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VC Funded Hair Transplants?!
What happens when medical tourism meets VC pattern recognition.
Medical tourism saved his brother's life. Now Girum wants to create a marketplace where every American can travel to find the care they need. Will the investors see his vision when his first market is... hair transplants?
🎧Hear the full pitch and find out how investors responded to Doctours in Episode #171: Doctours — VC Funded Hair Transplants?!
There’s always that one moment in a pitch that changes everything. Sometimes it's when the founder shares their traction or some crazy high valuation, or when they casually name drop some big-name VC leading their round.
Girum’s mic-drop moment came early in his pitch:
“Our beachhead market is hair transplants.”
What happened next was almost scripted:
“Turkey,” said Charles Hudson
“Turkey,” echoed Cyan Banister
“Turkey. Yeah,” Girum confirmed.
“I knew it,” Rohit Gupta added with a knowing laugh.
They’d all seen the same TikTok feeds with men documenting their hair restoration journeys to Istanbul.
But that momentary connection actually marked the beginning of the end for Girum’s pitch. Because of a story he told just moments before.
The Bait and Switch
The story starts in November 2016, when Girum’s brother’s unexpected health issues would cost $150k for treatment. The bill would bankrupt their family.
That’s when they discovered medical tourism. Flying to India, they found the same treatment for a fraction of the cost. And it turned out surgery wasn’t necessary—just medication.
His brother lived.
This feels like the perfect origin story for disrupting America’s broken healthcare system, right? Helping families avoid catastrophic bills with safe, affordable care abroad?
It was powerful. Personal. The kind of story that makes investors lean in.
Then came the switch to... hair transplants. 😬
As Cyan Banister put it:
“We got excited about that vision that he might have a solution for something that is actually a real pain point for people in life-or-death situations. That part got me, and then I was like… wait, what?”
What happened in that moment is what every founder dreads: the emotional connection from the origin story vanished. The investors stopped imagining a life-saving healthcare platform and started picturing influencer-driven clinics on TikTok.
“I think you’re really in the trust business.”
Medical tourism isn’t really about connecting patients with foreign clinics—it’s about providing peace of mind for one of the scariest decisions people make: trusting their body to strangers in a foreign country.
Rohit described it this way:
“I can make a beautiful-looking website and then my hospital could be filled with rats. Right? It’s just so uncorrelated. And that’s everybody’s fear.”
Girum didn’t shy away from it. He explained how Doctours vets its clinics:
Team on the ground in Turkey verifying certifications
Government-level validation of licenses
Rejection rate over 50% for clinics that don’t meet quality standards
It’s not just lead-gen. It’s trust infrastructure. Which is what makes marketplaces so valuable when they work. People trust Airbnb because they know the properties have been vetted.
The Narrative Mismatch
Story-driven pitches have power, especially on The Pitch Show. They pull you in, make you care. But if the narrative veers off the path, if it stops serving the problem at the heart of the pitch, even the best story can suddenly work against you.
The VCs wanted him to build a different business. At least the VCs in our pitch room.
Monique summed it up:
"I think it is most likely that this is the platform for hair transplants, facelifts, BBLs, liposuction, maybe perhaps IVF."
But not all VCs felt the same way.
After five passes in our studio, Girum still raised his round. Jason Calacanis’ LAUNCH fund led their $850k round.
Josh reflected after the pitch:
“I just don’t think you can listen to all the VCs’ feedback all the time... Founders should pitch the way they want to pitch, whatever they feel compelled by, and the right VCs are going to find them.”
Would you trust a hair transplant marketplace to handle your cardiac care? |
🎧 Listen to the episode where Turkish hair transplants meet venture capital.
The Essentials
Raise: $1M pre-seed ( $850K Raised )
Valuation: $8M SAFE
Current Revenue: $20K to date on $200K GMV
Gross Margin: ~10% today, scaling to 30% as volume grows
Active Clinics: ~10 onboarded per month in Turkey (>450 in market)
Bookings: 2,800 requests → 500 consults → 50 paid procedures
Team: 2 founders + 3-person Turkey operations team
We’re Coming To Austin and NY!
We’re hosting events in Austin and New York to meet with potential LPs for Fund II, launching in 2026.
🥯 Bagels with Josh – Austin
November 6th → RSVP HERE
🥯 Bagels with Lisa – New York City
November 12th → RSVP HERE
If you’re interested in joining the next chapter of The Pitch Fund and backing the founders you hear every week on The Pitch, we’d love to connect in person.
Josh & Lisa
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