New Delhi [India], Feb. 21 : India's first healthcare education and training company, Vivo Healthcare is eyeing major expansion across India, South Asia and the Middle East, following fresh strategic funding from Netherlands-based ICCO Investments.

As a global development organisation, ICCO will support Vivo's plans to expand into various emerging markets which have a need for training large numbers of healthcare workers.

This round of investment by Capital 4 Development (A Fund managed by ICCO Investments) follows an earlier investment by Springboard Ventures, a unit of Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd. This is also a first such investment by a leading capital organisation into a healthcare training company in India.

With fresh funding pouring in, Vivo Healthcare has set ambitious growth and expansion targets for both India and select foreign markets. The company's immediate target is to reach the landmark of 100 training centres in India by the end of the year.

The organisation currently has 60 training centres in 13 states which provide a major platform for training of paramedics, technicians and allied health workers across India.

Expansion plans also include establishing a training network base in emerging markets such as the neighboring South Asian countries as well as the Middle East.

Founded by Shakti Singh and Reena Puri, Vivo Healthcare is a pioneer in organising the market for healthcare-based skill training and education in India. ICCO Investments, on the other hand, is the investment arm of Netherlands based ICCO Cooperation.

"With ICCO coming on board, we expect many new avenues of growth. In this phase of expansion we aim to work aggressively on technology upgradation to smoothen our functioning and further improve our training methodology. The age of digitisation has also induced us to work actively on content digitisation that will increase our scalability and reach in the next phase of growth," said Singh.

Over 250 healthcare organisations presently hire healthcare personnel from Vivo. In addition, Vivo also provides health and safety and first responder programs for schools, corporates, and public sector organisations as well as up-skilling programs for doctors and nurses.

Vivo marks the entry of ICCO Investments into the healthcare and education domain in the South and Central Asia Region. With a growing footprint in Latin America, Africa and Asia, ICCO Cooperation already supports over 900 partners worldwide. (ANI)