Idea Bubbles, a Bangalore-based startup in the healthcare technology space, has recently raised INR 4.5 crore (~USD 700,000) in equity funding from early stage funding platform 1Crowd, and leading health and hygiene company Eureka Forbes Limited, along with its parent Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Private Limited.
Founded by IIT Delhi-IIM Calcutta alumnus and serial entrepreneur, Gururaj Potnis, Idea Bubbles has developed a formidable proposition around the core theme of monetizing doctor’s professional time in a smartphone-centric world. Its ‘Eureka Forbes Good Health’ (EFGH) platform enables doctors to offer patients full-fledged teleconsultation services underpinned by a suite of offerings including digitized medical records and seamless plugins to other healthcare providers. Idea Bubbles’ twin platform, ‘HappiDoc’, neatly ties into EFGH by providing doctors a curated stream of top notch medical research and case articles, while also facilitating market research for pharma companies and sponsored continuous medical education (CME) programs.
On this latest fund raise Mr. Anup Kuruvilla, co-founder of 1Crowd said, “We were swift to spot the disruptive potential in Idea Bubbles’ business model and Gururaj’s vision, coupled with the proportion of the healthcare market that continues to be underserved in the Indian context. Our ecosystem at 1Crowd allows us to go far beyond the role of a funding partner, by providing portfolio companies like Idea Bubbles connectivity to industry as well as partnering with them on strategic matters in subsequent phases of their evolution. Moreover, this collaborative effort stands out in the light of our partnership with Eureka Forbes in addition to Idea Bubbles, and the three of us are together aligned to create a healthcare enterprise with pan India presence,”
Dr. Raman Venkatesh, CEO of Technology & Corporate Development, Eureka Forbes Limited said, “Eureka Forbes, as a leader in health and hygiene consumer products with over 10 million customers including 1.62 lac doctors, sees big potential in the healthcare enablement sector. With India having a very low doctor-patient ratio, Eureka Forbes Good Health is a powerful and convenient enabler of family health services and health data management for individuals and also, all employers keen to improve their employee productivity. This venture is trailblazing for Eureka Forbes in both the business model and the go-to-market strategy, which we executed successfully in the pilot. Through our unique partnership with Idea Bubbles and 1Crowd, which we will build on in national scale-up, EFGH will soon become an essential service to millions of users across India,”
“Unlike most ventures in this domain, the Idea Bubbles proposition truly spans the healthcare continuum represented by doctors, patients and pharma companies in a smartphone-centric world. Our vision is to tie-in the ‘doctor to patient’ and ‘industry to doctor’ loops seamlessly to deliver an integrated healthcare ecosystem. The strength of the Eureka Forbes brand and access to the largest field force of 8,000+ Eureka Forbes sales team in India is what makes us stand apart in consumer recall and trust,” said Gururaj Potnis, CEO of Idea Bubbles, who has successfully started and exited two ventures in the past.
The company has made significant strides over the past six months. Through its limited launch in Bangalore alone, EFGH has quickly grown to over 12,000 patients and 600 doctors on its roster and has already completed 1,000+ transactions. It has subsequently expanded its doctor footprint to 10 cities, while offering consumers both retail and corporate subscriptions, and has signed up 5 leading corporates for employee preventive health programs.
HappiDoc, on the other hand, has developed a bank of high quality medical content across sixteen practice areas as well as engaged in various CME programs at reputed institutions such as the Bangalore Medical College.
Collaborations with prominent pharma firms are imminent. The funds raised will be utilized to scale up efforts on both the doctor-patient and doctor-pharma platforms.
The co-investors, Eureka Forbes and 1Crowd, are both keenly contributing to the venture in terms of operational and strategic guidance. While Eureka Forbes is closely working with Idea Bubbles on sales, distribution, operations and brand building, 1Crowd is actively associated with the company on financial strategy and corporate customer acquisition.
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