Even Healthcare has raised $50 million in a funding round led by Khosla Ventures, as the Indian startup seeks to change how hospitals in the world’s most populous country make money and how doctors are rewarded. The all-equity Series B round also saw participation from Alpha Wave and valued it at $300 million, triple its valuation 18 months ago, according to Even. The latest funding brings Even’s total capital raised to more than $120 million.
Hospitals in India typically earn more when patients undergo additional tests, procedures, or longer stays, even when they may not need them. Even wants to change that by focusing on patient care rather than pushing unnecessary treatments that drive up medical bills. That approach has continued to appeal to Khosla Ventures, which has invested in Even since its seed round in 2021.
The Silicon Valley venture firm is doubling down as Even moves to build and operate hospitals of its own, giving it greater control over patient care and costs. Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, said Even’s approach goes beyond fixing individual parts of a fragmented healthcare system by bringing financing, technology, and care delivery together. The goal, he said in a prepared statement, is to reward better health outcomes rather than greater use of healthcare services.
Initially, Even relied on partner hospitals to treat its members, but co-founder Mayank Banerjee said in an interview that the startup began questioning that model after finding that patients had undergone tests or been recommended surgeries it considered unnecessary. And as a result, we decided to fix it by building our own hospitals,” Banerjee told TechCrunch. Even has since opened two hospitals in Bengaluru, both of which reached operational profitability, excluding depreciation, within a year of opening, Banerjee stated.
The startup plans to open five more hospitals in the southern Indian city over the next six months, funded by its latest round. Banerjee told TechCrunch that Even leases hospital buildings on 20-year agreements and spends on fitting them out and buying medical equipment. Unlike hospitals where doctors may have financial incentives to recommend more procedures, Even pays its doctors fixed salaries — not tying their compensation to the number of tests or surgeries they perform, though Banerjee said doctors can earn bonuses based on patient-reported clinical outcomes.
The same principle extends to hospital management, whose compensation is not linked to the number of procedures performed, Banerjee told TechCrunch. Managers, he said, receive salaries and company-wide incentives, while marketing teams focus on bringing in patients instead of the revenue those patients generate. Moreover, every employee, including doctors and other hospital staff, receives equity in Even.
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