Meena Ganesh led Portea Medical eyes expansion in India, Malaysia; bags funding from Accel, others The company had earlier raised about $9 million in Series A funding from Accel, Qualcomm Ventures and Ventureast in Dec 2013.

Bengaluru headquartered home healthcare company Portea Medical has secured $37.5 million in Series B round of funding led by Accel Partners. International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group; Qualcomm Ventures and Ventureast also participated in this round. With this investment, Arun Mathew, investor at Accel will join the Portea's Board of Directors.

Commenting on the investment, Mathew said, "There is a tremendous need to offer an in-home healthcare option for millions of people in India and other emerging markets. Portea's service actually improves health outcomes for patients because it combines highly trained physicians/nurses and technology, making the healthcare process more efficient and accessible."

Speaking on the same lines, Pravan Malhotra, IFC's venture capital lead for South and Southeast Asia added, "IFC's venture team invests in early growth companies that offer innovative technologies or business models. Portea's model of providing affordable and quality care for patients in their homes ensures that hospital infrastructure and beds can be utilised for more critical medical cases and procedures. Our investment in the company will also help them create jobs and a skilled workforce, thus creating opportunity in tier two and tier three cities in India. This is our third venture capital healthcare investment in India and part of IFC's strategic approach to improve access to quality health services in Asia."

The start-up plans to utilise the latest funding to fuel the company's expansion in India and Malaysia. The company had earlier raised about $9 million in Series A funding from Accel, Qualcomm Ventures and Ventureast in December 2013. The venture was initially founded by Zachary Jones and Karan Aneja in 2012. Later on, it was sold to the husband-wife duo Krishnan Ganesh and Meena Ganesh in 2013.

Krishnan Ganesh is a serial entrepreneur with four successful green field ventures and exits. His last venture, TutorVista was acquired by US and UK listed education leader Pearson. Whereas, Meena Ganesh is one of India's foremost business leaders and most successful entrepreneur with nearly three decades of experience in industries including healthcare, consulting, technology, outsourcing, education and e-commerce.

"This investment from marquee investors recognizes the rapid strides Portea has made as well as points to our prospects as we build the company into India's leading consumer healthcare brand in the coming years," said Meena Ganesh, MD & CEO, Portea.

Owned and operated by HealthVista India Private Limited, Portea focuses on general primary health care, post-hospitalisation care, chronic disease management and allied services such as diagnostics and medical equipment on hire thereby bringing the entire gamut of healthcare services to a patient's doorstep. The company works with hospitals, insurance companies and individuals to improve health outcomes by providing a continuity of care in the home setting through doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and nursing attendants employed by Portea.

"When we set up Portea, our aim was to make world-class primary care conveniently accessible. Over the last 18 months, we have had the privilege of serving thousands of people and helping patients and their families deal with a range of healthcare challenges," said Meena Ganesh.

Currently, the company operates across 24 cities in India and in four cities in Malaysia. The firm has more than 40 hospitals as partners, and a network of referring physicians all over India. Handling 60,000 visits in a month to patients' homes, Portea has more than 3,000 staff and plans to recruit an additional 5,000 employees over the next 18 months in line with the company's growth plans across the region.