Bangalore-based affordable ophthalmic technology and solutions company, Forus Health (Forus) has successfully raised Series B funding of Rs 50 crore in a round led by Asian Healthcare Fund. Accel Partners and IDG Ventures India, the existing investors, also participated. Unitus Capital was the sole advisor to Forus for the transaction.
Forus’ flagship product, 3nethra, is an integrated, intelligent, affordable, rugged and portable eye screening device that can screen a patient in less than five minutes for common eye problems. These devices are integrated with a unique cloud hosted telemedicine application called Foruscare, offering a complete eye care solution platform.
With an extremely low ophthalmologist to patient ratio in India, 3nethra has been designed so that it can be operated by a minimally trained technician, and can be deployed in remote areas, exponentially improving access to quality ophthalmic care. Due to its ease of use and superior technical and imaging capabilities, the device has gained extensive recognition within the Indian ophthalmic community and has also received widespread traction globally, with more than 220 installations across 14 countries till date and has since screened 600,000 eyes worldwide.
Sharing information on how these funds will be utilised, Dr Shyam Vasudeva Rao, the President and CTO of Forus, informed, “With the help of the newly raised funds, Forus aims to help 20 million people in the next three years by revolutionising healthcare delivery, adopting a prevention-centric approach and democratising screening”.
Adding to this, K Chandrasekhar, CEO, Forus, stated “Acceptance from the ophthalmic fraternity and encouragement from our marquee investors motivate us to strive towards fulfilling Forus’ mission. This investment will be crucial in helping us achieve scale through strengthening our supply chain and sales networks, as well as developing new products.”
“3Nethra is a cutting-edge product that can address one third of the world’s population that needs affordable eye testing. With their deep technology background and great execution, Forus has achieved widespread traction internationally. We are excited to partner with Forus on this journey and their success,” said Anand Daniel, Principal, Accel Partners.
Ajay Kumar Vij, CEO, AHF said on the occasion, “We have been impressed with the unique value proposition and management depth of Forus as well as the social impact created by their product 3nethra. We look forward to partner with K Chandrasekhar, Dr Rao and their team in their journey of building a leading player in the medical devices space in India and globally.”
Adding to this, Ranjith Menon, Senior Vice President of IDG Ventures India, said,”We believe Forus’ pre-screening technology has the potential to be a game-changer in addressing the issues relating to preventive healthcare globally. As early investor in Forus, we are very happy to see the company scale from strength to strength and we remain committed to their chosen growth path”.
EH News Bureau