Indian health tech company Pristyn Care has bought Lybrate, a mobile health platform, for an undisclosed amount as part of its expansion into primary care.

Founded in 2014, Lybrate helps connect over 300,000 doctors to patients. It claims to have managed more than 200 million annual interactions in India over the last five years. The company also runs a doctor-facing app called GoodMD which enables connections among healthcare professionals.

Pristyn Care offers secondary care surgeries or minimally invasive procedures through its network of more than 800 hospitals and 400 in-house speciality surgeons. Since 2018, it has been treating patients across its 200 clinics in about 42 Indian cities. 

WHY IT MATTERS

According to a press statement, Pristyn Care's acquisition of Lybrate facilitates its foray into primary care. The company intends to ride on the wave of recent digital health adoption within the healthcare industry by expanding its existing health technology capabilities and primary care offerings.

"Given the increasing demand for online health services, Lybrate makes a compelling strategic fit to give access to primary care to our patients via online consultation services," said Pristyn Care co-founder Harsimarbir Singh.

Singh said they believe there is a "significant appetite for innovation and growth in healthcare" and that acquisitions will help "consolidate, scale and grow healthcare delivery assets".

Pristyn Care will absorb about 150 employees of Lybrate soon, ahead of its plan to add an online doctor consultation service to its range of offerings. 

THE LARGER TREND

Late last year, Pristyn Care scored $96 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, and Hummingbird Ventures, among investors. The round has pushed its valuation to unicorn status at $1.4 billion. 

Lybrate, meanwhile, has also been backed by Tiger Global, as well as former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata and Nexus Venture Partners, who all invested $10.2 million in the platform in 2015.

Presently, there are over 5,000 health tech startups in India that have cornered about $1.5 billion in funding since 2014. By 2025, the Indian health tech market is projected to be worth $21.3 billion in value, according to a report by Inc41 last year.

ON THE RECORD

"Pristyn Care’s attributes resonate strongly with Lybrate, and given the nature of its business strongly complementing our offerings, it should allow building upon the strengths of each other. With Pristyn Care’s focus on secondary healthcare and Lybrate’s robust network of large numbers of primary care doctors, we can achieve tremendous synergies," Lybrate founder Saurabh Arora commented.