DocsApp looks to cure fund woes with Rs 36 crore from Bessemer

CHENNAI: Digital medical consultation platform DocsApp is close to finalising its Series-A fundraise of about Rs 36 crore ($5.5 million) from Bessemer Venture Partners to enable the IIT-Madras-incubated startup expand its roster of services and get more visibility in the Indian market.

Four people aware of the developments confirmed with ET that it was in advanced stages, and is likely to close in two weeks. Queries sent to one of the founders of DocsApp and the investors remain unanswered.

Set up by IIT-Madras alumni Satish Kannan and Enbasekar D, DocsApp promises to deliver a doctor within half an hour. Its mobile-only platform enables interactions with doctors for nearly 1,600 people every day. It offers a WhatsApp-like chat platform for patients to have conversations chat or call - with medical service providers, and share diagnostic documents for consultation.

Through the app, one can book lab tests and order medicines. The company had raised seed funding last year of Rs 8 crore through a round led by Japanese venture capital firm Rebright Partners and its founding partner Takeshi Ebihara. Angel investors in Facebook Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman had also participated in the fundraiser.

The Bengaluru-based company was incubated in IIT Madras and the institute's vast alumni network enabled the investors Harinarayan and Rajaraman to discover DocsApp.

DocsApp lever ages in-app chatting techniques to keep up engagement levels with its target group. It has also solved the puzzle of reaching out to the unbanked segments in the country through partnerships with telecom service providers: through an OTP-based authentication system, patient need to just top-up their own phone balances which would be deducted by the telecom company and passed on to DocsApp. Kannan said the company has tie-ups with all major telecom providers in the country.