In this exclusive interaction with StartupTalky, Khushboo Jain, Co-Founder and COO of CarePal Group, shares her journey of transforming healthcare financing in India. She discusses the inspiration behind CarePal, its unique ecosystem of crowdfunding, insurance, and lending, and how technology is improving healthcare access. Jain also talks about her shift from fashion marketing to healthcare, the challenges of being a woman entrepreneur, and offers advice for others. Discover how CarePal is breaking barriers to ensure that quality healthcare is accessible and affordable for millions across India.
StartupTalky: What inspired you to start CarePal, and how has your vision for healthcare financing in India grown over the years?
Ms. Jain: The vision behind CarePal Group is rooted in ensuring that no one suffers or faces financial ruin due to unaffordable healthcare. Recognizing the dire impact of medical expenses in India, where millions are pushed into poverty annually, we set out to create a transformative solution. CarePal Group integrates medical crowdfunding, health insurance and benefits, and a lending marketplace to establish a comprehensive healthcare financing ecosystem.
This innovative approach caters to varied needs, from high-cost treatments to smaller medical expenses, ensuring quality healthcare is accessible to all. Guided by a commitment to community impact, we have surmounted numerous challenges through persistence and creativity. Our mission is to save one million lives in the next decade by revolutionizing healthcare financing in India.
The mission has evolved to not only alleviate immediate financial burdens but also build long-term solutions for affordable and accessible healthcare, to impact a million lives by 2030.
StartupTalky: ImpactGuru.com has helped thousands of patients raise funds. What unique strategies have made this possible, especially in connecting patients with supporters?
Ms. Jain: Medical crowdfunding serves as a lifeline for middle and lower-middle-class families facing financial barriers to healthcare. Through focused marketing initiatives, we have extended this support to underserved and impoverished communities, enabling rapid fundraising for critical medical needs. Our ongoing efforts center on enhancing the platform’s features and reach, ensuring every beneficiary receives optimal assistance and an improved experience.
StartupTalky: CarePal offers multiple services, from crowdfunding to health insurance and lending. How do you make sure each service meets its purpose and also fits into the bigger mission?
Ms. Jain: At CarePal, we ensure that each service—crowdfunding, health insurance, and healthcare lending—not only fulfills its specific purpose but also aligns with our broader mission of making healthcare affordable and accessible. Each service is designed to address distinct challenges: crowdfunding for urgent medical emergencies, insurance for preventive financial coverage, and lending to bridge funding gaps for uncovered treatments including for critical illnesses like cancer. These offerings are integrated into a cohesive ecosystem, enabling us to deliver tailored solutions based on individual needs.
By leveraging data-driven insights and maintaining a customer-centric approach, we continuously refine our services to meet user expectations. All our initiatives are guided by our mission to ensure no one suffers due to lack of funds for healthcare, making every effort meaningful and impactful in transforming India’s healthcare financing landscape.
StartupTalky: How do you see technology like data and AI shaping the future of healthcare financing, and what steps is CarePal taking in this direction?
Ms. Jain: Data and AI are set to revolutionize healthcare financing by enabling more personalized, efficient, and accessible solutions. AI can analyze vast amounts of medical and financial data to predict costs, assess risks, and tailor financing options to individual needs. It will also play a key role in driving our storytelling narrative, which is a critical component of medical crowdfunding. At CarePal, by staying at the forefront of technological innovation, we aim to build smarter, more scalable solutions that align with our mission to make healthcare accessible to all.
StartupTalky: You moved from fashion marketing to healthcare. How did you make this change, and what skills and lessons from your early career help you today?
Ms. Jain: Transitioning from fashion marketing to healthcare was both challenging and rewarding. The shift required me to adapt quickly to a new industry with different dynamics, but many skills from my early career proved invaluable. In fashion marketing, I honed my abilities in storytelling, branding, and audience engagement—skills that are equally critical in healthcare crowdfunding, particularly in connecting with donors and patients on an emotional level.
Additionally, my experience in fast-paced, consumer-driven environments helped me develop agility and a focus on customer-centric solutions. These qualities now enable me to design innovative strategies that resonate with diverse audiences in the healthcare financing sector. The lessons of resilience, creativity, and adaptability have been essential in navigating the complexities of healthcare financing and driving impactful initiatives at CarePal.
StartupTalky: As a woman entrepreneur in healthcare and finance, what challenges have you faced, and how did you turn them into opportunities?
Ms. Jain: In the early days of CarePal Group, we encountered several significant challenges. Attracting top-tier talent, gaining the trust of investors, connecting with patients in need, and effectively targeting donors were all formidable obstacles. However, our unwavering commitment to our mission and focus on innovation enabled us to overcome these hurdles. This perseverance has been instrumental in driving meaningful progress in healthcare financing, making quality care accessible to more people.
StartupTalky: What advice would you give to other women who want to make a difference through their business?
Ms. Jain: As a woman entrepreneur, my advice would be to stay resilient and adaptable. There will always be challenges, but trust in your instincts and don’t be afraid to take bold risks. Seek out mentors and build a strong support network—having people around you who believe in your vision can make all the difference.
It’s also important to stay true to your goals while being flexible enough to pivot when necessary. Balance your personal aspirations with your business ambitions, and remember that your unique perspective as a woman is a powerful tool for innovation. Use it to create solutions that are inclusive and forward-thinking. Most importantly, never underestimate your ability to lead and create change. You have the power to pave the way for other women in business and make a lasting impact.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by ImpactGuru.
Would you have been able to imagine a crowdfunding startup to be able to meet all your healthcare needs? This is where ImpactGuru comes in. In a survey carried out by NSO in July 2017-June 2018, it was found that only 14% of the rural population and 19% of the urban population had health expenditure coverage. Again, according to an analysis published in The Lancet in 2018, around 1.6 million people in India die due to inadequate healthcare. The Indian healthcare segment is clouded by many such disturbing data. However, it is good to see that not just the Government, but many NGOs and startups are coming up to solve the long prevailing issues in the healthcare sector. Today we are talking about one such startup, that is making a remarkable attempt to make quality healthcare accessible even to the poorest, through crowdfunding. Mumbai-based ImpactGuru is not just helping people to raise funds for healthcare, but for various other social and personal causes as well.
In order to scale the fundraising for PPE for doctors, nurses and health care workers across India, ImpactGuru received INR. 40 lakh grant in the form of matching funds from The Action Covid-19 Team (ACT). The company added up to 20% in matching donations via the ACT Grant on every single donation for selected Public and Private Hospitals on its platform.
6th October 2021 – ImpactGuru witnessed a rise in people seeking financial help for treatment. Around 25,000 patients have been assisted so far by ImpactGuru and half of these patients were assisted post-January 2020.
2nd October 2021 – ImpactGuru has successfully crowdfunded over Rs. 75 lakh cumulatively contributed by over 700 donors in 2 weeks to cover treatment expenses of 2 brothers fighting Hunter’s Syndrome.
“An ImpactGuru is someone who envisions change, who finds solutions to social problems, who steps up to support another change-maker, who makes kindness a habit, who dares to follow his/her dream, or who simply helps out a friend in need. We believe that each individual holds the power to effect great change and given the right tools and the right backing, can become an ImpactGuru himself/herself ” quotes ImpactGuru CEO Piyush Jain.
ImpactGuru Logo
Starting a fundraiser campaign in ImpactGuru is easy. One just has to get started by clicking on the ‘Start a Fundraiser’ tab on the ImpactGuru website or app, fill in the required details to create the fundraiser campaign. Using ImpactGuru’s story builder feature, one can put up one’s cause of raising money in an appealing way to attract more donors.
Once created, the fundraiser campaign is shared online. The money received from the donors is transferred to the beneficiary’s account after deducting the applicable fee and charges.
Fundraising on ImpactGuru
ImpactGuru – Industry Details
India’s private healthcare spend stands at $90 billion a year. Of this, merely one-third is covered by insurance and the balance of $60 billion is met largely with borrowings from friends and family. Capturing 10% of this segment would mean a medical crowdfunding market of around $6 billion. This is the segment ImpactGuru is looking to tap.
Healthcare crowdfunding is the most disruptive solution to address this problem. There are no loans or interest to be paid off when it comes to crowdfunding as funds raised online is considered as a donation.
ImpactGuru – The Idea of Starting up
The idea began to form in Piyush’s mind while he was working with Instilgo, a US-based non-profit organization.
“When I decided to go to Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, I found my calling when I accepted a fellowship with Instiglio, a US non-profit focused on using social impact bonds to help non-profits scale” recalls ImpactGuru founder PiyushJain.
Besides, while at Harvard, Piyush assisted his Professor in teaching a class on financial management in non-profit Organizations. He also co-authored a paper on – ‘Non-Equity Financing for Entrepreneurial Ventures’. For writing the research paper, Piyush had to explore different avenues to finance social initiatives. During this research, Piyush realized that the crowdfunding market in Indian is largely untapped and it is his willingness to do something in the field of crowdfunding that made him start ImpactGuru.
Fortunately, both Khushboo and Piyush shared the same vision. Piyush’s knowledge of finance and technology clubbed with the brand, marketing and communications skillsets of Khushboo had garnered over the years. It does require a fantastic partnership and they have been very lucky to forge that successfully.
The startup was incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab in August 2014 and at PACT, Singapore in May 2015.
Impactguru founders – Khushboo Jain and Piyush Jain
ImpactGuru was founded by a couple of entrepreneurs, Piyush Jain and Khushboo Jain.
ImpactGuru founder and CEO Piyush Jain is a BSc in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania – The Wharton School. He did Masters in Public Policy, Business and Government Policy from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. Piyush worked with reputed organizations like JP Morgan, Instiglio, San Francisco based fintech firm SoFi, the Boston Consulting Group and RB Investments, before starting ImpactGuru in 2017.
ImpactGuru co-founder and COO Khushboo Jain come from a fashion designing and fashion marketing background. Khushboo is an alumna of London College of Fashion, University of Arts London and Parsons School of Design. Khushboo did her Bachelors in Commerce from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, and an MBA from Welingkar Institute of Management. Prior to joining her husband in his venture, Khusboo worked with brands like Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited and fashion brands like TheLabelLife.com and Manish Malhotra.
Piyush is backed by an awesome and dedicated team who truly stand with the vision and mission of ImpactGuru. Some core members of the ImpactGuru team are-
Vikas Kaul, the Chief Product Officer of ImpactGuru is an IIMK graduate. He is an ex-employee of Quikr and Deloitte.
Ankita Kumari is Vice President, Operations at ImpactGuru. She is an engineering graduate from Amity University Noida and an ex-employee of PSTakeCare and TinyOwl.
Sandeep Tripathy – Head, Business Development, Ex- PSTakeCare, IIT Bombay.
ImpactGuru – USP
What makes ImpactGuru stand out is that they are the only crowdfunding platform to have their own story builder to help customers write great stories as it’s a major pain point in the industry today. It has an AI-supported story builder for medical fundraisers, with a template for all campaigners to develop their own standardized campaign stories. It’s a first in the world innovation in crowdfunding globally!
ImpactGuru is also the first crowdfunding player in India to launch a smartphone app for customers. The app presents the user with a quick view of their fundraiser, thus enabling them to keep track of the progress of the campaign, get real-time donation notifications and post updates.
ImpactGuru.com has become the largest crowdfunding platform in India for medical expenses. In total, ImpactGuru has raised around INR 950 Crore from over 2 lakh donors from 150 countries.
ImpactGuru – No Platform Fee
ImpactGuru has extended free fundraising to all causes by offering a 0% platform fee. It has Mobilized $200 million/INR.1500 crores through its platform and global partners, since inception.
Free fundraising is made available to all types of fundraisers who are hosted on the platform – It can be patients with medical emergencies (Covid-19, organ transplant, cancer) or NPOs/Individual fundraising programs for any causes. By this, ImpactGuru has completely waived off-platform fees with an intention to maximize the funds raised by fundraisers.
In order to sustain the platform and meet operational activities to provide a free fundraising platform, donors will be asked to provide any amount of voluntary tips.
In a joint statement ImpactGuru.com’s Co-Founders Piyush Jain and Khushboo Jain said, “In the last 5 years, crowdfunding on ImpactGuru has now become the preferred way for people to finance critical illness bills at hospitals given the low level of insurance penetration in India. With the extension of our free fundraising options to all fundraisers, we hope to accelerate our ambition of helping finance the critical illnesses of over 1 million / 10 lakh patients over the next decade.”
ImpactGuru – Business and Revenue Model
But how does ImpactGuru make money? It has a highly scalable, asset-light, transparent revenue model. It charges an average of 8% of total funds raised as to its fees with 5% directly being net revenue. It charges additional fixed fees for premium services such as digital marketing, video, content support.
I was keen on a business model that would add value and meaning to the community. Our vision is to make sure that nobody in India has to ever struggle to fund their medical treatment due to lack of money. – Piyush Jain
ImpactGuru offers various packages that one can opt for fundraising.
ImpactGuru – Challenges Faced
Social problems are so immense in India, that often one can get disillusioned by the impact one creates i.e. whether one’s intervention is moving the needle or not. There are many challenges and dilemmas that the ImpactGuru team needs to face on a day-to-day basis. This is what Piyush has to say regarding the issues the team faces-
At ImpactGuru, we often face an ethical dilemma. Private hospitals will not proceed with treatment without the funds, say of 5 children whom are near death without a critical emergency surgery. It is an overwhelming feeling as we will be disappointing someone or maybe more as we have limited resources as an organization and limited donors to reach out to fund each of the 5 surgeries successfully. How to handle the mental pressure and how to execute the task is the pressing concern. It’s very important to keep the perspective that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. We thus pick cases where we can have the maximum impact given the short time. We select cases such as transplant, heart surgeries, cancer rather than dengue, malaria, diarrhoea.
ImpactGuru has raised a total of $4.5M in funding over 5 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Mar 6, 2020, from a Seed round.The ImpactGuru funding details are mentioned below:
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
April 2016
Pre-Seed Round
$500K
RB Investments Pvt Ltd (Singapore based VC Fund)
November 2017
Seed Round
–
Venture Catalysts
May 2018
Series A
$2Million
Apollo Hospitals Group, Currae Healthtech Fund, RB Investments, Shorooq Investments, Venture Catalysts with participation from various other investors from the USA, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East
December 2018
Series A
$2Million
Shorooq Partners
May 2020
Seed Round
–
Rajesh Mane
ImpactGuru – Partners
ImpactGuru has a strategic partnership with GlobalGiving.org, the world’s largest non-profit crowdfunding platform based in the US and UK in October 2016. It is the only crowdfunding platform in the world that can offer Indian, US, and UK tax benefits to Indian and international donors.
ImpactGuru team with GlobalGiving
ImpactGuru has also partnered with Apollo patients nationwide which makes it the preferred crowdfunding platform for all.
Recently, in early July 2021 Cure SMA Foundation of India, a public charitable trust has collaborated with ImpactGuru. The partnership is to support all its registered SMA patients in India.
In April 2016, ImpactGuru partnered with Fundnel, an investment platform based in Singapore. This partnership allowed ImpactGuru to tap into philanthropic and investment capital from the Indian diaspora based in Southeast Asia.
In September 2016, ImpactGuru partnered with UN Women (an entity of United Nations) to run Project Inspire, an initiative to support social entrepreneurs working for women empowerment.
ImpactGuru – Awards and Achievements
ImpactGuru has won the following awards worldwide.
Khushboo Jain featured as a Leading Woman in Business 2021 List by The Economic Times & Femina.
Khushboo Jain was recognized as Social Activist For Indefatigable Service During Covid-19 Crisis by the Punjab Govt. Dept Of Health & Family Welfare.
Piyush Jain featured in 2021 List of Nationwide Awards 40 Under 40.
Awarded as Best Social Impact Startup by Drivers Of Digital Awards.
Awarded as Best Digital Startup by Drivers Of Digital Awards.
Piyush & Khushboo Jain featured in 2019 List of Fortune India 40 Under 40.
NITI Aayog & United Nations – 2019 Women Transforming India Awards featured Khushboo Jain in Winning Top 15.
Recognized among top 5 startups in India and raised investment funding on live TV on Tie The Knot: Real Funding, Unreal Speeds, CNBC TV18’s longest-running shows – Young Turks.
ImpactGuru was declared the winner of Maharashtra Startup Week 2019, organized by the Maharashtra State Innovation Society.
BusinessworldTectors Awards 2018 – Tech Companies To Watch Out For.
TechCircle 2018 Public Choice Award for Best Social Impact Startup award.
MedAchievers HEALTH NXT 2018 Rising Startup Award.
2018 Top 3 Startups in West Zone, Start Smart Awards 2018.
Businessworld BW Disrupt Social Woman Entrepreneur Award.
Expanding business in Middle East markets is the next on the cards with the help of some investors from the region who have recently invested in the company.
I’m on a mission to make healthcare accessible to all and save more lives and cast the ImpactGuru net across geographies.
ImpactGuru – FAQs
What is ImpactGuru?
ImpactGuru is a Mumbai-based crowdfunding startup that offers a platform to raise funds for healthcare to social enterprises, NGOs, startups and individuals.
Who is the founder of ImpactGuru?
ImpactGuru was founded by a couple of entrepreneurs, Piyush Jain and Khushboo Jain.
How does ImpactGuru make money?
ImpactGuru charges a minimum of 5% fee on the funds raised by individuals on the platform.
What is ImpactGuru funding?
ImpactGuru has raised a total of $4.5M in funding over 5 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Mar 6, 2020, from a Seed round.
What documents are required to run a fundraiser on ImpactGuru?
NGOs: If you’re raising funds for an NGO, you will be required to submit your 12A certificate and 80G certificate. If you wish to receive foreign donations please also share your valid FCRA certificate.
Individuals (medical causes): If you’re an individual looking to raise funds for medical expenses you will be required to submit the patient’s identity details, test reports and invoice (if any), hospital/clinic name doctor’s name & contact details, beneficiary’s bank account details.
Individuals (other causes): For individuals looking to raise funds for other personal causes please share your identity proof and bank account details. It would help your fundraiser if you could provide any other documents that would validate your fundraising need.
Is ImpactGuru a legitimate site?
Yes, ImpactGuru is a legitimate and legal site.
Is ImpactGuru genuine?
Yes, all the cases are genuine. ImpactGuru itself verifies them to make sure that their platform is safe for both campaigners and donors.
Amidst COVID-19 pandemic, corporate offices have shut down asking their employees to work remotely from home. Getting accustomed to working from home will be a task for which employees will need to prepare themselves.
We talked with Khushaboo Jain, Co-Founder and COO at ImpactGuru.com about how to ensure productivity while working remotely. Here are 8 tips given by her to ensuring productivity while working remotely:
How to ensure productivity while working remotely | Khushaboo Jain
1) Creating A Workspace
The easiest thing to do, in order to get into a working mode, is to ensure that there is a designated workspace in your house. This may be a separate room dedicated for the sole purpose of being a home workstation, &/or a pre-existing space that can be turned into a work environment.
Either way, the work area should be clean and free from any clutter, and comfortable enough to not cause fatigue while working. Apart from this, you should ensure that the internet connection is stable and fast enough to allow for swift communication. If your work involves a lot of video calls/conferences, then you should also have decent lighting. Make sure that your background is clear and free from all clutter.
2) Having The Right Tools
After having the workspace set up, the next focus should be on ensuring that one has all the tools necessary to have a productive day. In terms of hardware, most companies are willing to provide laptops to their employees working from home. Any additional requirements such as a mouse or a communication headphone should be readily available. It is important to have all the required
software’s/programs/applications for your work and seamless communication pre-installed in your device.
3) Communication
The primary means of communication during this period will be emails, phone calls, video calls/conferences, and instant messaging. You will need to know how to use these mediums effectively, and also which one is most likely to get a quick response.
4) Know What is The Expected Outcome From You
Get a clear idea as to what the end objective of your task should be. This will let you work more effectively, and reduce the chances of errors that will require revisions later.
5) Setting Timelines
If you are to collaborate with someone for a project, make sure that both have set aside time to communicate and update the other. You are accountable, so ensure that your timeline is set in such a way that you can achieve your objectives for the day, while also having time to make any quick revisions.
6) Avoiding Distractions
Your family, friends, pets and household chores will all be distractions you are not been prepared for. In these situations, you will have to know how to set up boundaries and let everyone know, that even though you are at home, it doesn’t mean you are available.
7) Know When To Unplug
Likewise, it is also important to let your company know when you are available and when you are not. Have a specific time after which you can stop concentrating on work and can get back to your home mentally. Ideally, it can be the same as your punch-out. This will also help you stick to the timeline more effectively.
8) Take Care Of Your Health
Now, more than ever, it is essential for you to take care of your health, both physical and mental. If you feel fatigued at your regular workplace, the options to unwind are limited, but at home, you have more and better options. You could take some time off to exercise, relax or cook.As long as it doesn’t affect your timeline, you are good to go.
For employees working from home now, accountability will be the most important factor when it comes to them being as efficient as they can. With most of one’s travel time cut down, an accountable employee can prepare himself/herself better for work, with respect to health and skills.
ImpactGuru.com is India’s leading healthcare financing platform for patients, raises money online for medical expenses via crowdfunding. It aggregates a large number of online payments to allow any individual requiring financial assistance to raise funds for medical expenses – be it cancer, transplant, accident, or any medical emergency.
About Khushboo Jain:
Khushboo Jain co-founded crowdfunding platform ImpactGuru.com in July 2014 and has served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. In addition, she heads ImpactGuru’s Communications, Design and Brand teams. Khushboo Jain is actively involved in the company’s marketing and communications strategies, community building activities, the ImpactGuru product users’ experience, and with ImpactGuru’s work with non-profits.
Khushboo was recently featured amongst the Top 15 winning women entrepreneurs at NITI Aayog & United Nations, 2019 Women Transforming India Awards. Khushboo Jain began an entrepreneurial career and co-founded ImpactGuru.com with a mission to help India’s people find crowdfunding solutions for patients struggling to fund critical illnesses.
Varun Bhardwaj
