CureFit gets $10M in debt financing

CureFit, the health solutions startup founded by former Flipkart senior executives Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, has raised about $10 million in debt financing with a significant portion coming from two of India's largest private sector lenders HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. The startup plans to raise more going forward to fund its capital expenditure (capex).

The less-than two-year-old startup has already raised about $45 million in equity financing, across rounds, from a number of marque venture capital investors, including Accel Partners, IDG Ventures Kalaari Capital and UC-RNT Fund, the joint investment vehicle of the University of California and Ratan Tata's RNT Associates.

The debt financing also includes the $3 million it raised in August last year from venture debt firm Trifecta Capital and Prathithi Investment Trust, which is founded by former Infosys co-founder and CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan.

Mukesh Bansal, co-founder of CureFit said, "Almost 80% of our capex has been funded through debt, and I expect that even in the future. The attitudes (of banks) have changed significantly. They continue to focus on unit economics and return on capital, but they like the asset-heavy model."

According to Bansal, the company plans to use the proceeds from its equity financing rounds towards further building its technology platforms and marketing, while using credit to finance its Cult fitness centres and other revenue streams.

CureFit has four flagship health and lifestyle products  Cult, the fitness centre chain it acquired in 2016, health food, mental health, and wellness and primary care. It has also tied up with a number of hospitals and clinics, to provide complete integrated health solutions to consumers.

Bansal said CureFit, which has largely focused on Bengaluru till date, is now gearing up to expand across the country, particularly the top 6-8 cities.

"Right now, we are doing an annualised run rate of Rs 100 crore from just one part of Bengaluru. Next six to nine months, we will focus very heavily on the Delhi-NCR region. Post that, we will go to Hyderabad, followed by Mumbai and Pune, and then to cities such as Kolkata," Bansal said.

"We are building four products, but each of them takes time... By the time we launch in Hyderabad in July or August, all the products will be fully integrated. Currently, Cult is the most mature product that we have right now. Food is almost ready, while the mind is still getting there, and care is still not launched. But in the next six months, all four products will be ready," he said.