $4.3M in venture capital and debt funding.
“With its disruptive market-based model for pediatric healthcare, AddressHealth has served more than 100,000 children already; what I believe to be a fraction of their future potential,” said Bob Pattillo, veteran impact investor and CEO & Founder of Gray Matters Capital. “We are excited to partner in their growth story and scale across India to serve the masses effectively.”
“We believe that the unique and powerful service delivery model in partnership with schools will help AddressHealth scale effectively, not only in providing curative care, but also in providing preventive intervention for infectious & non communicable diseases,” said Dave Richards, Managing Partner at Unitus Seed Fund. “We are happy to partner with them in their growth story as they make India’s children healthier.”
Experienced Healthcare Services Team
AddressHealth was founded by doctor entrepreneurs Anand Lakshman and Anoop Radhakrishnan.
Dr. Anand Lakshman has significant experience leading public health programs that reached more than 1.14 crore (114 million) children. Dr. Anoop Radhakrishnan has been involved with setting up 2 startups soon after his MBA from IIM – Lucknow. The goal of the founders is to address the health of at least 4 lakh children by 2018.
“The funding allows us to expand the reach of our unique model of healthcare, which leverages schools, to deliver comprehensive primary healthcare to children proactively, at a low cost,” said Dr Anand Lakshman, CEO of AddressHealth. “We will use technology to further expand our reach, reduce costs and promote proactive preventive health action by parents and schools, to make children healthier and happier,” added Dr Anoop Radhakrishnan, co-founder of AddressHealth.
Reiterating the importance of preventive care, one of the parents whose child was treated by AddressHealth, Mrs. Megha, said, “Thanks to AddressHealth, my child is now active in sports and I am now confident about him playing out in the open without the fear of an asthma attack. This is possible now as we know what triggers an attack and we are able to safely avoid it.”
Unitus Capital acted as the financial advisor to this transaction while K Law was the legal advisor.
Image Source: ShutterStock
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