Bangalore: In its first investment in the healthcare segment, Lok Capital invested in Drishti, a social enterprise providing eye care to underserved populations. The investment will help thousands of underserved geographies of Karnataka villages, telemedicine supported vision centres at small towns for primary eye care and advanced eye facilities and surgical care at their hospital.

Founded by Kiran Anandampillai, a founding member of OnMobile, Drishti provides eye care to underserved areas through a 3-tier model that includes screening camps, primary care via telemedicine and surgical care at its district hospitals. It ensures that there is minimum dependency on setting up clinics or manning them with trained ophthalmologists. Instead it focuses on taking eye care to thousands of people in smaller towns and villages.

Started in 2006, Gurgaon-based Lok Capital, with a huge amount of $85 million, had invested in around 15 companies, most of them focused on employment generation and rural education like Rural Shores, a BPO focused on rural employment and Hippocampus Learning Centre, a rural education initiative. Lok Capital has also funded Vistaar, a small enterprise financing company as well as other financial inclusion players like Ujjivan and IFMR Rural Channels.