New Delhi, India, June 12, 2014
— IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has invested $7 million in dialysis provider NephroPlus to expand access to high quality kidney care services in India. The company aims to reach over 8,000 patients and help create 1,000 skilled health services jobs in the next five years, almost a third of these will be for women.
This is IFC's first healthcare venture capital investment in South Asia, and also the first from IFC's $250 million Early Stage Investment Program. The investment will be used by NephroPlus to expand its network of dialysis centers in India. NephroPlus already operates 26 dialysis centers across ten states in India. Besides IFC, existing investor, Bessemer Venture Partners, has invested an additional $3 million in NephroPlus.
“IFC is a long-term partner for NephroPlus with significant healthcare expertise and a broad network of healthcare clients across emerging markets,” said Vikram Vuppala, Founder and CEO, NephroPlus. “The investment will enable NephroPlus to leverage IFC’s global healthcare knowledge and industry relationships with a view to expand NephroPlus’ quality dialysis care model in India.”
India remains a highly under-served market for dialysis services. An estimated one million people in India are required to undergo dialysis sessions thrice a week. However, almost nine out of ten people who need dialysis do not have access to it, and it is clinically and financially difficult for hospitals to provide this service. Specialized operators such as NephroPlus help people improve the length and quality of their lives.
“Providing high quality dialysis care in a highly underserved market not only improves quality of life for chronic kidney care patients, but also creates skilled healthcare jobs and boosts growth,” said Pravan Malhotra, Venture Capital Lead for South Asia at IFC. “High quality dialysis providers with a commitment to operational excellence need to scale up to meet India’s enormous healthcare needs. IFC is providing capital and assistance to help NephroPlus in this endeavor.”
IFC is the world’s largest multilateral investor in the private health care sector in emerging markets, with financing of over $2.2 billion to 164 private health care and life sciences projects in 53 countries. IFC-supported health projects treat about 12 million patients annually. IFC’s Venture Capital Division provides equity financing to early and growth-stage companies across sectors including clean technology, information technology, healthcare, education, and agribusiness.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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