70 mn Indians face digestive disorders: This startup just raised $1 million to tackle it

Gut Clinic, a healthcare platform focused on gastroenterology, liver and metabolic care, has raised $1 million (approximately ₹9 crore) in seed funding from a consortium of more than 15 investors.

The round included participation from healthcare ecosystem players and industry veterans, among them Dr. Amitoj Singh, a Harvard-trained physician and preventive care specialist at the University of Arizona; Dr. Aman Rajpal of the University of California, San Francisco and an expert on obesity and MASD (fatty liver); Ankur Kathuria of Alpha Wave Global; Juhi Bhatnagar of Forj Capital; and Deepak Garg, Senior Executive Vice President at Reliance Industries.

The funding comes as India faces a growing burden of lifestyle-related digestive and metabolic disorders, the company said. An estimated 70 million Indians are affected by such conditions, while treatment systems remain largely hospital-based and reactive.

Gut Clinic aims to shift that model toward earlier diagnosis and long-term management outside acute hospital settings. The company is building an outpatient-focused system supported by technology infrastructure, with day-care and in-hospital centres designed to manage chronic gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases.

The capital raised will be used to open additional centres, strengthen clinical systems and expand diagnostic services within India’s preventive healthcare market, which is estimated at $197 billion and remains fragmented.

"This funding allows us to strengthen the clinical systems required to deliver consistent, high-quality outpatient care at scale," said Dr. Akshat Kumar, Founder and CEO of Gut Clinic.

"We are not looking to replace hospitals, but to complement them by managing chronic and preventive gastro, liver and metabolic conditions more effectively outside acute settings. With gastrointestinal disorders on the rise, liver disease among the leading causes of mortality, and fatty liver affecting nearly one in three Indians, it is the need of the hour to bring our world-class clinicians closer to patients’ homes."

Gut Clinic was founded by Dr. Akshat Kumar, a US-certified physician and Wharton MBA who previously led McKinsey’s global clinical operations practice.

Currently operating in the Delhi-NCR region, the company plans to expand into Chandigarh, Punjab and other parts of northern India. Gut Clinic aims to establish more than 20 centres over the near to medium term as it builds a network dedicated to outpatient gastroenterology, liver disease and metabolic care.

The centres provide consultations, endoscopies, colonoscopies, advanced gastrointestinal diagnostics and clinical nutrition services designed to offer specialist care outside traditional hospital environments.