Karma Healthcare Secures 3 Cr Funding From 1Crowd, Others

Rajasthan-based Karma Primary Healthcare Services Pvt. Ltd has raised Rs.3 crore ($460,000) in a fresh round of funding from equity crowdfunding platform 1Crowd.

Founded in 2014, the startup provides technology-based up health centres in rural areas, which provide a range of health services including web-enabled patient-doctor consultations, face-to-face doctor consultations and medicines to patients. Each clinic caters to a population of 20,000-25,000.

Existing investors Ankur Capital, Ennovent Capital, Beyond Capital, and a few undisclosed angel investors also participated in this round.

Jagdeep Gambhir, founder and chief executive of Karma Healthcare said, “The company will use the fresh funds to scale up its operations and beef up its technology offering to improve the quality of its healthcare services.”

According to information available on the company’s website, each health centre, which the company refers to as Karma Clinic, has an Android-based tablet with an in-built webcam and mobile-based internet connection, wireless printer, external speaker and other clinical equipment. A community health worker, who is a nursing staff, is employed at this clinic.

Karma Healthcare, which currently has operations in Rajasthan and Haryana, claims to have conducted over 50,000 consultations and operates 10 e-doctor clinics, the ET report stated.

The company posted on its website, “Access to healthcare, healthcare financing and ensuring equitable services remain a major concern. It is estimated that 45% of the population travels more than 100 kms to access a higher level of care. This leads to a selection of inappropriate and expensive medical facilities, which can increase disease complexity and financial burden.”