Unicorn India Ventures announces partial exit from medtech startup Sascan with 6X returns

Unicorn India Ventures, a deeptech-focused fund house, which is currently raising its third fund of Rs 1,000 crore, has announced a partial exit from neo diagnostics startup Sascan Meditech.

UIV had invested Rs 2 crore spread across two rounds. The first investment was made in 2020.

The partial exit from Sascan has generated 6X returns for the Fund as UIV continues to hold a substantial stake in the company.

What does Sascan Meditech do?

Thiruvananthapuram-based Sascan Meditech is an emerging healthcare innovation company founded in 2015 by Dr Subhash Narayanan, a laser scientist with interest in the development of Biophotonics products. 

The startup aims to develop affordable healthcare products and solutions for cancer care based on Biophotonics and allied technologies.

It focuses on making these products available through sustainable business models and creating an impact among the population at the base of the pyramid.

What did UIC say?

Anil Joshi, Managing Partner of Unicorn India Ventures, said, “As a fund, we have continued to demonstrate our focus on backing deep tech business models; our thesis of going beyond the metros to find real innovative solutions with commercial acumen has built a strong track record for our fund. The founder, Dr Narayanan, is a seasoned entrepreneur marrying technology and purpose to provide health innovation in an affordable manner for the bottom of the pyramid population. The solutions devised by Dr Narayan would help under-priveleged populations in India and third world countries in early detection of cancer.”

"Our decision to continue holding a significant stake in the business is a testament to Sascan’s ability to bring real high tech medical innovation and with a new strategic investor coming onboard, we are excited for the future, he adds.

Unicorn India Ventures has recently announced its first close of Rs 1000 crore Fund III. The first close reached at Rs 225 crore. With this Fund, UIV aims to build a portfolio of 25 startups focused on global SaaS and digital platforms.

 From the sector's perspective, the Fund looks at newer sectors of climate tech, agritech, spacetech and the semiconductor ecosystem. Unicorn has already made four investments from Fund III.

Sascan Meditech products

Sascan has two distinct products: OralScan (the first multimodal image-capturing device that uses multi-spectral imaging technology at its core for non-invasive and real-time screening of oral cancer and biopsy guidance) and  CerviScan (a product developed to replace the conventional digital colposcopy).

Dr Sushash Narayanan, Founder CEO, Sascan, said, “Time Medical Digital Health and Imaging Ventures, a leading player in the fast growing imaging diagnostic segment, is doing a secondary and primary in Sascan which will enable the company to grow faster and scale up. We have been fortunate that we had Unicorn India Ventures as an early investor and they believed in us and worked closely in the four year journey of the company."