Nutraceuticals Healthtech Startup Innovcare Raises US$6.4 Mn, Plans to Bolster Growth & Expansion The market is exploding at a compounded annual growth rate of over 20%
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Health tech startups have been garnering the support of the investors. The health and wellness wave has hit India in the absolute sense. With innovation and support coming from both sides respectively, India has finally embraced health and has amalgamated technology with it for better.
Mumbai-based growth capital equity fund, JM Financial Private Equity Fund II, has invested US$6.4 million in Mumbai-based health and wellness focused fast - growing nutraceutical company, Innovcare Lifesciences Private Limited. Nutraceutical is term used for dietary supplements which also hold nutritional value. The funds will be utilized to bolster the company's expansion plans into new therapeutic areas. The proceeds will also support augmentation of the current product portfolio.O3 Capital and Economic Laws Practice came on board as the advisors on the deal.
Diving into the Billion-Dollar Market
The Indian nutraceutical market is expected to grow from US$ 2.2 billion in 2015 to US$ 6.1 billion by 2020 at a compounded annual growth rate of over 20%. Innovare was founded in 2014 by Lalit Wadhawan, Dipin Varma, Chandan Rajmane, and Vijay Dubey. Its mission is to meet the nutritional demands of the various demographics of India where there is a rising awareness towards dietary supplements sports nutrition and weight management products for health and wellness.
The investment or fundraise comes at a crucial juncture for both the investor and the company.
Lalit Wadhawan, Managing Director and CEO, Innovcare said in a statement, "Innovcare has emerged as a fast growing nutraceutical focused player in the country. This growth capital infusion and partnership with a seasoned investor like JM Financial Private Equity will help us accelerate our current expansion plans while staying true to the company's founding principles."
Darius Pandole, Managing Director & CEO, PE & Equity AIFs, said that the fund infusion will help Innovcare in expanding its product portfolio in a more aggressive manner. He also added, "Partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams with the vision to build scalable and sustainable businesses has been the key focus of JM Financial Private Equity. Innovcare has been growing consistently since it was founded and we strongly believe in the management's disciplined and innovative approach. We believe the nutraceuticals sector in India is rapidly evolving to appeal to a larger and broader customer base due to rising consumer awareness and increased focus on health and wellness."
The Indian Healthtech Market
India's health tech market has boomed and transformed the healthcare sector vividly. According to a report by NASSCOM, technology is addressing the 3 main pillars of health, namely, healthcare access and delivery, quality and affordability of healthcare. The report also states, "In India, particularly, with lower density of skilled health professionals (27.5 per 10,000 population), significant divide between cities and remote areas and a high percentage of out-of-pocket expenditure (62.4%), makes technology intervention indispensable." This is fundamentally why health tech startups in India have a deeper and a crucial role to play. Even though AI, data analytics, machine learning and automation have been a favourite among investors, healthtech startups are still upping their investment game.
