Norwest infuses $7.2 mn into Perfint Healthcare

CHENNAI: Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) has invested $7.2 million in the Chennai-based Perfint Healthcare, a medical equipment firm set up in 2005. This is the first healthcare investment in India for the global venture and growth equity investment firm that manages more than $ 3.7 Billion capital.

Perfint is a technology product company founded by entrepreneurs — S Nandakumar CEO, K Guruswamy (sales director), K Puhazhendi (new product development director). The trio, with decade-plus experience in GE, started it with initial funding from IDG Ventures and Accel Partners.

IDG Ventures is a $150 million venture capital fund while Accel manages $6 billion funds to incubate entrepreneurs globally.

With the latest funding by NVP, Perfint has received $11 million so far. Perfint is betting on interventional radiology, especially in the oncology area. The consumption of equipment and consumables for oncology is $5 billion market. Image-guided solutions for oncology is a potential market of $1 billion and the adoption rates are higher in India, Mr Nandakumar told reporters here on Wednesday.

Perfint has so far installed 40 of its indigenously-developed Piga CTs (priced $30,000 for India market) at various locations in the country, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jaslok Hospital, Lilavati and Sri Ramachandra Medical.

This is a product that leverages robotics and image processing, helping clinicians to accurately access small and difficult to reach tumours in the lung, liver, pancreas and kidney, thereby detecting early stage cancer.

"Our technology is particularly impactful in emerging markets, where cancer rates are high and on the rise each year. There is an acute need for low-cost, easy-to-use and minimally-invasive out-patient procedures for cancer detection and therapy," he said. Pilot units have also been shipped to medical facilities in Singapore and Doha.

Stating that oncology will be the area of focus, Mr Nandakumar said the interventional oncology is among the fastest growing diagnostic and therapy markets worldover. The latest funding would be used for tapping other emerging markets, product development activity and obtaining regulatory approvals.

"We have already made early inroads into the MiddleEast. We plan to enter Eastern Europe and Latin America later during the year. We are in the early internal trial stage of developing the ablation Piga CT, that is awaiting FDA approval so that it can be launched in the US market. In China too we await the regulatory clearance," he said, adding Perfint is also co-developing a product with a Stanford professor.

NVP expects Perfint to hit the "rapid growth stage" within five years, by when it estimates the healthcare entity to generate $50 to $100 million revenue. It has already completed a dozen investments in India across the financial, power, infrastructure, mobile, software and semi-conductor segments. While healthcare is an area of focus in emerging markets like India and China, education also remains another area of interest, NVP India ED Mohan Kumar said.