NephroPlus secures $10 mn funds from IFC, BVP

Kidney care clinics chain NephroPlus has secured USD 10 million (Rs 59.2 crore) funding from International Finance Corporation and venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners.
"IFC has invested USD 7 mn while BVP invested USD 3 mn for a minority stake in our company," NephroPlus Founder and CEO Vikram Vuppala told reporters here.
"The investment will be used by NephroPlus to expand its network of dialysis centres to 150 centres across the country from current 26 in 10 states, over the next 3-4 years by aligning with partners such as large hospital chains and single location hospitals," Vuppala said.
"This investment will also be used to hire talent and in continuous training of our clinical and operational teams," he said, adding that "we may be looking at securing debt in near future".

The company, which is country's largest dialysis provider had received first round of series A funding from BVP in November 2011, while this (series B) investment is IFC's first health care venture capital investment in South Asia and also the first from IFC's USD 250 million Early Stage Investment Program, he said.
"Over the next five years, NephroPlus aims to treat over 20,000 patients (on a regular basis) and create around 10,000 skilled health services jobs. We also intend to talk to government of various states on help to subsidise the treatment costs," Vuppala said.
"India remains a highly under-served market for dialysis services. There are an estimated 1 million people in India who require to undergo dialysis sessions three times a week to stay alive.

"However, the availability of services is less than 10 per cent, implying a large market gap and an attractive growth opportunity for service providers," he added.