| Geography | South Asia |
| Sector | Health |
| Instrument | Equity |
| Deal Size | USD 813,270 |
| Investor Targeted Impact | Providing low-cost, quality eye care to an unaddressed segment of the population in India |
Investor
| NAME | Lok Capital |
| INVESTOR DESCRIPTION | Lok Capital is a fund that promotes inclusive growth in India by making long-term equity investments. Launched in 2006, it supports enterprises addressing low-income communities and underserved markets in a scalable, affordable, and commercially viable manner. Lok presently manages three funds with USD 125MM AUM deployed across 26 investments. Having started as a microfinance investor, Lok has since deepened its presence in financial inclusion and diversified into social infrastructure, including healthcare and agriculture. Lok also supports investees through a technical assistance program to strengthen capabilities, as well as by making quality talent available through a fellowship programme. |
Investee
| NAME | Disha Medical Services (Drishti-Eye Centre) |
| SECTOR | Health |
| GEOGRAPHY | Semi-Urban Karnataka, a state in Southern India; Focus is on towns with populations ranging from 20,000 to 350,000 |
| INVESTEE BUSINESS MODEL | Drishti-Eye Centre works to bring comprehensive eye care to an unaddressed segment of the population. India has approximately 12 million blind people, and in 80% of cases blindness could have been avoided if diagnosis and treatment was provided early. Through a mix of hospitals, vision centers and mobile eye clinics, the Drishti-Eye Centre is able to reach patients who previously have not had access to quality eye care. Drishti’s uniquely designed mobile eye clinic bus, with equipment powered by top solar panels, enables them to reach rural areas that lack basic infrastructure. The bus also provides transportation to the hospital for patients requiring surgery. |
| MOTIVATION FOR INVESTMENT | While eye care is well-addressed in urban markets, semi-urban India has almost no quality services. The motivation for investment was to bring eye care to these underserved markets. The company has been able to create a model specific to these markets by providing quality eye care at a low cost. Drishti-Eye Centre was in need of investment in order to fund their expansion to new locations and hire staff. Lok’s investment allowed Drishti to scale from one hospital to three hospitals and three vision centers. In addition, all of the members of Drishti’s management team have a long-standing commitment to social impact and have diverse previous experience in telecom engineering, ophthalmology, and particularly, the successful scaling of startups. For example, founder, Kiran Anandampillai, was a founding member of OnMobile and helped scale the company from 10 to 1,200 employees. |
Investment
| INSTRUMENT | Equity |
| INVESTMENT SIZE | INR 5,000,000 in tranche (Total amount in USD was USD 813,270) |
| SOURCE OF DEAL | The investment was sourced internally by the Lok Capital team |
| STAGE OF COMPANY AT TIME OF INVESTMENT | Early stage |
| PURPOSE OF INVESTMENT | Lok’s investment was used to build new centers, hire staff, and assist Drishti with their marketing efforts. This investment has allowed the company to build three hospitals and three vision centers. |
| INVESTMENT IMPACT OBJECTIVES | To penetrate unaddressed markets and provide them with quality eye care services. |
| IMPACT METRICS TRACKED ON INVESTMENT | Lok Capital tracks several social metrics related to the company, including: • Number of patients treated in rural towns • Number of eye glasses dispensed • Number of Village Camps conducted* • Number of eye surgeries performed * Village Camps are outreach camps to villages in a 25KM radius from each center where patients are provided checkups free of charge. |