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Healthtech startup Kenko Health, on Tuesday has raised $12 million as a part of its Series A round led by Sequoia Capital India . The round also saw participation from existing investors Beenext, Orios, 9Unicorns , and Waveform Ventures . 

According to the official statement, the startup will primarily use the funding to acquire customers, develop new products, and build a stellar team. Kenko will add categories such as dental, mental health, at-home care, sexual health, and many others to its OPD coverage.

The Bengaluru-based startup provides a subscription-based service that covers health expenses across OPD and hospitalisation, in collaboration with Insurance companies. As part of its OPD coverage, Kenko covers costs of doctor visits, medicine expenses, diagnostic tests, and more.

The platform is designed for middle-income households in Tier-II cities, who are not covered by standard health insurance schemes, either by their employers or otherwise.

Aniruddha Sen, Co-founder, Kenko Health, said, “We are proud and pleased to have our investors help us grow. Their expertise and network will catapult us in the right direction. The new funds will help us expand our channels and to ramp up growth in the coming months. We hope to add both affordability and accessibility to quality healthcare in India with our tech-enabled solutions. The increasing number of first-time health insurance buyers in the market states that people are looking for comprehensive health solutions and will not hesitate in buying it as long as it brings some real value and is well within their budget.”

“Since the onset of the pandemic, people have realised that the conventional health insurance packages remained unutilised in the long run as they are not inclusive of OPD expenses. Almost 70 percent of their lifetime healthcare expenses are incurred on the outpatient department costs which include doctor fees, medicine expenses, diagnostic tests and even non-prescription products and several services. At Kenko Health, we bridge this gap by providing overall protection to our customers through complete financing as well as assistance.” said, Dhiraj Goel, Co-founder, Kenko Health.

Founded in 2019, Kenko Health claims to have reached over 50,000 users across India, and aims to reach 2.5 lakh new users by the end of March 2022. Its services are available in over 40 cities across India including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Nagpur, Indore, Lucknow, Vijayawada, Kochi, Mangalore, etc.

Kenko offers easy-to-use plans, ranging from Rs 299 per month for young singles to Rs 1999 a month for families of four, with increasing benefits for each tier.

It also offers healthcare plans for large businesses, SMEs, individuals, and families.

“Managing health care expenses needs to be reimagined in India. Out of pocket settlement of healthcare expenses in India is as high as 62 percent compared to 11 percent in the US and 36 percent in China. Kenko Health is at the forefront of this change by offering affordable all-inclusive healthcare subscription packages with a seamless tech-first claims process. We are excited to partner with Kenko Health in this journey”, added Abhishek Mohan, Principal, Sequoia India.

The startup had previously raised $1.7 million as a part of its Pre-Series A round with BEENEXT and Orios as co-lead investors, and also saw participation from 9Unicorns and Waveform ventures.