ImpactGuru.com: A crowdfunding solutions for healthcare

ImpactGuru.com is a Mumbai based startup founded by Khushboo and Piyush.

Social problems are so immense in India, that often one can get disillusioned by the impact one creates i.e. whether one’s intervention is moving the needle or not.

We got an opportunity to talk with Piyush, the founder of  ImpactGuru.com. Read his full interview to know more about his journey as an entrepreneur and about his startup.

 

Give a brief info about your startup?

My wife, Khushboo Jain and I co-founded ImpactGuru.com with a mission to help India’s people find crowdfunding solutions for healthcare, social change, personal and creative projects. ImpactGuru.com, a fintech company, is India’s largest crowdfunding platform for medical expenses, personal causes and non-profits. The company was incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab in USA in 2014.

 

 

What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?

While at Harvard University, I was exposed to crowdfunding and social impact bonds. Intrigued and influenced by the course of study there, I decided to present a paper on crowdfunding and how it can solve developmental problems in India. I felt crowdfunding and fintech could be tweaked for a social cause.

When decisions had to be taken on business ideation, it had to be something that would club my knowledge of finance and technology with Khushboo’s brand and communications skillsets.  We were keen on a business model that would let us add value and meaning to the community.  Setting up a crowdfunding platform catered to both our interests and agendas.

Patients from below-poverty-line backgrounds suffering from critical conditions and those middle class patients who have drained their finances sustaining long-term treatments such as cancer, dialysis, premature baby care are the two segments of India’s unheard voices. These people have nowhere to go except to rely on crowdfunding for survival as it comes with no payback liability. Crowdfunding is the most disruptive solution to address this problem.

Hence we co-founded ImpactGuru.com with a mission to make healthcare accessible to all and save more lives.

 

 

Tell us about your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?

I have been involved in the fields of investment banking, management consulting, startups and other emerging markets. I have worked in the private sector (BCG, J.P. Morgan, Ernst & Young), public sector (Government of India) and non-profit sector (Instiglio) as well as with a Silicon Valley startup So-Fi, fintech startup.

 

 

Where is your startup based out of?

ImpactGuru.com is headquartered in Mumbai.

 

As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?

Social problems are so immense in India, that often one can get disillusioned by the impact one creates i.e. whether one’s intervention is moving the needle or not.

At ImpactGuru, we often face an ethical dilemma. Private hospitals will not proceed with treatment without the funds, say of 5 children whom are near death without a critical emergency surgery. It is an overwhelming feeling as we will be disappointing someone or maybe more as we have limited resources as an organization and limited donors to reach out to fund each of the 5 surgeries successfully.

 

How are you better than your competitors?

What makes ImpactGuru.com stand out is we are the only crowdfunding platform to have their own storybuilder to help customers write great stories as it’s a major pain point in the industry today. We built an AI-supported storybuilder for medical fundraisers, with a template for all campaigners to develop their own standardized campaign stories.

We have a strategic partnership with GlobalGiving.org, the world’s largest nonprofit crowdfunding platform based in US and UK. We are the only crowdfunding platform in the world that can offer Indian, US, and UK tax benefits to Indian and international donors.

In May 2018, we announced our $2mm Series A round co-led by Apollo Hospitals Group, Asia’s largest and most trusted healthcare group and Venture Catalysts, India’s first integrated incubator. In November 2018, Shorooq Investments, Silicon Valley style venture capital firm based in Abu Dhabi and several angel investors from the GCC region joined our Series A Round. This partnership makes ImpactGuru the preferred crowdfunding platform for all Apollo patients nationwide.

We are also the first crowdfunding player in India to launch a smartphone app for customers with the Android app already available for download. The Android app presents the user with a quick view of their fundraiser, thus enabling them to keep track of the progress of the campaign, get real-time donation notifications, and post updates.

 

How hard is it to have a work life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?

It is tough to have a work-life balance.

Over the years I’ve studied and worked in close to 15 countries from UK to Indonesia. Getting accustomed to the cultures, meeting people with diverse perspectives taught me the art of switching off.

Maybe it was the intense passion for football I shared with my friends back there or simply my love for the game, I made it a point to fly to Ukraine in May to watch the Champions League final –  nothing could trade watching Real Madrid take on Liverpool!

Not to miss out, I unwind with electronic music and photography.

 

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Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you are looking to raise.

 

We raised Rs 3.3 crores from RB Investments Pvt Ltd (Singapore VC Fund) in April 2016.

 

In May 2018, we raised US$2mm/ 13 crore in Series A round co-led by Apollo Hospitals Group, India’s largest hospital chain. Singapore based VC fund, RB Investments, an existing investor, also participated in the round along with Currae Healthtech Fund, India’s largest healthtech fund by number of deals. Other key investors include various family offices and Indian diaspora from US, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. In November 2018, Shorooq Investments, Silicon Valley style venture capital firm based in Abu Dhabi and several angel investors from the GCC region joined our Series A Round.

 

What gets you excited about this company?

An ImpactGuru is someone who envisions change, who finds solutions to social problems, who steps up to support another change-maker, who makes kindness a habit, who dares to follow his/her dream, or who simply helps out a friend in need.

I believe that each individual holds the power to effect great change and given the right tools and the right backing, can become an ImpactGuru himself/herself.

The strong passion to make a difference in the lives of people and the persistence to achieve the mission to save more lives will continue to keep me going.

The process to witness ImpactGuru.com impact more than 10,000 lives within a span of 4 years has been a wonderful journey. There has been a drastic change in the way one seeks financial help for medical, NGOs and personal causes, now, to what it was before.