Vaatsalya Healthcare, a pioneer in semi-urban and rural healthcare, has received an assistance of Rs 20 crore from Oasis Fund and Seedfund to expand its hospital network across the four southern states. Earlier, the company had received Rs 7.5 crore assistance from the Seedfund and Aavishkaar India (Micro Venture Capital Fund).

The Rs 20 crore infusion allows Vaatsalya to expand its network from seven hospitals in Karnataka to 20 hospitals across India. The existing hospitals are located at Hubli, Gadag, Dharwar, Bijapur, Hassan, Mandya and Raichur. These have been a combination of Greenfield and Brownfield initiatives. The company has around 17 projects in the pipeline. It has been in discussions with prospective hospital promoters for an acquisition of the facility and will be engaged in Brownfield expansion to commission the facility under the banner of Vaatsalya Healthcare. "To begin with, we will expand in Karnataka before we move to the adjacent states in the southern region," Dr Ashwin Naik, founder and CEO, Vaatsalya Healthcare told Pharmabiz.

Existing investor, Seedfund also participated in this round of funding. Early last year it received around Rs 6 crore assistance. There is a need to focus on providing high quality healthcare services to semi-urban and rural India, he added.

Indian metros and urban areas have access to some of the world's best healthcare facilities, as compared to the semi-urban and rural areas where even access to basic healthcare services has been a serious issue. This is where Vaatsalya intends to target as it has been engaged in offering affordable primary and secondary healthcare services across seven districts in Karnataka. Under its umbrella, it manages 300 beds, making it the largest chain in the segment. With the new round of financing Vaatsalya can operate 20 hospitals across southern region. These hospitals offer gynaecology, paediatrics, general surgery and general medicine. Services like dialysis, intensive care units, paediatric surgery and neurosurgery are also included.

The company has also bagged the Sankalp Award 2009 for Healthcare Inclusion. It also won the BiD challenge India 2007 and LRAMP award 2008, Vaatsalya focuses on.

"Our hospital network has been attracting doctors working in the semi-urban India. Our strategy is to tap into the entrepreneurial spirit of such doctors and work with them on expanding our network," said Dr Veerendra Hiremath, COO and co-founder, Vaatsalya Healthcare.

"We are working with Vaatsalya on a strategy to increase its outreach to low-income patients by providing a link with microfinance institutions and micro health insurance programs," stated Jean-Philippe de Schrevel, head, Oasis Fund the Luxembourg-based SICAV-SIF which invests in innovative, commercially viable enterprises.