IFC invests $5.5mn in Eye-Q Vision

The investment will help the eye-hospital chain to expand access to high-quality and affordable eye-care services to Indian non-metro cities

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today announced that it has invested $5.5 million in eye-hospital chain Eye-Q Vision. The investment will help expand access to high-quality and affordable eye-care services to Indian non-metro cities. This is IFC's second healthcare venture capital investment in South Asia.

This equity investment is part of a $10 million financing round raised by Eye-Q. Nexus Venture Partners and Helion Venture Partners have also invested in this round.

Eye-Q will use this equity investment to expand its network of super-specialty eye-care clinics. An estimated 200 million Indians suffer from some form of vision problems, but only a minority has access to quality treatment. Specialised eye-care hospital chains such as Eye-Q help bridge this access gap, improve quality of patient lives, and increase their productivity, said the company.

"IFC's global healthcare industry knowledge, expertise and long-term financing are valuable to our current expansion plans," said Rajat Goel, co-founder and CEO, Eye-Q Vision. "Eye-Q will benefit from IFC's broad network of healthcare clients across emerging markets as we expand our quality-driven yet affordable eye-care model in India."

Eye-Q currently provides eye-care services to nearly 350,000 patients a year, and plans to more than double patient reach over the next four years. The company plans to create skilled health-care jobs, a third of which are expected to be for women. The company already operates 28 clinics across the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, and Uttarakhand.

"IFC's investment in Eye-Q will help increase and improve access to affordable health services," said Pravan Malhotra, IFC's venture capital lead for south and southeast Asia. "Eye-Q's focus on emerging cities will help expand access to quality eye-care services while creating skilled

healthcare jobs, especially for women." Around one-fourth of Eye-Q's hospitals are already located in the low-income state of Uttar Pradesh.

IFC is the world's largest multilateral investor in the private health-care sector in emerging markets. The venture capital division provides equity financing to early and growth-stage companies across sectors including consumer internet, technology, and health-care.