The latest unicorn startup of the year 2021 was announced
Let us talk about unicorn startups.Defining what a unicorn startup is, it is a privately held entity, the value of which increases to more than USD 1 billion. This term was given in 2013 by Aileen Lee, the founder of Cowboy Ventures. She said this term after she, there existed 39 startups, which was more than USD 1 billion.
This term was given because such startups were too small and scarce at that time. But now, this year, we have seen around 42 unicorn startups coming up, which is a huge thing, and one should be proud of it.
Discussing some of the common features which every unicorn startup has are-
1. They are innovative– The unicorn startups are innovative, and they change the lives of the people. Like Uber changed how people travel and commute, Airbnb changed the way people will stay while travelling..
2. They have the first-mover advantage– A unicorn startup always has the first-mover advantage. They are the first in the market by bringing in a solution to the problem that was out there but no one had looked into it. They then create these solutions as a necessity so the customers are dependent on them. They then continuously keep innovating so that they stay ahead of their competitors.
3. They are highly dependent on technology- One of the most common features of all the unicorn startups is their business model that runs on technology. According to a report which has been published, 87% of the unicorn startups are of the software, 7% are of the hardware, and the rest 6% are of the products and services.
4. They are privately owned– Most of the unicorn startups are privately owned, and they become bigger when an established company invests in them.
5. They are customer-focused- Out of the total unicorn startups, 67% are B2C companies. They aim to make the lives of the customers easy and be an important part of their day-to-day lives.
We know that the year 2020 was hard on all of us- the COVID 19 was declared a pandemic, and there was lockdown imposed worldwide. The national borders were closed, and the people were locked inside their homes. Many businesses were closed permanently because they had no customers to buy their products and no funds to pay for the expenses.
The health industry saw a big boom, with hospitals and medical services always in demand. But this pandemic also exposed the true image of the health industry, with so many faults. It told us how far behind we are in terms of the health industry, with no proper infrastructure available for the country’s people.
Let us now discuss a startup that has recently become a unicorn startup.
Announcement of a new unicorn startup
The startup, Pristyn Care, has received funding of USD 96 million, as announced on December 15, 2021. This round of funding was the Series E round of funding and was led by Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global.
The other participants of this round of funding were Winter Capital, Epiq Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, and Trifecta Capital. The angel investors in this round of funding were Kunal Shah, the founder and CEO of CRED, co-founder and CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal, and co-founder and CEO of Urban Company, Abhiraj Singh Bhal.
The startup plans to utilize the funds raised in expanding into new disease categories, strengthening and modernizing the infrastructure of its partner hospital, and giving training to its 400 surgeons. It will also use a portion of funds raised in the development of its product and technology.
The value of the startup post this round of funding has come up to USD 1.4 billion, thus entering the golden “Unicorn Club”. This value of the startup is more than double since the last seven months when it was USD 53 million, which it had raised in a Series D round of funding which was led by Tiger Global.
The startup has become the 43rd unicorn startup in India of the year 2021.
About the newly created unicorn startup
The startup, Pristyn Care was founded in the year 2018 with its headquarters in Gurugram. The startup is a health-tech company that is engaged in minimally invasive medical and surgical interventions. It covers Proctology, Gynecology, IVF, Urology, Vascular, ENT, Laparoscopy, Aesthetics, and Ophthalmology.
It is simplifying the surgery experience for all. The surgeries performed by the startup are of- Piles, Fissure, Fistula, Circumcision, Varicose Veins, Gynaecology, ENT, Gallstone, IVF Treatment, Kidney Stones, Hip Replacement, Lipoma, and many more.
The startup tells some reasons why one should go for Pristyn Care. The reasons are as follows-
1. Pristyn Care is COVID 19 safe- The safety of the patients is taken by thermal screening, social distancing, sanitized clinics, and hospital rooms, sterilized surgical equipment, and mandatory PPE kits during surgery.
2. Medical expertise with technology- The surgeons of the startup spend a lot of time with the patients to diagnose their condition. The patients are assisted in all pre-surgery medical diagnostics. It offers advanced laser and laparoscopic surgical treatment. The procedures of the startup are USFDA approved.
3. Assisted surgery experience– A dedicated medical coordinator assists the patients throughout the surgery journey from insurance paperwork, to free commute from hospital to home and back and admission discharge process at the hospital.
4. Post-surgery care– The startup offers free follow-up consultations and instructions including dietary tips as well as exercises to every patient to ensure they have a smooth recovery to their daily routines.
The startup has some numbers to share-
It has more than 200K, happy patients
It has more than 100 clinics
It is in more than 40 cities
It has performed more than 45K surgeries
It has more than 300 doctors
It has more than 700 hospitals
The startup has a plan to expand itself in more than 50 cities and to have more than 1000 surgical centers by March 2022. It also has the aim to double its team size. It also will be investing in new and world-class technology for the betterment of the patients.
What has been said about the deal?
The co-founder of the startup Harsimarbir Singh said that patient care is the core of the commission offered by the startup for the highest quality secondary-care surgeries.
He further said that the startup had built a rock-solid technology backbone that strengthens the patients like first initiatives, billing transparency to make sure that the patients are treated most comfortably.
He then acknowledged that this round of funding tells about the trust the investors, the partners, and the patients have in the startup.
The startup is doing great, and the health tech sector is performing well. We have to wait for the future to unfold. Till then, we wish the startup good luck and a bright and successful future ahead..
