Deep tech VC Unicorn India Ventures announces partial exit from Medtech startup Sascan with 6X returns

• The Fund invested in the company in 2020 and 2021 with the total investment amounting to Rs 2 crore
• The investment done through Fund II, which is a Rs 300 crore fund, has generated 6X returns for Unicorn India Ventures
• UIV will continue to hold a partial stake in the Company

Mumbai, 17th July 2024: Unicorn India Ventures, a deep tech focused fund house, which is currently raising its third fund of Rs 1,000 crore, has announced a partial exit from neo diagnostics startups Sascan Meditech. UIV had invested Rs 2 crore spread across 2 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. 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 primary objective of the company is to develop affordable healthcare products and solutions for cancer care based on Biophotonics and allied technologies. The focus is to make these products available through sustainable business models and create impact among the population at the base of the pyramid.

Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, says, “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.

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).

Unicorn India Ventures has invested in the company in 2020 and was the first only institutional investor. The Fund invested in Sascan again in 2021. 

Dr Sushash Narayanan, Founder CEO, Sascan, says, “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. I am happy to note that they will still carry on as an investor and with them and Time Medical, I am sure we will emerge stronger with an array of diagnostics products we have in mind.”

About Sascan:

Sascan, founded in 2015 by Dr. Subhash Narayanan, is a healthcare innovation company focusing on affordable cancer care using Biophotonics. The company’s flagship product, OralScan, is a hand-held, non-invasive screening device for early detection of oral cancer, designed for use by health workers in rural areas. Sascan’s mission is to improve healthcare access and outcomes for underserved populations. With ongoing innovation, Sascan is expanding its technology to screen and manage other cancers and developing photodynamic therapy devices for oral cavity treatments and antimicrobial applications in diabetic foot ulcers.

About Unicorn India Ventures:

Started in 2016 by Bhaskar Majumdar and Anil Joshi, Unicorn India Ventures is a technology focused early-stage venture fund that invests capital in emerging and visionary startups. Unicorn India Ventures launched its first fund with a corpus of Rs 100 crore From its first 

Fund, UIV has invested in 17 companies like SmartCoin, Open Bank, Sequretek, Pharmarack, Genrobotics, Clootrack, FutureCure to mention some. The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) was more than 60 percent year over year. The Fund has emerged as the best performing early stage fund in India with the stellar exits provided by the fund to its LPs.

Fund II is a Rs 300 crore fund launched in 2020 that has invested in 20 companies so far like Gamerji, ForeignAdmits, Probus, Daalchini, Esmito, Finin. Most of the portfolio is scaling up fast and has had several uprounds.  

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 that are focused on global SaaS and digital platforms. From the sector’s perspective, the Fund is looking at newer sectors of climate tech, agritech, spacetech and the semiconductor ecosystem. Unicorn has already made 4 investments from Fund III.