Case Study 02: Healthtech Startup Valuation in Bangalore, India

Background

Startup Venture B is a Bangalore-based healthtech platform operating in the Ayurveda and integrative healthcare ecosystem. Founded in 2021, the company enables individuals to discover and book consultations, treatment programs, and wellness therapies through an integrated online and offline platform, while also supporting clinics with booking management and data capture tools.

At the time of engagement, Startup Venture B was at a pre-seed stage, with rapidly growing revenues, expanding service lines, and a business model combining platform fees and product-led monetization. The company was preparing to raise capital to scale operations, expand partner clinics, and strengthen its technology and customer acquisition capabilities.

Engagement Objective

The founders engaged Chunder Khator & Associates to undertake an independent valuation discovery exercise in connection with a proposed fundraising round. The objective was to determine a fair and defensible valuation range that could be used as a reference during investor discussions, while appropriately capturing the company’s growth trajectory, sector dynamics, and inherent early-stage risks.

The valuation was carried out specifically for fundraising purposes, and not for statutory or regulatory compliance.

Valuation Challenges

Valuing Startup Venture B involved addressing several complexities typical of early stage healthtech platforms:

• Less than ₹1Cr. historical revenue, and recently commercialized model

• Rapid revenue growth combined with operating losses during scale-up

• Multiple revenue streams with varying margin profiles

• High dependence on execution, customer adoption, and clinic network expansion

• Limited historical data but strong forward-looking projections

These factors required a valuation approach that balanced forward potential with risk-adjusted realism.

Our Approach

To arrive at a credible valuation range, we adopted a multi-method valuation framework, triangulating value using:

• Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Method

• Comparable Transaction Multiple (CTM) Method

• Venture Capital (VC) Method

Higher weightage was assigned to the DCF method, as it captured company-specific business projections and long-term scalability, while the CTM and VC methods were used as market and investor-return benchmarks.

Key Valuation Considerations

1. Investor Return Expectations and Risk Profile - Given the early-stage nature of Startup Venture B, for VCM valuation, investor return expectations were aligned with venture capital benchmarks applicable to early growth investments. A higher expected IRR was assumed to reflect execution risk, sector competition, and the time required to reach sustainable profitability. Assumption relating to dilution of investor's stake over the next 5 years was derived from our proprietary research on the startup ecosystem of India.

2. Entity-Specific and Liquidity Risk Adjustments - For discount rate used in DCF valuation, additional risk premiums were incorporated to account for factors such as non-marketability of shares, future dilution through subsequent funding rounds, and dependency on continuous capital infusion. These considerations were particularly relevant given the minority, non-controlling nature of the interest being valued.

3. Comparable Transactions and Market Benchmarking - To ground valuation assumptions in market reality, comparable fundraising transactions involving healthcare booking platforms and digital health companies were analysed under the CTM valuation. These comparables provided insight into valuation multiples applied by investors across similar business models and stages. Here's what the comps table looked like:

Company Name	Sector	Round	Pre-Money Valuation (₹ Cr.)	Forward Revenue (₹ Cr.)	Forward Revenue Multiple
Practo	Healthcare Booking Platform	Series A	~25	~2.2	~11x
MediBuddy	Healthcare Booking Platform	Angel	~87	~3.1	~28x
Amaha	Healthcare Platform	Series A	~90	~4.5	~20x
Healthians	Healthcare Diagnostics Platform	Series A	~98	~7.2	~14x
CureBay	Healthcare Platform	Series A	~120	~10.4	~12x
Pristyn Care	Healthcare Platform	Series A	~1,008	~25.8	~39x

4. Sensitivity Analysis and Assumption Testing - Key assumptions - including revenue growth rates, terminal growth, discount rates, and exit multiples - were stress-tested to assess their impact on valuation outcomes. This helped ensure that the final valuation range remained robust across varying scenarios and provided transparency to stakeholders.

Outcome

The valuation exercise resulted in a defensible valuation range that balanced growth potential with investor expectations and risk considerations. The output served as a practical negotiation anchor for fundraising discussions and enabled the founders to articulate value drivers clearly to prospective investors.

Conclusion

This case study highlights how a structured, multi-method approach to healthtech startup valuation in Bangalore can support informed fundraising decisions. At Chunder Khator & Associates, our valuation discovery engagements are designed to deliver clarity, credibility, and confidence, enabling founders and investors to navigate complex valuation discussions with a shared understanding of risk and opportunity. Our valuation services includes:

• Valuation Discovery for Fundraise

• Valuation Certificates for Compliance

• ESOP Valuation

• Valuation for Mergers & Acquisitions

• Valuation for Financial Reporting

• Valuation Review & Second Opinions

Read more about our valuation services here.

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Disclaimer: The material herein is provided for informational purposes only. The information should not be viewed as professional, legal or other advice. Professional advice should be sought prior to actions on any of the information contained herein. CKA is not responsible for any matter concluded by any person based on the contents of this article.