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Vaatsalya Raises $10M From Aquarius India, Seedfund

By TEAM VCC

  • 13 Jun 2011

Bangalore-based Vaatsalya Healthcare Solutions Pvt Ltd has raised $10 million from Singapore-based Aquarius India Fund, managed by Aquarius Investment Advisors India Pvt Ltd, and its existing investor Seedfund. The funding will be used to develop a network of low-cost hospitals across the country.

This is the third time Seedfund has invested in the healthcare company. In the first round of funding, Seedfund and Aavishkaar India Micro Venture Capital Fund (a fund managed by Aavishkaar Venture Management Services) had jointly invested $1.5 million in Vaatsalya. During the Series B funding, Seedfund and Oasis Fund pumped in another $4.5 million.

Vaatsalya is a healthcare services company specialising in gynaecology, paediatrics, general surgery and general medicine. Its medical facilities also offer dialysis, intensive care, paediatric surgery, diabetology and neurosurgery. The company operates primary and secondary healthcare centres in seven districts of Karnataka – Hubli, Gadag, Karwar, Bijapur, Mandya, Raichur and Hassan.

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Aquarius India Fund (AIF) is an India-centric private equity fund focusing primarily on private equity investments (including PIPEs) in attractive medium-sized growth companies in India. Through its various funds, Aquarius has invested in many public and private companies such as MTR Foods, Napier Healthcare, Wizcraft, Mercator Lines, Equitas Micro-Finance, Vijay Nirman Company and Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company.

On the other hand, Seedfund mostly targets companies operating in segments like the Internet, mobile, retail, consumer media and technology. It provides funding for seed-stage capital requirements and its investment size ranges between $0.22 million and $1.1 million. Recently, Seedfund has invested $2.2 million in Mumbai-based Jeevanti Healthcare Pvt Ltd.

“Aquarius’ experience in working with mid-size and high growth companies across industries is going to be extremely valuable for our team. We are also honoured by our existing investor Seedfund’s continued support to Vaatsalya. Seedfund backed us at a very early stage in 2007-2008 while the business model was still evolving. And it has continued to support us throughout our growth period by infusing multiple rounds of funding. It’s not only a validation of the Vaatsalya model, but also underscores the critical role of investors like Seedfund who can support you from very early stage to growth stage, and be a true catalyst for the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India,” said Dr Ashwin Naik, co-founder and CEO, Vaatsalya.

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Incidentally, the healthcare segment has increasingly witnessed private equity investments in the current year. Intel Capital India Technology Fund entered into a definitive agreement to invest an undisclosed sum in Jodhpur-based Sudhir Srivastava Advanced Robotics Surgery Center Pvt Ltd. The company provides advanced robotic surgery procedures for surgical specialties. Again, Spring Healthcare Fund, managed by Sabre Partners India, invested $11.18 million in New Delhi-based Super Religare Laboratories Ltd in a pre-IPO investment. Super Religare Labs operates a pathology laboratory network across the country.

Recently, Sequoia Capital India II, a fund managed by Sequoia Capital India and Elevar Equity, invested $3.26 million in Kolkata-based Glocal Healthcare Systems Pvt  Ltd in series A funding. Also, Aureos Capital Ltd invested $10 million in BSR Super Specialty Hospitals Ltd. The firm owns and operates six diagnostic centres and two major hospitals across five cities in central India.

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