Dineout Founders Raise $4.5M to Launch Medical Travel Platform Bridging UK- India Healthcare
- ByStartupStory | October 15, 2025
Ankit Mehrotra and Sahil Jain’s new venture, The Medical Travel Company, aims to streamline cross-border elective care with full-stack support, digital systems, and post-treatment continuity.
In a bold pivot from restaurant tech to healthtech, Ankit Mehrotra and Sahil Jain, the minds behind Dineout (later acquired by Swiggy), have raised USD 4.5 million in seed funding for their new startup, The Medical Travel Company. The round was led by Nexus Venture Partners, with backing from Kriscore Capital, athlete-led investment collective 4CAST (founded by cricketers Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, KL Rahul), and angel investors including Sriharsha Majety (Swiggy co-founder), Abhishek Goyal, Ritesh Malik, Arjun Vaidya, and more.
Founded in 2024, The Medical Travel Company sets its sights first on the UK–India corridor, proposing a solution to long wait times and high costs for elective procedures in the UK by enabling patients to access quality care in India. The startup describes its model as “full-stack,” offering UK medical oversight, treatment at internationally accredited Indian hospitals, and a 12-month post-surgery insurance policy valid in the UK.
The Opportunity: Strained UK Healthcare & India’s Medical Edge
The co-founders point to a significant pain point: as many as 7.7 million patients in the UK were waiting for elective treatments as of mid-2025, particularly across orthopaedics, ophthalmology, IVF, gynaecology, and urology. With private care in the UK often unaffordable, cross-border medical travel becomes a viable alternative.
Meanwhile, India has positioned itself as a leading destination for medical tourism, benefiting from cost arbitrage, skilled professionals, and improved hospital accreditation. Government policies, like those under the “Heal in India” initiative”, further support foreign patients accessing care in India.
What The Medical Travel Company Brings — and How It Works
Unlike many listing or referral services, the startup aspires to own the end-to-end patient journey:
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UK oversight: Coordination with UK doctors to monitor patient condition before, during, and after care
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Accredited Indian hospitals: Clinicians trained to international standards deliver the procedures
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Seamless logistics & aftercare: Concierge services, travel, rehab, and continuity across geographies
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Insurance protection: A 12-month post-surgery policy valid in the UK to safeguard patients
With this stack, the founders aim to remove fragmentation, hidden costs, and uncertainty from medical travel — delivering “healthcare certainty” across borders. Their experience with Dineout’s consumer trust and scaling gives them insight on building credibility in a highly sensitive industry.
Use of Funds & Expansion Roadmap
The fresh capital will drive multiple fronts:
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Operations in the UK & India: Building presence and systems in both markets
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Digital patient management: Strengthening the tech layer that supports cross-border continuity
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Clinical partnerships: Onboarding hospitals and specialists across India
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Geographical expansion: Over time, scaling into the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe
Investors have expressed confidence in the founders’ ability to scale their model from their Dineout experience and unlock untapped value in global medical tourism.
Challenges & Considerations
Despite the promise, the path ahead is fraught with challenges:
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Regulation & accreditation: Ensuring all hospitals and practitioners meet global and local health standards
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Aftercare & continuity: Cross-border follow-up care is often weak in many medical tourism models
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Trust & liability: Medical outcomes carry high stakes; the startup must build deep trust with patients
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Competition & alternatives: Other countries (Thailand, Malaysia, UAE) already vie for medical tourism supremacy
Success will depend on rigorous processes, transparent pricing, quality assurance, and strong partnerships.
Conclusion
By marrying consumer-tech experience with healthcare complexity, The Medical Travel Company is staking a claim in the global medical tourism space. With strong founding credentials, a holistic model, and fresh capital, it aims to transform how patients across borders access care — starting with the UK and India, and potentially much further beyond.
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