B2B Tech Startup MedPay Connects the Fragmented Primary Health Care Sector to a Cashless OPD Insurance Network

·         MedPay raises $1.2 million seed funding from UK-based talent investor Entrepreneur First (EF) and GrowX Ventures.

·         Within a year, MedPay processed OPD payments to the tune of Rs. 14 Cr+

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Bengaluru-based B2B Tech startup MedPay has built an API infrastructure that connects healthcare service providers – standalone clinics, pharmacies and Labs – to insurance companies through its innovative MedPay Connected Care Network (CCN). With its AI-powered platform, MedPay aspires to build India’s largest integrated Primary Healthcare Network and enable healthcare centers to accept insurance payments in real-time, while facilitating a cashless claim process for the insured.

MedPay Founders – Mr. Ravi Chandra and Mr. Arun Bhatia

Over 95% of retail pharmacies in India are unorganized. MedPay’s (API) approach and CCN aims to connect the primary healthcare centers, pharmacies with cashless insurance network, thus bringing them into the digital economy. So far, MedPay has successfully raised $1.2 million seed funding, led by UK-based talent tech investor firm, Entrepreneur First (EF); GrowX Ventures also participated in the seed round.

Founded by Arun Bhatia and Ravi Chandra, MedPay was launched in April 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The founders had met and developed the startup idea at EF’s six-month cohort in February 2020. With the right mentorship and interaction with early-stage investor community, MedPay has been able to create a unique, fast-growing network in the digital healthcare space vis–vis health insurance.

Currently, MedPay CCN has access to 50,000+ health centers spread across 450 cities covering 4000+ pin codes. In other words, every neighbourhood in India has a MedPay CCN-enabled pharmacy, clinic and diagnostic lab (pathology and radiology). MedPay does not compete with e-pharmacy companies; the company acts as an enabler of local pharmacies to better serve their neighbourhoods. Unlike chronic patients, acute patients generally look for short turnaround time in medicine delivery and that is ideally achieved by a neighbourhood pharmacy.

Multiple players (client segments) can avail of MedPay’s Connected Care Network’s API-as-a-Service to offer their services – Insurance companies to offer OPD Cashless services; Corporates & Online platforms for hyperlocal care delivery and so on. Indias top-rated healthcare platform, MFine, leverages MedPays CCN for hyperlocal fulfilments of various health services

Mr. Ravi Chandra, Co-founder and CEO of MedPay said, “There is immense need for OPD insurance in India. IRDAI, the regulatory body, is encouraging insurers to cover OPD costs and most insurers are experimenting with a variety of OPD insurance products. As a disruptor in this nascent space, MedPay is empowering insurers by giving them access to a large OPD network with a cashless claims facility. We are also enabling stand-alone clinics, pharmacies and labs to accept insurance payments without any friction. In a short span of time, there has been a significant volume of demand aggregated by MedPay for small pharmacies. We have processed OPD transactional payment volume of Rs. 14 Cr+ in one year.”

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, MedPay has been growing rapidly by enabling the unorganized OPD segment to transact digitally with customers in their neighbourhoods. Stand-alone pharmacies have benefited immensely through digital processing of medicine orders during the long period of lockdowns and restricted movements in different parts of the country. MedPay is creating significant value by aggregating high volumes of demand and, in turn, passing on the value to its partners – stand-alone pharmacies, clinics and diagnostic labs.

Ms. Esha Tiwary – General Manager, India at Entrepreneur First, said, “Arun and Ravi first met at our biannual cohort in February 2020 and very quickly identified this burning problem in the market. Their solution will unlock a largely untapped OPD insurance sector, creating value for patients and insurers alike. Their smart distribution strategy has allowed them to expand rapidly and become the backbone connecting healthcare service providers across 450 cities. We are excited about their next phase of growth and disruption of this sector through a very innovative business model.”

Mr. Manu Rikhye, Partner at GrowX Ventures, noted, “One of the key drivers of low adoption of health insurance in India is lack of an organized and large primary healthcare network. MedPay is leveraging tech to build India’s largest such network that not only allows patients to access and consume services in a frictionless manner, but also facilitates businesses and insurers to leverage a reliable, diverse and pan-India network to acquire new customer segments and significantly lower cost per transaction.”