SAMRIDH Healthcare Blended Finance Facility, participated in NATHEALTH’s 8th Annual Summit held on 28th and 29th March 2022. The summit was designed to bring healthcare industry and government stakeholders together to discuss, deliberate, and lay the roadmap for a stronger, resilient India which is future ready for any uncertainties.

SAMRIDH leveraged this opportunity to enhance its visibility and build networks within the ecosystem of social enterprises and investors/funders, to build its investment pipeline as well as for fund mobilization.

USAID representatives and SAMRIDH participated in a total of five sessions over the course of two days. The opening session focusing on “Re-Building, Restructuring and Re-Imagining Resilient Healthcare Systems in India in a Post Pandemic Era” featured Mr. Ashwajit Singh, Managing Director, IPE Global speaking on the need for innovative financing in India to develop an enabling environment for start-ups with potential to create a huge impact in the healthcare sector. Day one also featured a session on “Building Hospital Infrastructure in Underserved Areas of India Using Innovative Asset Light Delivery Models and Innovative Financing”, during which Dr. Neeta Rao, Senior Health Lead at USAID, highlighted SAMRIDH’s role in augmenting the production and supply of high impact health solutions, through blended financing structures.

Day two included a panel discussion on Collaboration with CSR Programs where Mr.  Himanshu Sikka, Project Director, SAMRIDH shared his thoughts on how CSR funds can be leveraged to catalyze transformational reforms in the health sector.  This was followed by a ‘Start-up Pitch Session’ which brought together leading business accelerators from the healthcare industry including SAMRIDH, represented by Mr.  Himanshu Sikka, to enable mentorship, investment, and partnerships to increase market access opportunities for start-ups.

The Business Pavilion set up on both days provided SAMRIDH with the opportunity to partner and collaborate with relevant industry leaders attending the summit and featured a panel discussion with a pitch on SAMRIDH delivered by Ms. Ritika Pandey, Lead – Post Award, at SAMRIDH.

Overall, the event was a success in giving SAMRIDH a platform to build networks, and in amplifying its impact through industry leaders such as Mr. Sudhir Mathur, CEO and Founder, MERADOC, who used SAMRIDH as an example to illustrate how tailored financing solutions are creating an enabling environment for health start-ups in India.