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Medical procedures are always nerve-wracking, especially during surgeries. Right from diagnosis and consultation to surgery and recovery, there are several steps of care involved in the process that can be both difficult and scary for patients.

Gurugram-based Pristyn Care is aimed at supporting patients through the entire process and provide a hassle-free surgery experience.

Founded in August 2018 by Dr Vaibhav Kapoor, Dr Garima Sawhney, and Harsimarbir Singh, the startup provides end-to-end support services such as diagnostics support, complete health-insurance, claims processing, hospital admission paperwork from the comfort of home, cab pick-up and drop for surgery, medicine delivery at home, and free post-surgery consultation.

Speaking with YourStory, Harsimarbir explains that in the medical ecosystem, sometimes people with connections inside the hospital or doctors get access to better care.

“Anybody’s financial condition, background, and gender does not matter to us. If you are with Pristyn, every patient is special and it stands for fairness. Every patient who comes to Pristyn gets a ‘Personal-Care Buddy’ who supports the patient right from the first consultation with the doctors to the time they go back home post-surgery,” he adds.

Since its launch, Pristyn Care claims to have completed over 25,000 surgeries so far, and is recording up to 3,500 surgeries per month at present.

In close to three years, Pristyn Care has raised a total of $81 million from investors such as Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Hummingbird, GreenOaks, and Epiq Capital. The most recent one being its $53 million Series D fundraise in April. With this round, the startup’s valuation has crossed over $550 million.

Patient-first approach

Pristyn Care places itself as a patient-focused healthtech startup. Harsimarbir explains that every patient gets a personal-care buddy assigned who understands their symptoms and helps them get an appointment with doctors suited for their condition.

“The care buddy also helps the patient get their diagnostic tests done through Pristyn Care’s ICMR approved partner labs. They will also connect with the insurance team at Pristyn Care and get the paperwork done on behalf of the patients,” he adds.

The startup said it ensures the patient admission process takes less than 30 minutes. It is further automating its processes to bring it down to 10 minutes. The startup also takes care of the entire discharge in under two hours. It is looking to further looking to reduce it to 30 mins.

It also has its own ‘Doctor app’ specifically developed for Pristyn Care doctors for online consultations and follow-ups with the patient.

Co-founder Dr Garima Sawhney, a gynecologist, believes that “personal touch and connect” with the patients was missing from the ecosystem. According to her, Pristyn Care is working to ensure that personal care is available to all the patients.

Pristyn Care currently performs surgeries for over 50 diseases across piles, gynecological issues, phimosis, varicose veins, DVT, hernia, sinus, gallstones, cataract surgery, etc., using advanced medical technology such as laser, laparoscopy, microdebriders. It operates in over 30 cities and towns across India at present.

Building a strong team

The startup has a team of 1,100 members, including 200+ full time doctors. It is also working with over 100 consulting doctors. It currently owns over 100 clinics and is working with more than 400 hospitals across the country.

According to Dr Vaibhav Kapoor, the major factor behind Pristyn Care’s growth is its strong team. “When we launched, the three of us were pretty much taking care of every function of the company. But a lot of effort has gone into building a very strong team and leadership because of which there is a specific focus on every area.”

The business

The healthtech market in India has been growing steadily and has seen rapid growth due to the pandemic outbreak. According to the IAMAI-Praxis report titled ‘HealthTech Predictions 2021,’ the health technology market currently stands at $1.9 billion.

The healthtech market is growing at a 39 percent CAGR to reach $5 billion by 2023, the report noted. Several notable players such as Practo, Pharmeasy, 1MG, and Mfine among others are working to ensure digitalisation in the healthcare space in India.

Speaking about the business model, the founders explain that the costs largely depend on the type of surgery to be done, the patients’ medical condition, and also on the hospital chosen by the patient. It has a roster of 400 hospitals where patient surgeries are done.

The startup works in partnership with hospitals on a pre-agreed remuneration.

The startup claims to have crossed an annualised revenue run rate of $40 million in the last five months and crossed $12 million annualised revenue run rate in 2019-2020.

Plans ahead

Speaking about their future plans, the co-founders explain that investment will be made to build a bigger brand.

“We want to reach a place where if someone thinks about surgery, they will think about Pristyn Care,” Harsimarbir says.

Apart from this, he explains that while Pristyn is working across 30 cities, not all surgery types are available across the cities. So the startup is looking to expand its services.

It is also working to advance its offering in medical technology and offer all kinds of minimally invasive procedures.

“In the next five years, Pristyn Care will have expanded into 50 more disease and surgical areas,” Dr Garima says.