How Kolkata-based Tribeca Care is breathing a whiff of fresh air into elder and homecare

India occupies the second position in the world in terms of the growing number of elderly population, raising concerns about addressing the health issues of senior citizens. The home healthcare segment in India, which comprises of small and unorganised players with the substandard nursing services, also added to the woes.

To improve the state of elder care and home care in India, Tomojit Dutta, along with Prateep Sen, Elina Dutta, Shibaji Saha and Ritendra Roy, founded Tribeca Care at Kolkata in 2013.

Tribeca Care is in the process of redefining the segment with non-medical support, home nursing, rehabilitation care, doctor home visits, 24/7 emergency response and medical devices for home care.

Tamojit Dutta, who is the CEO says,

The industry will need huge investments in physical infrastructure, training, technology and expertise as more than 100 million senior citizens struggle with little or no pensions and health insurance. Tribeca Care will help shape some of these initiatives and investments.

The 42-year-old brings 16 years of experience in investment banking, retail finance, healthcare and FMCG. Before co-founding Tribeca Care, Tamojit was a senior banker with Deutsche Bank and prior to that he worked for Citibank & Glaxosmithkline in India. Tamojit is an alumnus of St. Stephen`s College, IIM Ahmedabad and London Business School.

Funding

The seed fund of Tribeca Care was entirely generated internally. However, for the national expansion plans, the startup has now initiated conversations with professional investors and strategic partners for growth capital.

Tamojit explains,

Growth capital will be used in hiring key talent, entering new markets, training care workers and building the best infrastructure for senior housing and service delivery.

Industry at a glance

From investments in elder care infrastructure to providing training to frontline health workers, the opportunities and challenges in this industry are immense. One of the biggest challengesthe industry is facing is lack of trained care workers who know how to sensitively handle senior citizens.

According to an industry market research, the elder care industry in the US is USD 400 billion and has been well funded for many years. Whereas, in India, the industry is still in its nascent stage at USD 3 billion and is growing at 20 per centper annum. More private sector investments are likely to give a good shape to this industry in India.

Given the enormous population and the significant pressure on public finances, the private sector has an important role in creating scalable but affordable professional elder care market.

Tamojit says,

With rapidly increasing longevity and a large elderly population (110 million currently, estimated to grow to 300 million by 2050), we as a society, are not prepared for the coming 'silver tsunami'.

Service portfolio

Tribeca Care provides a wide range of services for senior citizens including medical support, doctor house calls, physiotherapy, speech therapy, home nursing, dementia assessment, medical devices on rent or sale for home care, free medicine home delivery, non-medical care, personal care managers overseeing home care and logistics, personal attendants, companionship by trained geriatric caregivers, assisted living facilities/senior housing, financial and property management services, emergency response, 24/7 emergency helpline for members, senior alarms and ambulance and help with hospitalisation.

According to Tamojit, there is good demand for most services, but non-medical care is a major differentiator for Tribeca Care and has seen tremendous traction.

"Tribeca Care is filling this enormous gap with different products and services. To make these solutions scalable, significant investments are also being made in real estate, back end logistics, training and technology," he says.

The Tribeca model

Tribeca Care services are available either on membership plans or on pay-as-you-go basis. The startup has different care plans based on the requirements of different customers’ needs and price points.

Tamojit says,

Our lowest care plans starts at Rs 250 per month. More expensive care plans are used by members who need extensive support at home.

Tribeca Care provides employment opportunities for more than 300 care workers, professionals and support staff. The platform uses doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, general attendants and other office staff.

Expansion Spree

Within the 18 months of launch, Tribeca Care has gained significant popularity In eastern India and by 2018, it plans to expand to 10 urban clusters. By 2020, the company aims to achieve a turnover of Rs 500 crore.

Home healthcare segment is described as a very large and fragmented one, with more than 98 per cent of the market being unorganised. There are four large organised players in the industry -Tribeca Care, Portea Medical, Medwell and India Home Health Care.

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