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Artha India Ventures bets on Israeli startup offering Covid-19 diagnosis solutions

By Narinder Kapur

  • 15 Jun 2020
Artha India Ventures bets on Israeli startup offering Covid-19 diagnosis solutions
Credit: VCCircle

Artha India Ventures, the family office of former BSE Ltd director Ashok Kumar Damani, said on Monday it has invested in Binah.ai Ltd, an Israeli startup that provides contactless healthcare applications.

Binah.ai is Artha India Ventures’ first international investment for the current financial year, and its third investment in Israel overall, the family office said in a statement.

Artha said the investment was facilitated through iAngels, an Israel-based startup investment and advisory platform. iAngels also took part in the funding round.

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“Binah.ai helps in diagnosing whether initial symptoms point to Covid-19 infection through videos captured using a smartphone camera. Such applications are the need of the hour today, and we hope to bring this technology to India through this association,” Artha director Ashok Kumar Damani said.

The Israeli company, founded by David Maman in 2016, allows for the monitoring of vital signs and remote and real-time diagnosis through any smartphone or camera-based device.

Maman said, “We look forward to releasing more capabilities – reinforcing our investors and customers’ trust.”

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Binah.ai claims a 97% accuracy rate, with vital signs being extracted through a remote photoplethysmography (rPPPG) signal.

Artha India Ventures

The family office says it has directly invested in 72 startups across India, the United States and Israel. Its portfolio includes companies such as peer-to-peer marketplace Coutloot, media platform Inc42, hotels chain OYO Rooms and microloans platform Tala.

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Last month, reports said that the investment firm had taken part in a Rs 2.6 crore funding round in Leap Club, a women-focused networking platform. Other participants in the exercise included Whiteboard Capital, FirstCheque and Pine Labs chief executive officer Amrish Rau.

In July 2018, Artha marked the first close of its debut fund – Artha Venture Fund I. At the time, the vehicle said it expected to make its final close within six to 12 months. The fund had a target corpus of Rs 200 crore (around $30 million).

*This article has been modified to include additional information about the transaction.

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