Thiruvananthapuram, Sept. 24 2020: Startups supported by the  Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM),  have attracted significant investments this week.
Healthtech SaaS (Software as a Service) startup, BestDoc  has raised $2.1 million (about Rs 16 crore) from two major venture capital firms US-based Accel and Bengaluru-based Arkam Ventures in their Pre-Series A round. The firm’s existing investor SEA Fund from Bengaluru also participated.
BestDoc is an Intelligent Patient Relationship Management (PRM) system for hospitals and other healthcare providers in India.
Foundeed by Afsal Salu, Fayaz Bin Abdu and Soudabi Neduvanchery in 2016, BestDoc started off as a marketplace for doctor appointments for tier2 and smaller towns. Later, they embraced a B2B model, realizing the potential of digital adoption in healthcare system. Since 2018, it has partnered with 120 healthcare providers in the country, including Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore; Dr. LH Hiranandani Hospital, Mumbai; Baby Memorial Hospital, Kozhikode; Aster Group and KIMS Global Group.
“The company has built a slew of products, which help hospitals save staffing costs and improve operational efficiency while keeping a patient-centric approach to care delivery.In the Covid-19 scenario, BestDoc has scaled up its telemedicine and contactless solutions across several states as healthcare digitization is happening at an unprecedented pace,” said Salu.
 Airtel invests in Waybeo
Telecom giant Bharti Airtel has picked up  a strategic 10 percent stake in Waybeo Technology Solutions, a Thiruvananthapuram-based company with focus on deep AI analytics for cloud telephony.The deal, which comes as part of the Airtel Startup Accelerator Programme, will enable 2011-founded Waybeo to achieve a larger distribution reach.
Waybeo Is now  located in the Scale-up Space of KSUM in the state capital. Established in order to provide assistance to the creation of a startup ecosystem that contributes to ‘Digital India’, the Airtel endeavour aims to support growth of early-stage startups in the country.
Waybeo CEO Krishnan R V said the tie-up with Airtel will help the telecom company use the startup’s telephone-based AI services. “We envisage a technology that analyses the feedback of Airtel customers, besides improved automation for the telecom company to perform better,” he revealed. “As a B2B collaboration, this will enable our firm to fetch more such opportunities in the future.”
“Kerala startups have been successful in raising fund even during the times of Covid-19. It shows the quality of startups emerging from Kerala and the confidence of investors in them. Startups have raised around Rs 350 crore equity investment in this pandemic situation,” said  Sasi PM, CEO, KSUM.
KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala Government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.