The acquisition of Health Mantra is Portea’s third attempt to expand its offerings in the home healthcare segment via acquisitions and strategic investments in the last six months.
Bengaluru: Home healthcare service provider Portea Medical, run by Health Vista India Pvt. Ltd on Thursday said it has acquired medical equipment service provider Health Mantra India Pvt. Ltd for an undisclosed amount in a cash and stock deal.
The acquisition will help Portea penetrate deeper into categories such as respiratory care, geriatric care and orthopedics.
The acquisition of Health Mantra is Portea’s third attempt to expand its offerings in the home healthcare segment through acquisitions and strategic investments in the last six months.
In November, the company had acquired specialty pharmaceutical distributor Medybiz Pharma Pvt. Ltd for an undisclosed amount in a cash and stock deal. The move was expected to help Portea leverage Medybiz’s expertise in catering to patients of diabetes, cardiology, oncology, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, tuberculosis and neurology among others.
In January, Portea picked up a majority stake in Takecare Technology Pvt. Ltd, which owns healthcare start-up PSTakeCare that provides consumers with information on doctors, hospitals and other healthcare service providers, helping them take decisions based on factors such as insurance cover provided, procedure-specific feedback and room-wise costs.
Health Mantra, which was launched in 2009 by Ashish Bhutada and Anoop Kodoli, claims to have more than 30 biomedical engineers, physiotherapists and service staff. It currently operates in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra.
“Portea is deeply committed to providing our patients with convenient and affordable solutions for all their healthcare needs. Medical equipment is often an integral element of effective home healthcare especially in areas such as diabetes, oncology, orthopedics, geriatric care, sleep and respiratory disorders,” said chief executive and managing director Meena Ganesh in a statement.
In September last year, Portea raised $37.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Accel Partners, with participation from International Finance Corp. (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, Qualcomm Ventures and Ventureast.
The company had earlier raised $9 million in a Series A round from Accel Partners, Qualcomm Ventures and Ventureast in December 2013.
Portea was founded in 2012 by Zachary Jones and Karan Aneja. It was sold to serial entrepreneurs Krishnan Ganesh and his wife Meena Ganesh in 2013 for an undisclosed amount, in an all equity deal.
The online healthcare segment in India is growing, with Portea leading the race in the home healthcare space, which entails general healthcare, post-hospitalization care, chronic disease management, besides allied services such as renting out diagnostics and medical equipment.
Portea competes with Health Care at Home India Pvt. Ltd, Homital Medcare Pvt. Ltd, Zoctr Health Pvt. Ltd and India Home Health Care, among others.
With industry estimates pegging the home healthcare market in India at more than $2 billion, this segment has stoked ample interest among investors.
For instance, US-based Bayada Home Health Care acquired a 26% stake in India Home Health Care in September 2013, while Health Care at Home India is a joint venture between UK’s Healthcare at Home and Dabur Group promoters.
This apart, a number of doctor discovery platforms and practice management solution providers such as Practo Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Lybrate Inc., Qikwell Technologies India Pvt Ltd, and Ziffi have also emerged in the last couple of years.
[“Source-Livemint”]