Apollo Hospitals, a private Indian hospital chain, is investing $5 million in a seed fund for health and medical tech startups.
The company will serve as an accelerator for the startups and plans to contribute $5 million more in capital, with the goal of raising $50 million to $100 million in total.
Health tech is one of the fastest growing startup segments in India, with new companies raising $333 million in capital last year, according to Inc24.
Low cost and affordable healthcare is a growing need in India. Existing resources are stretched by high instances of non-communicable diseases; meanwhile, access to affordable, quality healthcare is limited for rural and poor Indians.
In addition to seeding the fund, Apollo is in talks with IBM to offer expertise on an artificial intelligence component of the program.
