South Indian eye care chain The Eye Foundation raises $75 million from Verlinvest

The Eye Foundation, an eye care chain in South India, has raised $75 million in funding from Verlinvest, one of the pre-eminent consumer-oriented investment firms in India.

Advertisment

This marks one of the largest single specialty healthcare deals in India.

Founded by Dr Ramamurthy & Dr Chitra Ramamurthy, The Eye Foundation operates over 25 hospitals across Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. 

The Coimbatore-based chain is known for its clinical excellence encompassing the entire gamut of eye diseases like cataract, retina, LASIK, glaucoma, ocular trauma and corneal transplants, and treats over one million patients annually through a mix of high-tech tertiary centres and well-equipped secondary centres. 

“We are delighted to partner with Verlinvest to help us further expand The Eye Foundation in the coming years. This partnership enables us to bring cutting edge affordable eye‑care to underserved regions across India. As always, we remain committed to providing clinical excellence and patient centric eye care to all segments of the society. This partnership will enable us to further grow our offerings and reach while maintaining the same high standards that patients associate with The Eye Foundation,” said Dr Ramamurthy, Chairman of The Eye Foundation. 

The investment underscores Verlinvest’s accelerated India strategy, where it aims to grow and double its average annual deployment in the Indian market across healthcare and consumer sectors.

The consumer-sector specialist firm has maintained a steady annual deployment in excess of $100 million in the Indian market in recent years, and elevates that allocation meaningfully with this deal, signalling its direction in the coming years.

“We have formed a strong relationship with Verlinvest over the past year, and are excited to announce our partnership to further grow The Eye Foundation to bring the best quality eye care to more regions across India. We look forward to working closely with the Verlinvest team and leveraging our joint expertise to further strengthen The Eye Foundation,” said Dr Shreyas Ramamurthy, MD of The Eye Foundation.

“India has already shown strong returns for us to date and we believe it has further scope to consistently outperform most global markets. Growing our India investment footprint with this partnership with The Eye Foundation is a fantastic opportunity for us, as we see enormous potential in building high impact healthcare brands such as The Eye Foundation, which combine clinical excellence with differentiated customer experience,” said Arjun Anand, Managing Director & Head of Asia, Verlinvest. 

Veda Corporate Advisors were the exclusive financial advisors to The Eye Foundation and its promoters.