Medwell Ventures raises $10 million from Fidelity Growth Partners India

Medwell Ventures Private Limited, the operator of Nightingales specialty home healthcare services in India, has announced that Fidelity Growth Partners India (FGPI) and Fidelity Biosciences, Boston have acquired a significant minority stake in the company with a $10 million investment.

Medwell an early mover in the home healthcare delivery segment, caters to the growing demand for high quality specialty medical care services at home. The company was established in March 2014 in Bangalore with a vision to create a new model of healthcare delivery for chronic diseases in the out-of-hospital space.

Following the acquisition of Nightingales Home Health Services, Medwell has grown rapidly in Bangalore. It recently established operations in Hyderabad and is currently in the advanced stages of a Mumbai launch, it plans to build its network across ten metro clusters in India and increase its subscriber base to cover over 500,000 families.

The Nightingales team numbers more than 300 medical and paramedic professionals comprising of Doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, speech therapists and trained bedside paramedical caregivers specializing in chronic care disease management.

The company is focused on ensuring excellence in patient health outcomes through a validated protocol and care plan driven approach for chronic diseases such as congestive heart failure, stroke management, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders (COPD), wound care management for diabetics, dementia care, Alzheimer’s care and arthritic pain management. The company’s focus on new models of care has also led to the start of an innovative home dentistry program. Nightingales has further established relationships with key medical technology providers to enhance its reach and effectiveness of service delivery.

The company was founded by Vishal Bali (former Group CEO, Fortis Healthcare and Wockhardt Hospitals), Dr. Ferzaan Engineer (former CEO of Quintiles India) and two senior industry professionals, Lalit Pai and Himanshu Shah. The company also has an eminent Board comprising of the above named founders, Gillian Corken, Akila Krishnakumar, Dr. Gert Hoogland and Dr. Oppel Greeff, and will now be joined by Dr. Prem Pavoor from FGPI and Dr. Ketan Patel from Fidelity Biosciences.
The company plans to expand rapidly across the country and has brought together a competent and professional senior management team with several decades of experience in healthcare services across key functions under Mr Lalit Pai, CEO, Nightingales.

“The healthcare delivery ecosystem in India needs innovative solutions with scalable business models. Over the next 15 years, chronic diseases will cost India Rs 280 trillion. We have a strong conviction that speciality home healthcare is one of the key solutions to managing the rising trend of high cost chronic diseases in the country. This investment by Fidelity is a validation of our model and a recognition of the evolving Indian healthcare delivery landscape”, said Vishal Bali, Chairman and Co-founder, Medwell Ventures.

Dr. Ferzaan Engineer, Joint-Chairman and Co-founder, Medwell Ventures commented, “Nightingales focuses on providing technology-led solutions to serve its growing customer base across India in a consistent and scalable manner. Fidelity’s global experience and expertise in healthcare will help differentiate Nightingales’ service offerings.”

Commenting on the transaction, Dr. Prem Pavoor, MD at Fidelity Growth Partners India (FGPI) said, “This investment reflects FGPI’s keen interest in partnering with distinctive management teams to build leaders within still emerging segments in the healthcare and life sciences industry in the country. We see tremendous potential for a clinically focused, world-class provider of chronic care healthcare services at home. Fidelity is excited to partner with Vishal, Ferzaan, Lalit and Himanshu in this phase of Medwell’s growth.”

BMR Advisors acted as the sole financial advisors and BMR Legal acted as legal advisors to Medwell Ventures for this transaction.