Redcliffe Lifetech raises $61m led by LeapFrog Investments to expand access to affordable, high-quality diagnostic tests across India

Redcliffe Lifetech raises $61 million led by LeapFrog Investments to expand access to affordable, high-quality diagnostic tests across India

• Redcliffe provides affordable and accessible diagnostics services targeting 500+ million Indians in next 5 years
• Investment will expand Redcliffe’s geographic reach into Tier II-IV cities across India, leading to more quality, affordable essential services to emerging consumers

Redcliffe Lifetech (Redcliffe), one of India’s leading diagnostics platforms, today announced it has raised $61 million led by LeapFrog Investments (LeapFrog), with participation from Healthquad, Schroders, LC Nueva, Growth Spark Ventures and existing investors Chiratae Ventures and Alkemi Venture Partners.

The investment will be used to expand Redcliffe’s geographic reach across India, with a focus on expanding its low-cost but high quality Direct to Consumer Diagnostics into tier 2, 3 and 4 cities, providing affordable, rapid, and convenient pathology services from glucose to genetics in millions of households. Funding will also be used to scale Redcliffe’s platform and increase its product offerings to radiology, disease data profiling and lifestyle management, furthering its mission to shift India’s healthcare focus from treatment to early diagnosis and prevention.

“Preventative medicine is the future of health in India, helping to empower the average Indian with the information they need to take charge of their health and wellbeing,” Dheeraj Jain, Founder of Redcliffe, said. “Redcliffe has built a one-stop diagnostic shop offering a very wide selection of tests to choose from and delivering care closer to the customer. This investment will help us scale rapidly to achieve our goal to reach 500M+ Indians within the next five years.”

“Redcliffe is an exemplar of LeapFrog’s focus on digital-led and asset-light business models that enable access to essential healthcare services to emerging consumers,” said Biju Mohandas, Partner and Global Co-Leader for Health Investments at LeapFrog Investments. “Its innovative and disruptive approach is transforming healthcare in the region by bringing consumers closer to the point of care and removing barriers to access.  Furthermore, Redcliffe’s vision of shifting healthcare from treating the sick to enabling wellness will have profound implications for millions.  We’re thrilled to be partnering with Dheeraj and his management team to further scale their reach across India.”

Redcliffe delivers world-class diagnostics services in its network of 22 state-of-the-art labs across 14 cities, several of which are already NABL accredited. Redcliffe also has a team of key-opinion leaders in the pathology sector who oversee operations and quality. Redcliffe’s unique omni-channel infrastructure, which combines innovative online channels with a fleet of 400 highly-trained phlebotomists operating in 100+ cities with home sample collection and an off-line network of 500 collection centres, enables the company to offer more than 3,500 different pathology and specialised tests including genetics at highly affordable prices around 25-60% less than traditional competitors.

“Redcliffe operates at the intersection of healthcare and technology, developing innovative solutions that address persistent challenges in the Indian market. It has built a proprietary technology platform for outstanding consumer experience also enabling scaling of its operations at their labs, fulfilment and overall CRM. It has also piloted drone technology across its supply chain to reach consumers living in smaller cities, semi-urban and remote areas that are often difficult to reach with existing infrastructure. Redcliffe has also co-developed a first-of-its-kind live, remote temperature tracking to monitor the samples collected by phlebotomists and ensure they maintain adequate temperature to meet quality and safety standards”, said Ranjith Menon, Partner Chiratae Ventures.

Redcliffe’s affordable diagnostics are helping to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, which currently kill over 6 million Indians each year. NCDs are rising in India as the percentage of the population over 60 surges, and diets and lifestyles change across the country. Early diagnosis also helps mitigate the severe financial shocks related to NCDs through ongoing hospitalisation, which on average will push 47% of Indian households to incur out-of-pocket expenses exceeding their capacity to pay[1].

With a population of nearly 1.4 billion, 65 per cent of India’s population still lives in rural areas[2], and access to care is an ongoing challenge. This increased convenience and the cost-effective approach enables consumers to undergo tests more frequently, encouraging more healthy behaviour and leading to early detection of disease to ultimately reduce the health burden on households. The collection of samples by the mobile phlebotomists also reduces the time involved in getting a test, freeing up time for more productive purposes.

O3 capital acted as financial advisor on the transaction.

The deal is subject to standard commercial requirements and is expected to be completed within 30 days.

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About Redcliffe Lifetech

Redcliffe Labs provides diagnostics with a comprehensive portfolio approach both with routine and specialized test menus with advanced testing labs all over India. Its digital first approach with on-demand 1 hour home collection and same day report is disrupting the way diagnostics is delivered today and thus is the fastest growing in India. It aspires to be the best in terms of precision and personalization of testing.

About LeapFrog Investments

LeapFrog invests in exceptional businesses in Africa and Asia, partnering with their leaders to achieve leaps of growth, profitability, and impact. Founded in 2007, LeapFrog’s portfolio companies now reach 342 million people across 30 countries with healthcare or financial services. LeapFrog portfolio companies have also grown on average at 27 per cent annually from the time of investment. They now provide jobs and livelihoods to 160,000 people. Inspired by LeapFrog’s strategy of Profit with Purpose, LeapFrog has raised over US $2bn from global institutional investors, including $500m recently committed by Temasek to LeapFrog and its future funds. LeapFrog was ranked by Fortune as one of the top five Companies to Change the World, alongside Apple and Novartis, the first private investment firm ever listed.

[1] Burden of non-communicable diseases and its associated economic costs in India, 2022

[2] World Bank