The rising threat of the Covid-19 Omicron variant has once again prompted countries in the Middle East and globally to focus on preventive healthcare, with a key emphasis on the need to mainstream Ayurveda. Public healthcare experts are of the opinion that holistic medicine is the best way to ensure universal health coverage and prevent the spread of newly emerging diseases across the globe.

With CE-Ventures, the corporate venture capital platform of Crescent Enterprises, and Japan-based ICMG Partners taking the lead, US$ 4 million has been raised in the Pre-Series B Round for tech platform NirogStreet. The funds will be used to innovate service and product offerings for Ayurvedic doctors and to scale up and strengthen operations.

Tushar Singhvi, Deputy CEO and Head of Investments at Crescent Enterprises, commented: "We are excited to embark on this journey with NirogStreet. The company has demonstrated the immense value and opportunity within the Ayurvedic market, which is projected to reach US$ 9.5 billion by 2024, as well as the limitless possibilities that tech-enabled solutions can offer. I believe that by pooling our experience and talents together, we will make a powerful team. CE-Ventures looks forward to a fruitful partnership; one that will champion the growth of NirogStreet both within the core market in India and outwards into the MENA region.”

NirogStreet, India’s first and one of the world’s fastest growing technology-led Ayurvedic doctor platforms, offers a seamless service to more than 50,000 doctors on its peer-to-peer learning, electronic health record and B2B e-commerce platform. With US$ 4 million in new funding led by CE-Ventures, the company aims to boost its presence in India and make a mark by bridging the gap between Ayurvedic doctors, patients and quality medicines on a tech-enabled and trustworthy platform. The company eyes expansion into the MENA region leveraging the region’s fast growth that is driven by a high level of digital connectivity and a large and young tech-savvy population.

Ram N Kumar, Founder and CEO of NirogStreet said: “The world has started admiring Ayurveda as their first call for preventive healthcare. We are confident that our continuous efforts in mainstreaming Ayurveda have started conversations, rebuilt perceptions, and offered reassurance that this most effective and ancient medicine is a gift from India to the world.”

He added: “We are preparing ourselves to become the world’s fastest growing healthcare company. With such visionary investors on board, we are rapidly moving towards our goal of transforming the global health care landscape.”

The digitization of Ayurvedic healthcare has become the need of the hour. The global Ayurvedic fraternity is finding NirogStreet extremely valuable to seamlessly connect with their patients and gain easy access to high quality medicines along with a high-level exposure to evidence-based knowledge.

CE-Ventures targets startups that offer synergies with Crescent Enterprises’ operations across supply chain management tech, medical tech, enterprise software as a service (SaaS), and niche consumer emerging tech. It has invested to date AED 580 million across 43 start-ups and venture capital funds in the MENA region and globally. Earlier this year, CE-ventures announced its plans to increase its investments in start-ups to AED 1 billion ($272 million) by 2022. Some of its portfolio companies include Kitopi, the world’s leading managed cloud kitchen and the MENA’s fastest unicorn, FreshtoHome, India’s largest seafood and meat e-commerce delivery platform, and Tarabut Gateway, the MENA’s largest Open Banking platform.