Kenko Health raises $12 mn in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital

Plans to utilise funds for acquiring customers, product development and building leadership team

Bangalore-based Kenko Health, a healthtech startup has raised $12 million as a part of its Series A round with Sequoia Capital India as lead investor. The round also saw participation from Beenext, Orios, 9Unicorns and Waveform as existing investors. 

Kenko Health provides a subscription-based service that covers health expenses across OPD and hospitalisation in collaboration with insurance companies. As part of its OPD coverage, Kenko covers costs of doctor visits, medicine expenses, diagnostic tests, and more. 

These have been designed for middle income households in Tier 2 cities, who are not covered by standard health insurance schemes, either by their employers or otherwise. Monthly payments, instant benefits, wide coverage and competitive pricing have helped Kenko Health with gaining traction, said the company. 

The investment will primarily be used to acquire customers, develop new products and build a stellar team. Kenko will add categories such as dental, mental health, at-home care, sexual health and many others to its OPD coverage.  

Kenko Health had previously raised $1.7 million as a part of its pre-Series A round with BeeNext and Orios as co-lead investors, and also saw participation from 9Unicorns and Waveform ventures. 

Founded in 2019, Kenko Health claims to have already reached over 50,000 users across India and aims to cross 2.5 lakh new users by the end of March 2022 by offering these services to its members in over 40 cities across India including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Nagpur, Indore, Lucknow, Vijayawada, Kochi, Mangalore, among others. 

It offers plans ranging from Rs 299 per month for young singles all the way up to Rs 1,999 a month for families of four. It also offers healthcare plans for large businesses, SMEs, individuals, and families. 

Kenko provides comprehensive plans focused on OPD along with IPD coverage from an insurance company as a part of the membership benefits. It uses a tech-first approach to fill in the gaps in claims settlement by ensuring that expenses are paid in full without deductions and also paid out in advance, just before hospital admission. 

Aniruddha Sen, Co-founder, Kenko Health, said, “The increasing number of first time health insurance buyers in the market states that people are looking for comprehensive health solutions and will not hesitate in buying it as long as it brings some real value and is well within their budget.” 

“Managing health care expenses needs to be reimagined in India. Out of pocket settlement of healthcare expenses in India is as high as 62 per cent compared to 11 per cent in the US and 36 per cent in China. Kenko Health is at the forefront of this change by offering affordable all-inclusive healthcare subscription packages with a seamless tech-first claims process. We are excited to partner with Kenko Health in this journey”, said Abhishek Mohan, Principal, Sequoia India.