Bangalore/Delaware, 28th June 2022: Tech platform hav., which has been operating in stealth mode has announced the launch of its operations formally. The company has raised $400,000 in a round led by US-based VC StartUp Health. The round also saw participation from marquee angels including Sudheer Nair (Chairman, Navio Group), Vijay Seshadri (ex-Board Member, Chargebee), Sudi Navile (Ex-Divisional CIO, Oracle), Shihab Muhammed (Founder, SurveySparrow & ex-Co-Founder, Freshworks), Rahul Nambiar (Board Member, Dentsu Indonesia), Stan Kuruvilla (ex-PayPal) Madhu Bhaskaran (Samagra), Faiz Mohamed Haneef (CEO, NeoITO), Navin Jain (Country Head – Indonesia, Mastercard), Akshit Goyal (JKGA Law), Senu Sam (Founder, Mykare) & K Gopalakrishnan (IAS).
Funds raised will be used for growing the user base and achieving PMF. Started in 2021 by Abdul Paravengal (ex-CFO & CBO, Shipper & an angel investor) along with Lajesh Kolath (ex-AVP, Open Financial Technologies) and Sajith Nair (ex-Yahoo!) hav. is a free app that tracks various health parameters to help 20 to 40-year-olds middle income and below individuals to reduce the probability of lifestyle-related diseases. The app requires no wearable integration and gives rewards coins for the activities which can be redeemed for discounted products, services and vouchers of leading & emerging brands. The company has launched its India operations formally with co-branded cards in partnership with Pine Labs and RuPay that allows users to earn additional coins for spending and get those coins converted to cash. hav. has already clocked 1 million downloads in India and Indonesia.
Abdul Paravengal, Co-founder & CEO, hav. says, “Preventative care for masses in emerging countries clearly was a space with limited large players due to high CAC and perceived lack of monetisation route – a segment for which if well executed can lead to significant impact. We seem to be well positioned to deliver this with our unique insights, mission first and frugal approach.”
hav. aims to reduce the probability of lifestyle related diseases that affect over 75% of people in the emerging countries. The company, for its rewards system, has already onboarded more than 200 brands.
Unity Stoakes, Co-founder President, StartUp Health, says, “We believe that it’s not enough to invent a new, shiny solution that keeps people healthy if only a sliver of the world gets to benefit from it. Innovative health ideas are just the beginning. Getting them to the world, regardless of geography and economics, is just as crucial. For that reason, and many others, we’re proud to back Abdul Paravengal and his team at hav.
The company aims to focus on expanding its base in the new markets where it will be launching operations and achieving unit level profitability in the next 12 months. They have already started their expansion in UAE, Saudi Arabia & Qatar and also hired Aldrin Kenneth, (ex-Head-Thailand & Indochina, Jet Airways) as VP. hav. has already started working on the app upgrade that will also keep track of heart rate, oxygen saturation, BP and so on without needing a wearable.
The Company is targeting a CAGR of 14% in the digital fitness & well-being apps segment over the next 5 years.