Here's What Helped CureJoy Raise Fresh Round of Funds "Fundraising isn't a goal in itself, it does help in validating the direction and as an appreciation of whatever success we have had so far"
By Sneha Banerjee •
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Amid a down round in funding and dipping valuations, a funding announcement always comes as a ray of hope to the concerned domain and motivates entrepreneurs to work harder to achieve their goals.
CureJoy, an online platform which helps users connect with medical experts from various fields, raised $4.4 million in a fresh round of Series-A funds from Accel Partners and a group of other angel investors.
Raising funds amid down-rounds
CEO and co-founder Dikshant Dave spoke to Entrepreneur Media on what it takes to earn investors' faith amidst a phase of dry funding. "Fundraising isn't a goal in itself, it does help in validating the direction and as an appreciation of whatever success we have had so far. So in that sense it's a great feeling especially in these times. What has helped us is our focus on the actual business problem and less on artificial and most often unnecessary factors like valuations, fund raising climate, etc. We believe that while the funding climate has changed from what it was over last 6-8 quarters and slide further down, good companies will continue to perform and raise money," he said.
Indians now take health very seriously
San Francisco and Bengaluru-based CureJoy is an effort to bring the knowledge and reliable information about the alternative medical disciplines and natural approach to the masses and help one make an informed healthcare decision.
Every Indian today is more conscious and concerned about his health than he was ever before. In today's day and age working professionals, house-wives and the 60-plus population has switched to green teas, sugar-free sweets and yoga from malai-chais (milk teas) and sweets. In a scenario like this, 19 percent of Curejoy's viewership comes from India and the rest from the United States and other western countries. But Dikshant believes that this number would improve!
"What Broadband and Personal computers did to Information access about a 18-20 years ago, smartphone and 3G/4G are doing the same again, with a far larger reach in India and other developing nations. When Information becomes more accessible and easy, Health and general wellness is the basic human need and questions around them become the first ones that people want to get answers for. We are witnessing a big change in the way people look and address their personal health. More people are starting to understand their health and take measures to stay fit and healthy," he said.
What aided penetration in the U.S. and other western countries?
Dikshant said that US has been their focus market since the very beginning and the company has invested in understanding and learning that market. "In the US( and most other western countries) the current healthcare system has issues and by some measures, almost broken. People there are starting to see this, understand and have started looking for options," Dikshant added.
The company tries to bring the best natural health practices, cures, therapies from various disciplines and geographies, curate them with the help of its expert panel and publish within the community.
The company plans to invest the new funds in growing the adjacent sub verticals like yoga, beauty, nutrition, parenting, etc with dedicated focus and teams around them. The company is also witnessing a pretty significant upswing in video content consumption, hence that will also be an area where we would like to invest and grow further.
