Stokes and Archer in $4.5m raise for Indian medical treatment firm
England cricketers Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer have taken part of a $4.5m raise for a company that will offer UK patients medical treatments in India.
The duo will join India’s KL Rahul through their 4Cast vehicle, as well as lead investor Nexus Venture Partners, in investing in The Medical Travel Company, which claims to want to target the “broken $100bn global medical tourism industry”.
Stokes, captain of the England Test team set to head to Australia for the Ashes this winter, said he was “delighted” to be involved; while fast bowler Archer added that from his “time playing in the IPL and touring India with England, I’ve always found the medical care and support there to be excellent”.
“We invested because The Medical Travel Company is building a proper bridge for patients,” he added, “with transparency and professional oversight that really gives peace of mind.”
Stokes and Archer invest
The Medical Travel Company claims to have “developed the world’s first post-surgery insurance and UK doctor-led pathways for procedures in India”.
The firm says it will target a cost reduction of 70 per cent despite treatments being free on the National Health Service in the UK, because “7.7m people in the UK face long waits for elective care”.
The firm’s co-founders Sahil Jain and Ankit Mehrotra sold a previous business, India’s consumer tech platform Dineout, for $200m and it is hoped that Stokes, Archer and 4Cast will help to launch The Medical Travel Company in the UK.
4Cast, described as an “athlete collective”, boasts investors including former England rugby player Anthony Watson, Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings, a host of cricket stars and former Love Island contestant-turned-horse racing pundit Chris Hughes.
Chief executive Jain said: “The funds will be used to expand and deepen our clinical partnerships in the UK to strengthen patient trust, establish certified treatment pathways for safer medical travel, and build the technology to maintain complete medical records so patients have continuity of care when they return home.”