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Mumbai-based Free3 Healthcare, a health care start-up that runs a chain of affordable dental clinics branded Smile Merchants, has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round of funding led by Unitus Seed Fund. A report estimated the funding to be between between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore. The company plans to use the funds raised to develop its hub-and-spoke clinic model in Maharashtra and expand into other parts of the country. This is Unitus' third healthcare investment after Welcare, which offers affordable eye screening services, and Medypal, an online healthcare marketplace.
Founded in 2012, Smile Merchants currently operates four clinics in and around Bhiwandi, a town near Mumbai. It caters to patients located outside large metros and in villages. It uses a three-tier hub-and-spoke model to reach out to its target market: hub clinics in Tier-II and -III cities, mini-hubs in smaller towns, and spoke clinics in villages. Clinics in villages serve at least 90 per cent of dental patients, with treatments like root canals, tooth extractions and replacements.
