Khosla Ventures doubles down on Even Healthcare to challenge India’s hospital economics

Even Healthcare has raised $50 million in a funding round led by Khosla Ventures, as the Indian startup seeks to change how hospitals in the world’s most populous country make money and how doctors are rewarded.

The all-equity Series B round also saw participation from Alpha Wave and valued it at $300 million, triple its valuation 18 months ago, according to Even. The latest funding brings Even’s total capital raised to more than $120 million.

Hospitals in India typically earn more when patients undergo additional tests, procedures, or longer stays, even when they may not need them. Even wants to change that by focusing on patient care rather than pushing unnecessary treatments that drive up medical bills.

That approach has continued to appeal to Khosla Ventures, which has invested in Even since its seed round in 2021. The Silicon Valley venture firm is doubling down as Even moves to build and operate hospitals of its own, giving it greater control over patient care and costs.

Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, said Even’s approach goes beyond fixing individual parts of a fragmented healthcare system by bringing financing, technology, and care delivery together. The goal, he said in a prepared statement, is to reward better health outcomes rather than greater use of healthcare services.

“The clinical and economic results so far give us conviction that this can become an important new model for healthcare in India and beyond,” Khosla said.

Initially, Even relied on partner hospitals to treat its members, but co-founder Mayank Banerjee said in an interview that the startup began questioning that model after finding that patients had undergone tests or been recommended surgeries it considered unnecessary.

“We think patients are getting not only a bad experience, but insurers are getting a bad economic deal. And as a result, we decided to fix it by building our own hospitals,” Banerjee told TechCrunch.

Even has since opened two hospitals in Bengaluru, both of which reached operational profitability, excluding depreciation, within a year of opening, Banerjee stated. The startup plans to open five more hospitals in the southern Indian city over the next six months, funded by its latest round.

Banerjee told TechCrunch that Even leases hospital buildings on 20-year agreements and spends on fitting them out and buying medical equipment.

Unlike hospitals where doctors may have financial incentives to recommend more procedures, Even pays its doctors fixed salaries — not tying their compensation to the number of tests or surgeries they perform, though Banerjee said doctors can earn bonuses based on patient-reported clinical outcomes.

The same principle extends to hospital management, whose compensation is not linked to the number of procedures performed, Banerjee told TechCrunch. Managers, he said, receive salaries and company-wide incentives, while marketing teams focus on bringing in patients instead of the revenue those patients generate. Moreover, every employee, including doctors and other hospital staff, receives equity in Even. The idea is to give employees a stake in the startup’s long-term performance, not to reward them for generating more medical bills.

Most of Even’s revenue comes from patients paying for treatment, Banerjee said. The startup also generates revenue through its relationships with insurers. It is also working with insurer partners on a model that could compensate it for hospitalizations it helps prevent, not simply for providing more treatment.

Banerjee told TechCrunch that Even tracks how patients recover after treatment using established medical scoring systems. In the case of knee replacements, for instance, it uses the Oxford Knee Score to measure pain and mobility. The startup publishes results on its website, alongside figures from other healthcare systems for comparison.

Even says its hospitals have an unplanned readmission rate of less than 1%, compared with an industry benchmark of 8% to 15%. Furthermore, it claims patients spend 40% less time in the hospital and that its approach has saved insurers more than ₹500 million (about $5.27 million).

Jai Sajnani, a partner at Khosla Ventures, told TechCrunch that the early performance of Even’s hospitals was a key reason the firm led the round. “We look forward to helping the Even team put quality care within reach of every family in Bengaluru and across India,” he said.

Even is still losing money, though. The startup posted a net loss of ₹902 million (about $9.50 million) in fiscal 2025, nearly 25% more than the previous year, on revenue of ₹272 million (about $2.86 million), regulatory filings show.

In August, Even also laid off about 350 employees, according to Indian startup-news website Entrackr. Banerjee acknowledged the restructuring and called it a difficult decision. He said the affected employees received severance, extended health insurance, and accelerated equity vesting.

Even currently employs about 650 people, including around 300 doctors full-time. The startup has about 250,000 members and has recorded more than 750,000 patient interactions since its launch in 2021, including consultations, diagnostic tests, and surgeries, Banerjee said.

Banerjee told TechCrunch that Even could turn profitable within months if it stopped spending on expansion, but the startup is choosing to grow instead. He declined to say when the startup expects to become profitable.

“Right now, we’re investing in growth and serving more patients,” Banerjee said.