How a Former Zomato Professional Built a Rs. 200 Crore ‘Uber for Ambulances’

Pranav Bajaj’s entry into the healthcare sector happened through a quirk of fate. After graduating from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, he was working in Zomato, when his life took an unexpected turn.

His close friend, Ravjot Singh Arora, shared a painful experience of failing to find an ambulance for his grandfather in a medical emergency.

Pranav Bajaj (right) and Ravjot Singh Arora, Co- founders, Medulance Healthcare (Photos: Special Arrangement)

Moved by his friend’s experience, Pranav felt a pull toward solving this life-and-death problem. He envisioned a service as efficient and on-demand as Uber, but dedicated to healthcare.

Thus, Medulance Healthcare was born, and today, with a valuation of Rs 200 crore and turnover of Rs. 60 crore, it operates a fleet of ambulances serving over 600 cities across the country.


“Back then, my friend and later co-founder Ravjot Singh Arora shared his frustration over the delay in finding an ambulance for his grandfather. That’s when we knew that we had a problem that needed a solution,” Pranav recalled.

Around that time, ride-hailing services like Uber were gaining popularity, inspiring the duo to replicate a similar model for ambulances.

Before venturing into healthcare, Delhi-born Pranav worked at Zomato, where he was in charge of business development in the city. He joined Zomato in 2012 after graduating from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies.

When asked why he didn’t pursue food delivery, given his experience, Pranav said, “Food delivery wasn’t the problem we wanted to solve.” However, the lessons he learned at Zomato have been put to good use in building Medulance Healthcare.

Pranav and Ravjot battled early challenges to build Medulance Healthcare

“The strong learning was the culture at Zomato where the promoters led from the front. They were the first to enter the office and last to exit,” Pranav recalled.

“They were also communicative with the employees and worked well with the youngsters. We decided to replicate these in our company. There was nothing to unlearn from my stint at Zomato. Zomato and Medulance Healthcare do not have any similarities in their operations.”

In 2017, however, Medulance Healthcare founders Pranav and Ravjot discovered that the ambulance market was largely unregulated.

"The biggest issue in this segment is that ambulance services aren’t needed every day, so people often don’t know whom to call in an emergency," Pranav explained. Despite this, they moved forward, investing about Rs. 20 lakh of their savings into their first ambulance.

The initial challenges were many and the foremost being that the duo did not have any medical background.

Additionally, ambulance services were traditionally seen as a social service rather than a business, and finding trained paramedics proved challenging.

“It took us three years to create a viable business,” Pranav said.

Initially, the company operated in the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment, but it later expanded into the business-to-business (B2B) market, offering services to over 200 corporations, hospitals, enterprises, and other institutions.

“For the past four years, we have managed ambulance services for the government, successfully reducing the response time,” Pranav shared. Through this government partnership, the company provides up to 400 ambulances via the Delhi Government’s 102 Helpline.

Today, Medulance Healthcare operates a fleet of over 10,000 ambulances, delivering emergency medical services across more than 600 cities. To date, it has aided over 25 lakh individuals and managed around 2 lakh COVID-positive cases.

When asked if hospitals outsource their ambulance services, Pranav said, “We manage ambulance services for numerous hospitals. Currently, only about one percent of hospitals operate their own ambulance services. Over the next five years, we expect 80 percent of them to opt for outsourcing.”

The founder-duo has plans to expand and improve efficiency in service

He added that hospitals prioritise inpatient care and see emergency services as a secondary focus. Outsourcing ambulance services allows hospitals to adopt an operating expenses (opex) model rather than a capital expenditure (capex) model, which in turn helps to improve patient inflow.

With its bottom line in the black for the past four years, Medulance Healthcare is aiming for a turnover of Rs. 90 crore this fiscal, a jump of Rs. 30 crore over the previous year’s figures.

The company plans to expand and standardise its operations to reduce response times from the current 20 minutes to 15 minutes. To achieve this, Pranav said they intend to collaborate with more state governments, partner with insurers, and increase their ambulance fleet.

He pointed out that about 30 percent of deaths in India result from delayed emergency services, with many people finding it difficult to access help quickly when needed.

Pranav estimated the overall market size at around $1.5 billion and noted that, while there are competitors, each player has ample space to grow. “Awareness is increasing, hospitals are outsourcing, and the market is set for significant growth,” he added.

He said the air ambulance sector is a different ball game due to its high costs and unique dynamics, which still need to evolve within the country.

When asked to provide a SWOT analysis of his company, Pranav said its strength lies in its focus on quality, strong culture, and consistent profitability. He identified financial budgeting as a weakness.

The opportunity is huge as hospitals and corporates will start outsourcing the ambulance service and there are no active threats now as the growth opportunity is big, Pranav said.

Pranav and Ravjot with the team

The company secured $3 million in Series A funding in 2024, led by Alkemi Growth Capital. As part of backward integration, Medulance established the Medulance Healthcare Academy in 2024, an institute dedicated to emergency medical training and upskilling healthcare workers.

The academy also launched a book, First Aid in Emergency, to provide guidance on first aid and life-saving techniques in emergencies.

During his days at the Modern School, Delhi Bajaj had represented Delhi’s Under 14 team. Though a diligent student, his grades started to fall because of the game and his parents asked him to focus on his studies.

The competition in cricket was severe and he decided to listen to his parents. “I play tennis daily now, and my favourite player is Roger Federer. I also enjoy travelling,” Pranav signed off. -  ©TWL

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