Diagnosis and bank of stem cells LifeWell, which is the diagnostic division of mFine and LifeCell International combined, is seeking to raise Rs 184 crore, or roughly $22 million, in what looks to be a pre-IPO round headed by current investor OrbiMed. The Chennai-based company will be making its first investment round of the year with this investment.
As per LifeWell’s regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), the board has passed a special resolution to issue 43,18,865 compulsory convertible preferences to issue Rs 426.71 each, raising to Rs 184 crore.
While Cellution Biostorage will contribute Rs 30 crore to LifeWell, OrbiMed will contribute Rs 150 crore. This round will also see investments from S. Vinod Kumar, Sanjay Singh Kumar Jain, Siremal Kothjari, and other individuals.
Through the right basis issue, the allocation was made on partially paid-up capital, meaning that 25% of the new round has already been invested. The remaining sum will be determined by the board.
Healthcare platform mFine announced in July 2022 that it would be merging with LifeCell’s diagnostics division. The two stated that they had more than six million users combined at the time. Serving over 50 million users by 2026 was the combined entity’s goal.
OrbiMed provided $80 million in funding to the merged company as part of the merger. Up until its Series C round, mFine had raised a total of $75 million. The merger happened shortly after mFine asked more than half of its employees to resign in a wave of widespread layoffs.
One of the most significant mergers in the digital healthcare industry since January 2020 was the combination of mFine and LifeCell’s diagnostic division. Prior to this, Pristyn Care purchased Lybrate and DocsApp combined with MediBuddy. These were all distressed sales. Along with Reliance acquiring NetMeds, the list also includes PharmEasy’s acquisitions of ThyroCare, Medlife, and Aknamed.
