Leading emergency medical service (EMS) provider Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd (ZHL) is set to raise up to $40 million (nearly ₹280 crore) for expansion in West Asia, Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) and Africa in the next few months.

Established in 2005 with only 10 ambulances, the Mumbai-based start-up now has a fleet of nearly 3,300 ambulances and 10,000 employees across 16 States, providing pre-hospital emergency services.

“With our national and international expansion planned for the next three to five years, we expect to have nearly 10,000 ambulances,” Manish Sancheti, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), told BusinessLine.

For domestic expansion, ZHL will need about $20-25 million of funding, while for the overseas plans it will require around $7-10 million, he added.

Currently, the company has deployed 20 EMS well-equipped ambulances in the Emirate of Dubai and is soon going to expand to Abu Dhabi. ZHL is the first privately-run ambulance service provider in Dubai.

Business model

About ZHL’s business model, Sancheti said, apart from its corporate sector outreach, the company offers two categories of EMS for the people. One is through the government-run PPP model providing free-of-charge “108” ambulances in five States (the other players in this segment are GVK in nearly 15 States and BVG in three). For the new-born babies and pregnant women, the dial “102” service is available.

The other category is providing ambulances for “1298” diallers for which the company charges anywhere between ₹1,100 and ₹2,500, depending upon the service needed.

Currently, this service is operational in Mumbai, Odisha, Punjab, Bihar and Kerala.

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