Good prognosis enthuse maker of healthcare start up

Lybrate’s Financial Health augments as Investors loosen Purse Strings

New Delhi, July 8: Connecting doctors and patients online across geographies seems to be whale of a business model. Investors splurging on Lybrate exemplify this.

It is a windfall of sorts for Lybrate, supposedly India’s first and largest healthcare communication and delivery platform, which grossed $10.2 million Series A funding from Tiger Global, Nexus Venture partners and Ratan Tata. The healthcare start up announced this today. Lybrate will utilize these funds to develop products, recruit talent, augment technology and scale operations. The platform enables patients to communicate anonymously with doctors via a mobile app or online from anywhere and anytime.

In a communication to www.meditoall.com editor in chief Dhananjay Kumar, Saurabh Arora, CEO, Lybrate, said, ‘We ignore our health and rush to take a call at delayed stages when the disease has progressed to serious levels. The tendency to consult chemists because of time constraint and inertia to visit a doctor is rampant and lead to risky behavior of self-medication. This is even more aggravated outside metros where accessibility of doctors is itself a challenge. Thus, by connecting doctors to the population and letting them communicate, we are trying to solve the fundamental problem and transform the way healthcare is being delivered in India.’

Saurabh further said, ‘the option to remain anonymous enables people to talk about health issues, which were hitherto considered a taboo to discuss in public in the country. We see a significant user engagement on the subjects related to sexual health, women’s health, psychological problems, especially depression, which makes it apparent that people want to have solutions and gain knowledge regarding these, but stay in shell out of embarrassment. Through the Lybrate app, we want every Indian to talk about every possible health issue and take informed decisions.

The start up claims that since the launch of the Lybrate app in January this year, it has seen a massive growth and has been able to rope in   more than 80,000 doctors from various specialties from across India. In the last five months it has grossed more than half a million downloads and over 100,000 patients visit the platform every day.

‘Lybrate’s concept is ground breaking. We believe it has the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery in India and script the future of the healthcare industry with its model. The company is poised to gain ground rapidly as the penetration of Internet services and smartphones surge,’ said Lee Fixel, partner,Tiger Global. ‘We are excited to support the company’s unique and innovative efforts.’

‘Bringing medical interactions online improves the efficiency of doctor patient interactions. Personalized rich communication via the Lybrate app unburdens doctors and allows them to focus on critical patient care and allows consumers to have expert opinions from multiple doctors. Lybrate’s exponential growth has clearly demonstrated the market need and the power of their solution,’ said Sandeep Singhal of Nexus Venture Partners.