Trivitron aims to be a global medical tech firm with an Indian heart: GSK Velu, MD

By VCC Staff

  • 03 Jan 2013

Dr. GSK Velu, a first generation serial entrepreneur with more than 22 years work experience in the heathcare sector is a rare example of one who has been able to raise risk capital for each of his ventures. Velu began his entrepreneurial efforts when he founded Trivitron Healthcare in 1997, a medical devices manufacturer which specialises in in-vitro OEM medical devices & implantables, and managed to rope in HSBC & ePlanet Capital as private equity partners to raise $11million to build the enterprise.His other new ventures -- Metropolis, a diagnostics chain and Medfort- a single speciality eyecare hospital chain -- also caught PE interest early on. While Warburg Pincus put $85 million in Metropolis in 2010, homegrown PE investor TVS Capital infused as much as $13 million (Rs.90 crore) in Medfort in 2010. Dr Velu has also teamed up with Dr. Pratap Reddy's Apollo Hospitals in a dental care joint venture called Alliance Medicorp, in which he holds a 30 per cent stake. In a video interaction with VC Circle, Dr.Velu shares the key focus areas for Trivitron and expansion plans and what spaces within the healthcare value chain will see investor interest going forward.