What happens when a group of young engineers joins hands with doctors? A start-up, that promises to provide world-class yet affordable healthcare at your doorsteps, with engineering precision, is born.
Care24, a home healthcare platform, founded by engineers with doctors on board, on Thursday, announced raising seed fund of $350,000 (Rs. 2.27 crore) from India Quotient to enhance customer service in Mumbai and adjoining areas.
The platform, founded in December 2014 by IIT alumni Vipin Pathak, Abhishek Tiwari, Garima Tripathi and Pranshu Sharma, is currently providing 24x7 home healthcare services like nursing, attendant, physiotherapists and infant care in Mumbai, New Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan in Maharashtra, where it has roped in 200 healthcare givers..
The start-up, aiming to make healthcare easy, will use funds to enhance its technology, strengthen team, standardise care and quality assurance, besides focusing on deepening its services and customer reach in Mumbai.
Is it a healthcare aggregator, like cab aggregators? Co-Founder Garima Tripathi told BusinessLine that Care24 is not one. It is a company-managed and controlled marketplace. “We enter into contract with free-lancing experienced care-givers with good track records, and train them for our needs. However, they are also free to work elsewhere to supplement their income.”
She said that Care24 caters to the healthcare needs from post-discharge care, bedridden care, chronic pain care, physiotherapy, infant care, pre-natal and post-natal care, everyday medical nursing, geriatric care and assisted daily living. It aims to leverage technology in systems and processes to enforce stringent feedback, monitoring of treatment and reaching the customer round-the-clock.
“India Quotient has shown faith in our capacity to execute the vision of the company. This investment will help us cement our technology, processes and recruitment of talent by making balanced investments in these directions and ultimately take us closer to the goal of delivering high quality patient care services, “she added.
Care24 is backed by a board of medical professionals which strengthens the medical thrust of this business while its management team leads the operations and administration.
Madhukar Sinha, Partner, India Quotient, said the use of technology in this industry can be game-changing, which is the approach of Care24.
Care24 currently serves 50 new patients a day and plans on adding new service verticals. The company is also looking at adding travel assistants and equipment renting as part of the platform in the future.