Digital dermatology startup Clinikally from India has raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding from Y Combinator, a US-based tech startup accelerator, and Shutterstock CEO and founder Jon Oringer. 

It also secured the amount from other investors, including ReNew Power founder Sumant Sinha, MapMyGenome founder Anu Acharya, Nepean Capital founder Gautam Trivedi, and Northwestern Medicine chief of head and neck surgery Sandeep Samant.

Launched last year, Clinikally runs a web-based teledermatology platform for people of all ages, including children. With about 125 partner brands providing prescription-grade hair and skin products, the digital health company is serving around 700 cities in India to date.

The startup is currently building an AI model for providing automated treatment plans using a database of skin and hair profiles and prescriptions.

WHAT IT'S FOR 

Arjun Soin, founder of Clinikally, said they will use the fresh funds to double down on building seamless telemedicine flows; expand its digital pharmacy service to cater to a wider range of conditions; and strengthen their in-house R&D and technology for AI-based treatment plans. 

Recently, the startup partnered with US-based skincare brand Soteri Skin to market its products for the treatment of chronic skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis in India. It also just launched a virtual paediatric dermatology service and pharmacy offering on its platform.

MARKET SNAPSHOT

In August, fellow derma startup Diri Care from Indonesia also raised seed funding worth $4.3 million which will be used for its expansion activities.

Another AI-driven dermatology company, CureSkin, scored $5 million in Series A funding in March, which will go towards reaching out to more consumers in India.