Global Dental Services Ltd, which operates the homegrown dental chain Clove Dental, said Friday it has secured $50 million in funding from Qatari sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).
The capital infusion comes a year after the company raised $66 million in a Series D funding round led by Bahrain’s Investcorp along with Tybourne Capital and SeaLink Capital Partners.
The company said it will use the fresh funding to expand its presence across existing and new tier cities in India as well as develop its oral care product range.
Founded in 2011 by Amarinder Singh, the group operates 422 company-owned and managed dental clinics across 24 cities in 12 states. The company also operates a direct-to-consumer (D2C) business offering therapeutic toothpaste and related everyday care products under the Clove banner.
“This investment from QIA will enable our group to pursue its growth plans in both existing and new tier I & II cities across India,” said Singh, founder and chief executive officer, Global Dental.
Global Dental also has several business-to-business businesses including a custom dental prosthesis laboratory Yarrow Dental Laboratory and xMedco, which is a dental equipment and consumables distribution company.
In July, VCCircle reported that the dental care chain was in talks to pick up a majority stake in competing dental care chain Sabka Dentist, to boost its operations.
Meanwhile, the investment by QIA comes as the wealth fund diversifies its India portfolio. It has been actively investing in Indian ventures across sectors such as technology, media and telecoms sector, retail and green energy investments.
“QIA is committed to supporting companies with growth potential and sees potential in India’s healthcare and retail markets," said Sheikh Faisal Thani Al-Thani, chief investment officer, Africa and Asia Pacific, QIA.
Most notably, QIA invested Rs 8,278 crore (around $1 billion) for a 0.99% stake in Reliance Retail Ventures, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries’ retail arm in August this year. The deal valued Reliance Retail Ventures at a little over $100 billion.
