Case Study 04: Healthtech Startup Valuation in Kolkata, India

Background

Startup Venture D is a Kolkata-based healthtech company operating in the digital healthcare infrastructure space. Founded in early 2023, the company provides an integrated digital platform that enables hospitals, clinics, healthcare professionals, and patients to seamlessly access medical records, manage workflows, and automate operational processes. A key differentiator of the platform is its focus on interoperability of healthcare data across the broader healthcare ecosystem.

At the time of engagement, Startup Venture D was at a pre-revenue stage (pre-seed stage), having completed product development and initial deployments, and was preparing to scale customer acquisition and platform implementation across healthcare institutions.

Engagement Objective

The promoters engaged Chunder Khator & Associates to undertake an independent valuation discovery exercise for the proposed early-stage fundraising round. The objective was to determine a fair and defensible valuation range that could act as a reference point during investor discussions, while appropriately capturing the company’s business model, technology strength, market opportunity, and early-stage execution risks.

The valuation was conducted specifically for raising funds from foreign angel investors, and not for compliance with any statutory or regulatory requirements.

Valuation Challenges

Valuing Startup Venture D involved addressing several complexities typical of pre-revenue healthtech platforms:

• Absence of historical revenues, with reliance on forward-looking projections

• A product-led business model requiring adoption by multiple stakeholder groups

• High upfront technology and implementation costs prior to scale

• Elevated business and liquidity risk inherent in early-stage ventures

These factors required a valuation approach that adopted multiple methodologies, including qualitative approach as the startup was in pre-seed stage.

Our Approach

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

• Venture Capital (VC) Valuation Method

• Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Valuation Method

• Bill Payne’s Valuation Method (also known as Scorecard Method)

Given the company’s pre-revenue stage, equal weightage was assigned to all three methods to balance qualitative factors (such as management strength, product readiness, and market opportunity) with quantitative projections and investor return benchmarks.

Key Valuation Considerations

1. Investor Return Expectations and Risk Profile - For VCM valuation, investor return expectations were aligned with benchmarks applicable to pre-seed and early-stage venture investments. A higher expected IRR was considered to reflect the company’s early lifecycle stage, technology adoption risks, and the time required to reach commercialization and scale. Dilution in investor's stakes over the next 5 years was derived from our proprietary research on India's startup ecosystem.

2. Entity-Specific and Liquidity Risk Adjustments - For discount rate in DCF valuation, additional risk premiums were incorporated to account for non-marketability of shares, expected dilution from future fundraising rounds, and the absence of near-term liquidity events. These adjustments were particularly relevant given the minority, non-controlling nature of the interest being valued.

3. Comparable Transactions and Market Benchmarking - To anchor valuation assumptions in market reality, comparable fundraising transactions involving fully integrated healthcare platform startups based in India were analysed under the Bill Payne's valuation method. These comparables provided insight into valuation ranges observed in similar pre-revenue and early commercialization stages, helping validate the outputs of the other two methods. Here's what the comps table looked like:

Company Name	Sector	Funding Round	Year	Pre-Money Valuation (₹ Cr.)
Drucare	Fully Integrated Healthcare Platform	Seed	2022	41.00
NuvertOS	Fully Integrated Healthcare Platform	Seed	2022	33.80
Mars Plus	Fully Integrated Healthcare Platform	Seed	2015	24.70
Zealthix	Fully Integrated Healthcare Platform	Angel	2024	23.00
TiaTech	Fully Integrated Healthcare Platform	Seed	2016	16.90
Mocero Health	Fully Integrated Healthcare Platform	Seed	2022	14.00
MyHealthcare	Fully Integrated Healthcare Platform	Seed	2018	13.60

4. Sensitivity Analysis and Assumption Testing - Key assumptions under each valuation method, including discount rates, terminal growth, and scoring parameters under Bill Payne’s Method - were stress-tested to assess their impact on valuation outcomes. This ensured robustness of the valuation range and transparency around key value drivers.

Outcome

The valuation exercise resulted in a defensible valuation range that balanced qualitative strengths with early-stage risks. The outcome provided a credible reference point for fundraising negotiations, enabling the founders to engage investors with clarity and confidence, and successfully raising their maiden pre-seed round of funding.

Conclusion

This case study demonstrates how a structured, multi-method approach to healthtech startup valuation in Kolkata can support informed fundraising decisions at the pre-revenue stage. At Chunder Khator & Associates, our valuation discovery engagements are designed to deliver clarity, credibility, and confidence, helping founders and investors 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.