NephroPlus raises Rs 100 cr in series C funding

Leading dialysis service provider NephroPlus, which announced Rs 100-crore series C fundraising on Wednesday, will go for a stock exchange listing in the next two to three years, a company source told Business Standard.

The company is raising the latest round of funding from a clutch of investors led by SeaLink Capital Partners and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group. This funding is being seen as part of the run-up to listing of the company.

Following the series C round, Heramb Hajarnavis, managing partner, SeaLink Capital Partners, will join NephroPlus' board of directors.

The company plans to open 400 more centres in the next five years, primarily through partnership with hospitals. At a press briefing in the capital, NephroPlus founder and Chief Executive Vikram Vuppala said standalone centres would remain a majority for the next few years until health insurance in India improves.

It had recently partnered with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up 13 centres in the state in the public-private partnership mode.

As part of the expansion plan, the dialysis network is looking at four million treatments a year. It would mean creation of 5,000 skilled health services jobs, the company said.

NephroPlus, which has partnerships with hospitals such as Apollo, Fortis and Max Healthcare to provide dialysis support, had earlier received Rs 60 crore in a series B round of funding from IFC and Rs 23 crore in series A round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.

With only 10 per cent of end-stage renal disease patients in India having access to treatment, dialysis providers are on an expansion mode.

There are 1.5 million end-stage renal disease patients in the country and the number is growing by 150,000 every year.