Fintech start-up mops up Rs.20 crore

BENGALURU: Affordplan, a financial technology start-up has raised Rs.20 crore as part of its series-A funding, led by Prime Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital as a co-investor.

The Delhi-based firm said that it is focused on making healthcare accessible and affordable through planned savings for non-emergency medical services. The company would use the funds to expand the current team, build the network and scale the business to new cities across the country.

“Our goal is to build the best tech-led healthcare payments platform in India,” said Tejbir Singh, chief executive of Affordplan. He co-founded the firm along with Hemal Bhatt in December 2015.

Affordplan said it enables hospitals to provide a tailored solution for patients to plan, save, and pay for their upcoming medical procedures. It said the solution is ideal for non-emergency procedures which can be planned for in advance such as pregnancy, eye care, dental and plastic surgeries.

Affordplan said it provides the hospitals with the visibility of future cash flows. This enables the hospital to deliver the prescribed treatment without any interruptions and also decreases incidences of refusing treatments to patients because of cash-flow issues. Mr.Singh said demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes had no impact on the firm and it actually helped the company. He said the customers who had initiated plans with Affordplan had already deposited the money into the hospital’s account.

“They did not have to worry about paying Rs 20,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 in cash and exchange their (old) currency,” said Mr.Singh in an interview. “If they had to pay lump sum at the time they were getting admitted, it would have been a problem.”

According to Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India less than 20 percent Indians have health insurance cover. More than 300 million Indians, earning between Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh a year, struggle to get quality medical care.

“Application of fintech in order to make healthcare more accessible and affordable is the need of the hour in India,” said Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner, Prime Venture Partners.

Liquidity constraints prevent a number of patients from paying a lump sum amount at the time of hospital admission. Affordplan said that around 70-80 percent Indians pay out of their pockets for healthcare expenses, one of the highest in the world.