Eye-Q in 4 years to add 100 hospitals
Eye-Q, eye-care chain, is planning to become a strong specialty hospital chain with 130-centres, by aggressively adding about 100 centres over the next four years, up from 34 centres presently.
Ajay Sharma, Founder and Chairman and Managing Director of Eye-Q told sources, In the near future the specialty hospital chain, which started in 2007, intends to go in for a third round of funding, for an equity infusion of 60-100 crore.
“This year itself we are looking for more funding, which should come in by September or October, but right now we have enough money from the existing equity that we have taken” he said. Sharma further said that now they are looking at private equity for future growth while initially they got funding from venture capitalists.
They are planning to add 25-30 centres each year. Eye-Q, which is present in tier II and III cities in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat, will continue to focus on the northern region in the future as well.
However, they are looking at some new growth markets too, Sharma said.
He said, “This year further growth will be in Gujarat, followed by Maharashtra and in the north — Haryana and Uttarakhand. After that we will go further west, including Punjab, and in the east.”
Eye-Q, which employs about 700 people, will continue to focus on the tier II and III cities for its upcoming infrastructure project.
Up from one-and-a-half years in the initial phases, Eye-Q has now picked up pace of their new centres with break even in six months, Sharma said.
Sources: The Hindu Business Line
