Amaha is set to close a ₹100 crore fundraise to expand its mental healthcare network across India, with plans to add about 1,000 beds through approximately 30 hospitals and 60 clinics over the next five years, the organisation said.
The round includes support from existing investors Lightbox Ventures and Fireside Ventures, London-based life skills platform Sandbox International Holdings Limited, Nithin Kamath through Rainmatter, and the family offices of Shreyas Shibulal, Ashish Bharat Ram and Adarsh Jalan, according to a note from Amaha. It also includes ₹10 crore in debt financing from Alteria Capital.
Amaha currently operates two hospitals with around 30 beds in Bengaluru and nine centres across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The organisation said the new funds would be used to develop infrastructure, strengthen clinical teams and invest in technology to deliver specialist mental healthcare to more people across the country.
The organisation’s planned expansion combines hospitals, clinics and digital services rather than relying on a single treatment setting. Its offerings currently include digital self-care, outpatient and inpatient treatment, and community support for conditions including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, addiction, schizophrenia and personality disorders.
Amit Malik, psychiatrist and founder-chief executive officer of Amaha, said the original idea was to develop mental health services within a larger healthcare ecosystem. However, after discussions with hospitals, he concluded that the economics of multi-specialty healthcare often placed surgical specialties ahead of mental health services.
“The economics of how hospitals work – mental health doesn’t feature in the top few priorities,” Malik told The Hindu BusinessLine. “Surgical specialties take the forefront.” He said that after eight months of conversations, the organisation decided it would have to build its own network, initially using his funds and support from friends and family.
The planned expansion also reflects Amaha’s approach to designing care for Indian households. Malik, who completed his MBBS in India and spent 14 years in the United Kingdom, said a Western model would be unlikely to work directly in India because mental healthcare is more family-centric here, among other differences.
Amaha’s proposed scale-up would make specialist mental healthcare a physical infrastructure question as well as a clinical and digital-services challenge. The organisation’s target of roughly 30 hospitals and 60 clinics would expand the number of locations where patients can access inpatient, outpatient and community-based support, while its digital services are intended to extend care beyond those facilities.
The fundraise is therefore linked to three distinct expansion requirements: creating or adding healthcare infrastructure, recruiting and strengthening clinical teams, and building technology for service delivery. Amaha has not provided, in the information available, a city-wise rollout schedule, the proposed locations of the new hospitals and clinics, or a detailed construction and commissioning timeline.
The organisation said its immediate use of funds would centre on infrastructure, clinical capacity and technology. Its stated five-year plan is to add about 1,000 beds and build a wider network of hospitals and clinics across India.
