Washington, D.C., November 7, 2002—
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector development arm of the World Bank Group, will invest up to US$1 million in an existing portfolio company, Spryance, Inc., a provider of outsourced medical transcription services in India. This investment follows a previous equity investment of $2 million in Spryance, Inc. by IFC in November 2000.
IFC’s investment—part of a $2.9 million financing alongside Spryance’s management team and other investors—will supply the expansion capital needed to support the company’s strategic development in its next stage of growth.
Spryance provides outsourcing services using web-based technologies, with an initial focus in the health information services industry. The company is specifically focused on the medical transcription market in the U.S. where it outsources medical transcription services to India via a Web-enabled process.
IFC’s investment will help Spryance build additional capacity in India and continue to develop its technology platform. Spryance’s innovative business model allows its team of medical transcriptionists (MTs) to work remotely out of their homes. Through the company’s technology platform, MTs can efficiently interface with customers and the company to provide a 24 hour turnaround time.
Spryance’s business model uses technology to expand global trade in services to those who have been previously unable to tap these opportunities. The company’s outsourcing platform helps to overcome the problems of distance, language, and poor communication that previously made the cross-border trade of skilled services difficult. Many of Spryance’s home-based MTs are women who have difficulty finding jobs. Spryance allows this under-employed segment of the population to find previously unavailable jobs.
Mr. Mohsen Khalil, the World Bank Group’s Director for Global Information and Communication Technologies, said, “Spryance is contributing to the creation of hundreds of highly skilled jobs in India and enhancing India’s position as a leading provider of IT enabled services. The company has positioned itself as an innovator in the growing market for outsourced healthcare information services.”
Raj Malhotra, the founder and CEO of Spryance, added, “Spryance is delighted with IFC’s continuing support. IFC’s expertise in capitalizing information and communications infrastructure on a global scale, its blue chip international partners, and its world-class investment resources will play an integral role in Spryance’s expansion plans.”
Spryance (
www.spryance.com
), a U.S.-and India-based company, is a leading provider of outsourced healthcare information services, with a particular focus in the medical transcription market. According to analyst estimates, the market for medical transcription services in the U.S. exceeds $10 billion. Spryance currently operates from multiple offices in the U.S. and India. The quality of its services has attracted clients that include the world’s leading transcription and healthcare information services companies. Since its inception, and after this funding, the company will have raised over $7 million in venture capital from angel and institutional investors.
The World Bank Group’s Global Information and Communication Technologies Department (
www.worldbank.org/ict
) promotes the transfer of communications and information technologies to the developing world. The Information Technologies Investments Group, part of GICT, is a stage-independent investor with an exclusive focus on building successful information technology businesses in the emerging markets. Formed in mid-2000, the group brings a global perspective to information technology, a long-term approach to investments, an ability to leverage the resources of the entire World Bank Group as well as a commitment to maximize the value of its portfolio companies through sustained strategic assistance.
IFC’s mission is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. Since its founding in 1956 through FY02, IFC has committed more than $34 billion of its own funds and arranged $21 billion in syndications for 2,825 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s worldwide committed portfolio as of FY02 was $15.1 billion for its own account and $6.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.