INDIA – Online major pharmacy, Tata 1mg has made a strategic investment in 5C Network, a digital diagnostic platform for an undisclosed sum.

Other investors that participated in the round include Nephroplus’s Founder and CEO, Vikram Vuppala. This round was also attended by Om Manchanda, Managing Director of Lal Pathlabs, and Viren Prasad Shetty, COO of Narayana Health.

5C, founded in 2016 by Kalyan Sivasailam and Syed Ahmed, reported 1.5 million scans from diagnostic centers in 334 cities across India in 2021.

“Through our proprietary AI-powered reporting platform, 5C has the ability to report even complex radiology cases in less than 60 minutes and have helped deliver over 3.5 million diagnoses to patients in 27 states,” said Kalyan Sivasailam, CEO and Co-Founder of 5C Network.

“We are delighted to partner with the Tata 1mg team and some of India’s leading healthcare angels, who vibe with our vision. The opportunity for scale and impact is massive and we couldn’t have found better partners to work with us on this,” he added.

In 2016, Kalyan Sivasailam and Syed Ahmed co-founded 5C Network, which allows for the storage, sharing, and interpretation of radiology images across India.

5C helps hospitals and diagnostic centres maximize the returns on investment (ROI) on their radiology machines by making specialists available round-the-clock. 

Prashant Tandon, Co-Founder and CEO of Tata 1mg, stated that the vision of 1mg and 5C Network is to improve healthcare outcomes through technology.

Tata 1mg, founded in 2011 by Tandon, Gaurav Agarwal, and Vikas Chauhan, offers services such as e-pharmacy and e-consultation.

Other recent Tata investments

Earlier in 2020, the Tata-backed startup received US$1.2 million in Pre-Series A funding from Unitus Ventures and Axilor Ventures.

Tata Digital, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Group, acquired a majority stake in 1mg in June 2021.

Curelink, another healthtech startup, raised US$3.5 million in a seed funding round led by Venture Highway and Elevation Capital in March of this year.

Digital Sparrow Capital and angel investors such as Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm), Ankush Sachdeva and Farid Ahsan (Sharechat), Gaurav Agarwal, Prashant Tandon (Tata 1mg), Rajat K Dhawan (McKinsey), Rohit MA (Cloudnine), Ritesh Malik (Innov8), and Harsh Mahajan (Mahajan Imaging) also participated in the round.

Curelink would use the funds to expand geographically and diversify services across various medical specializations such as dermatology, pediatrics, and psychiatry.

Proactive For Her, a women-focused healthtech startup, raised US$5.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Vertex Ventures South East Asia and India in February 2022.

Nexus Venture Partners, an existing investor, also participated in the round. The funds were used to expand digital product offerings, expand its online customer base, and open a flagship clinic in Bengaluru.

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