A majority stake in Infigo Life Sciences, an eye care specialty platform has been obtained by IIFL Asset Management Limited (IIFL-AMC) through IIFL India Private Equity Fund for ₹70 crore.
The fund will invest the obtained sum across multiple tranches, enabling Infigo to set up over 20 eye care specialty centres.
“India is witnessing an interesting trend with people preferring to visit branded specialty centers for their healthcare needs. In a country where most eye care practices are individually-run and often lack protocols or standards, there is an opportunity to create a pan-India franchise of speciality eye care centres. The current gap in demand and supply and increasing consumer preference for branded chains presents a unique opportunity,” Prashasta Seth, senior managing partner, IIFL AMC, said.
Infigo, Mumbai-based eye care specialty platform was founded in 2017 by Anil Vasudev Kamath and Shridhar Thakur.
Infigo claimed that the centres are predominantly expected to be initially set up in western India. The company started with six centres, four eye care hospitals and two 3D eye clinics in Mumbai.
At present, Infigo looks to open two eye care hospitals by August in Maharashtra. The company plans to open a total of 15 centres within one year, with 10 centres in Mumbai, and the remaining five spread across Maharashtra.
“We are delighted to welcome IIFL India PE Fund to partner with us in the exciting journey of tapping into the huge potential offered by the Indian eye care sector. There is a huge void for quality eye care service at an affordable cost and IIFL’s support will help us fill this void. All our hospitals will be eyeing at NABH accreditation in immediate future,” Shridhar Thakur, founder of Infigo Life sciences said.
While, IIFL AMC launched the IIFL India Private Equity Fund in May 2018. The fund seeks to back professional entrepreneurs at an early stage in emerging sectors like healthcare, technology, financial services and consumer goods.
Other prominent eye care startups includes Drishti, and ERC Eye Care, among many others.