We all have been moved by videos of people suffering from a grave illness- the treatment of which is beyond their financial means. Most of us would have donated small amounts for these individual cases as well. Chances are that the donations would have been through a crowdfunding platform. Crowdfunding platforms are emerging as one of the most promising channels for retail giving in India- a market with an estimated size of INR 28,000 crore in FY 2021. This sector is likely to witness a 10% annual growth rate primarily due to the fast growing middle class (implying a massive increase in number of potential donors), rising individual incomes as well as fast and reliable digital payment mechanisms.
TheCSRUniverse had a chance to interact with the founders of Impact Guru- India’s leading crowdfunding platform- which has recently repositioned itself under a new parent brand. Impact Guru has showcased tremendous growth in a very short span of time and is evolving into an integrated digital marketplace for healthcare financing under their newly formed parent brand CarePal.
In this exclusive interview with TheCSRUniverse, Piyush Jain, Co-founder and CEO, CarePal Group and Khushboo Jain, Co-founder and COO, CarePal Group discuss factors that led them to form CarePal, their vision for the group, the journey of Impact Guru so far and their views on the Indian crowdfunding market. They shed light on aspects that differentiate the Indian crowdfunding market from its western counterparts, the factors that are driving growth in this space and encouraging indicators pertaining to individual giving.
Scroll down for more insights:
Q. Impact Guru started as a crowdfunding platform for medical treatments. What led you to consider including healthcare insurance and healthcare loans in your offerings?
India is confronted with a major challenge in healthcare financing, as it grapples with substantial out-of-pocket expenses that have created an annual financing gap of US $72 billion. Looking ahead, the coming decade presents a significant opportunity for healthcare financing, given the considerable inflation in medical costs in India.
The decision to address this issue was driven by consistent feedback from patients and hospitals, who wanted us to help them in all clinical areas, and not just critical illness.
Our renewed goal is to cater to the healthcare financing needs of patients seeking critical as well as non-critical (eg. elective) treatments as well as both in-patient and outpatient healthcare expenses. To achieve this objective, we have created an all-inclusive healthcare finance ecosystem that incorporates diverse solutions. These solutions encompass a crowdfunding platform, ImpactGuru.com, a lending marketplace platform called CarePal Money, and a health insurance marketplace and health protection benefits marketplace, through CarePal Secure.
Q. Why did you choose to form a parent brand- CarePal- instead of continuing to offer additional services under the already established brand- Impact Guru?
Impact Guru was founded with a mission “to make healthcare affordable to save lives today while securing families for a better tomorrow.” We envisioned empowering individuals to make a positive difference and inspire others to do good. Now that the vision has evolved and expanded, we believe that the name CarePal better encapsulates the values and aspirations of our organization. Nonetheless, medical crowdfunding will continue to operate through the Impact Guru platform.
Q. What kind of growth do you expect for CarePal Secure and CarePal Money in the next 3-5 years?
Our ambition for CarePal Secure is to become India’s largest individual-focused health insurance and health benefits marketplace/intermediary in India. As for CarePal Money, which is still in its early stages, our goal is to establish it as India’s largest standalone healthcare lending marketplace in India. We aim to help over one million patients by 2030 through the integrated healthcare finance solution comprising crowdfunding, lending, and insurance solutions.
Q. What advantages would potential customers have when they take insurance or loan through CarePal?
The primary focus of CarePal Secure is to prioritize the health of its customers by offering insurance and health protection benefit plans as an intermediary. CarePal Secure strives to establish collaborations between insurance providers, healthcare institutions, and innovative health-tech companies. Through these partnerships, CarePal Secure aims to deliver tailored solutions and offerings to its customers.
CarePal Money aims to create a marketplace providing healthcare loans at affordable prices to patients. Through CarePal Money, we aim to provide access to elective treatments to patients through quick and affordable loans, at 0% EMI or at low-interest rates, along with flexible repayment tenure and without the need for any collateral. CarePal Money will enter into strategic partnerships with RBI-regulated entities/ NBFCs/banks to help patients avail loans with ease.
Q. Impact Guru has an option to start a crowdfunding campaign with 0% platform fee along with the usual model where the platform charges a certain percentage of the amount raised. What are the advantages of each offering?
Impact Guru offers three plans - self-driven (0% fee), assisted (5% fee) and collaborate (8% fee). While many of the features are common to all three plans, some specific features such as dedicated relationship manager support, matching donations, etc. are provided in the assisted and collaborative plans only.
Q. Crowdfunding campaigns must resonate with a potential donor at an emotional level. Do Indian campaigns differ from western crowdfunding campaigns given the socio-cultural differences?
Donation crowdfunding has proven effective for a diverse range of causes, such as medical, educational, animal welfare, memorial, environmental, non-profit, and financial emergencies, among others. However, a significant distinction between the West and India is that crowdfunding is a relatively new concept for Indian donors. Additionally, the Indian audience predominantly engages in online donations specifically for medical purposes, constituting around 90-95% of all online contributions on crowdfunding platforms. Online fundraising for non-profit causes is still in its early stages in India, while it has substantially more scale in the United States.
Q. Crowdfunding is perceived to primarily rely on small donations by individual donors. Is that a correct perception? Could you share the range within which the majority of the donations are made on your platform?
Yes, the concept of crowdfunding is based on the premise that a large section of people come together to contribute towards a cause through small donations. For instance, about 60% of the donors on our platform contribute an average of INR 500 to INR 1,500 in donations towards crowdfunding campaigns.
Q. What are the most prominent shifts that you have noticed when it comes to individual giving in India since you started out? How do you see this space evolving in India in the medium future?
Since we started out, we have observed several prominent shifts in individual giving trends in India. Firstly, there has been a significant shift in payment modes, with donors increasingly opting for UPI (Unified Payments Interface) over traditional methods like debit/credit cards and net banking.
Additionally, we have noticed a growing interest among donors in signing up for monthly donation subscription plans. This indicates a shift towards sustained and long-term support for causes they care about.
Furthermore, there has been a notable increase in the average donation amount by 1.5x, compared to when we initially began. This suggests a willingness among donors to contribute more generously to make a meaningful impact.
Q. When it comes to conditions like SMA, the cost of treatment is very high. Has any crowdfunding campaign been able to cover the entire cost of treatment for a case so far? Also, how far is it justified to crowdfund disproportionately high amounts for singular cases?
Yes, we have been able to raise the complete treatment cost for several patients suffering from SMA. In fact, we launched #IndiaFightsSMA initiative to raise INR 16 crore each for three patients - Teera Kamat, Dhairyaraj Sinh and Ayaansh Gupta. In fact, Baby Teera’s was India’s first successful fundraiser by a crowdfunding platform for SMA.
We believe that each and every child deserves the opportunity to lead a healthy and joyful life, allowing them to unlock their true talents and potential. It is disheartening to witness young individuals being diagnosed with severe illnesses. As a society, it is our collective duty to spare no effort in saving lives, regardless of the associated costs.
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