Portea Medical, the home healthcare company, has received US$37.5 million in Series B funding led by Accel International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Qualcomm Ventures and Ventureast also participated in this round. Earlier, in December 2013, it received US$ 9 million Series A funding from Accel, Qualcomm Ventures and Ventureast.
The latest investment will be used by Portea to fuel the company’s expansion in India where it currently operates across 24 cities and handles 60,000 visits in a month to patients’ homes. It will also view to expand in others markets including in Malaysia where it already provides services in four cities.
Currently, Portea has over 3,000 staff and plans to recruit an additional 5,000 employees over the next 18 months in line with the company’s growth plans across the region.
“This investment from marquee investors recognizes the rapid strides Portea has made as well as points to our prospects as we build the company into India’s leading consumer healthcare brand in the coming years,” said Meena Ganesh, MD & CEO of Portea.
“When we set up Portea, our aim was to make world-class primary care conveniently accessible. Over the last 18 months, we have had the privilege of serving thousands of people and helping patients and their families deal with a range of healthcare challenges. I would like to thank all our investors, the many hospitals and other partners we work with, for believing in Portea’s mission to ‘heal at home,’ and extending their support to us,” added Ganesh.
Arun Mathew from Accel, who led the investment who joins Portea’s Board of Directors stated that there is a tremendous need to offer an in-home healthcare option for millions of people in India and other emerging markets. Portea’s service actually improves health outcomes for patients because it combines highly trained physicians/nurses and technology, making the healthcare process more efficient and accessible.
According to Pravan Malhotra, IFC’s venture capital lead for South and Southeast Asia, said, that the company invests in early growth companies that offer innovative technologies or business models. Portea’s model of providing affordable and quality care for patients at home ensures that hospital infrastructure and beds can be utilised for more critical medical cases and procedures.
“Our investment in the company will also help them create jobs and a skilled workforce, thus creating opportunity in tier two and tier three cities in India. This is our third venture capital healthcare investment in India and part of IFC's strategic approach to improve access to quality health services in Asia,” said Malhotra.