PB Health, a healthcare venture backed by PB Fintech (parent of Policybazaar), is preparing to raise ₹1,500–1,600 crore from a mix of existing and new private equity investors. The funding will primarily support hospital construction as the company accelerates efforts to build an integrated healthcare network.
This marks the company’s second major funding round, nearly a year after it secured $218 million (₹1,850 crore) in seed funding led by General Catalyst, with participation from Faering Capital, Bay Capital, Think Investments, Avataar, and Select Group. Post this round, PB Fintech held a 25.53% stake in the venture.
Founded in January 2025, PB Health is aiming to fix what co-founder and vice chairman Alok Bansal calls a structural imbalance in India’s healthcare system. “If I am a consumer, I don’t want to go to hospital. The payer, which is the insurance company, also doesn’t want me to go to hospital. With the way things are structured, it’s only the hospital that wants me in hospital,” he said.
The company’s model focuses on aligning incentives across stakeholders by offering a full-stack care system. It spans preventive care, OPD services, chronic disease management, daycare procedures, home care, and pre- and post-operative support—positioning hospitalisation as a last step rather than the default.
PB Health has already begun building its physical network. Its first facility, a 250-bed hospital in Noida, is expected to open soon. A 100-bed hospital in Gurgaon is set to become operational within weeks, while another 240-bed facility in the same city is planned over the next 12–15 months. Additionally, land has been secured in Faridabad for a 150-bed hospital, with construction expected to take up to three years.
The company plans to scale to 6–7 hospitals across Delhi-NCR, targeting a total capacity of 1,200–1,300 beds. Facilities will typically range between 150–250 beds and be located within a 20–25 km radius of patients. According to Bansal, the industry average cost for building hospitals stands at ₹1.2–1.3 crore per bed, excluding land costs.
Looking ahead, PB Health aims to collaborate with insurers to create tailored insurance products linked to its network. These offerings would cover OPD, preventive care, daycare, and chronic care, in exchange for a more limited hospital network. The company intends to price its services at 10–20% lower than leading chains such as Apollo Hospitals, Max Healthcare, and Fortis Healthcare.
While the model draws parallels with integrated healthcare systems like Narayana Health’s Narayana One Health initiative and global players such as Kaiser Permanente and Bupa Sanitas, PB Health plans to remain insurer-agnostic, leveraging Policybazaar’s distribution strength to give customers flexibility.
Beyond Delhi-NCR, PB Health is preparing to enter new markets within the next 6–12 months. Cities like Jaipur, Indore, and Nagpur are under evaluation. “The long-term vision is an operate-and-manage model. We will own a core set of hospitals first, then offer to run others’ facilities, similar to the Taj or Marriott model in hospitality,” Bansal said.
(Logo courtesy: www.pbhealth.com)