The Spine Foundation

What The Spine Foundation does

The Spine Foundation is a Mumbai-based non-profit charitable organisation founded in 1997/1998 by Dr. Shekhar Bhojraj. It delivers free specialised spinal healthcare — including minimally invasive surgery, rehabilitation, mobile physiotherapy, scoliosis screening, aquatherapy, and an online OPD — to underserved rural, tribal, and urban-poor communities across India. Clinical differentiation rests on Dr. Bhojraj's proprietary "General and Pushing" minimally invasive spine techniques, which shorten recovery times and expand the range of cases treatable in resource-limited settings.

The foundation operates through a distributed network of partner hospitals rather than owned infrastructure: VN Desai Hospital (Mumbai, partnership since 2009, 1,000+ free surgeries), SEARCH Hospital Gadchiroli (500+ surgeries), Koni Super Specialty Hospital (Chhattisgarh), Sub-District Hospital Kankavli, and Assam University (Silchar, telemedicine plus surgical outreach). It supplements hospital-based care with mobile physiotherapy units and periodic surgical and screening camps, and runs a fellowship programme that has trained 36+ spine specialists, building long-term clinical capacity.

The revenue model is donation-funded: services are provided entirely free of cost to patients, with operating support sourced from individual donors, corporate contributions, and international partners including Rotary International, which also funds a cross-border extension into Burundi (146 surgeries funded). The organisation operates with a lean team of 7 employees and relies on partner hospitals and volunteer specialists to deliver its programmes.

Name

The Spine Foundation

Legal name

The Spine Foundation

Website

https://thespinefoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Spine Foundation is a Mumbai-based non-profit founded in 1997/1998 by Dr. Shekhar Bhojraj that delivers free specialised spinal healthcare, including minimally invasive surgery, rehabilitation, and mobile physiotherapy, to underserved rural, tribal, and urban-poor communities across India, funded by donations and hospital partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Spinal Healthcare Services

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists (62134)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Home Health Physical Therapy & Mobile PT (HSADAIAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Spine (Orthopedic Spine) (HLAKALAE), Rehabilitation Return-to-Exercise Training (Non-Clinical) (HSADAAAK), Recreational Outings, Community Participation & Mobility Support (Non-Clinical) (HSABAAAI)

Keywords

• Spinal healthcare services
• Nonprofit medical foundation
• Rural healthcare outreach
• Spinal surgery services
• Physiotherapy rehabilitation

Headquarters

HQ city

Mumbai

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: As a non-profit organization, The Spine Foundation relies entirely on donations from individuals, corporations, and international backers. Services are provided free of cost to underprivileged patients.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Spine Foundation provides free spinal healthcare services including surgeries, rehabilitation, and physiotherapy to economically disadvantaged and tribal populations across India. Through mobile units, medical camps, school screening programs, and partnerships with hospitals, it delivers end-to-end spinal care from diagnosis to post-operative aquatherapy, supported by clinical research and fellowship training.

Product overview

The Spine Foundation operates as a single unified healthcare service offering focused on delivering free spinal care to underserved rural and tribal communities in India. The organization provides a comprehensive suite of interconnected services: Spinal Surgery & Care forms the core surgical intervention, complemented by Rehabilitation and Mobile Physiotherapy Units that extend care to remote areas. Training programs including Fellowships and Workshops build medical professional capacity. Medical Camps and the School Scoliosis Screening Programme enable community outreach and early detection. Research Projects drive innovation in treatment approaches, while the Aquatherapy Centre and Online OPD represent specialized and remote care capabilities. All services are provided free of cost to underprivileged patients, with operations sustained through hospital partnerships and Rotary collaborations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Free Spinal Surgery & Care Free spinal surgery and in-patient care provided to economically disadvantaged and tribal patients in India, delivered in partnership with hospitals where surgeon volunteers operate.
• Mobile Physiotherapy Unit Mobile physiotherapy service delivering rehabilitation and post-operative care directly to patients in remote villages and tribal areas.
• Medical Camps Free diagnostic and consultation camps conducted in rural and underserved communities to identify patients needing spinal intervention.
• School Scoliosis Screening Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• 1000+ free spine surgeries performed for underprivileged patients
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.

• Koni Super Specialty HospitalmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 April 2026Partnership for complex spine surgeries with expert teams from Mumbai. Achieved historic milestone by successfully performing complex spine surgeries for the first time in the region.
• Sub-District Hospital KankavliminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 November 2025Association to conduct free spine and health screening camps for rural and tribal communities, providing specialist consultations and diagnostic support.
• SEARCH Hospital, GadchirolicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 July 2025Long-standing partnership with SEARCH Hospital in Gadchiroli to provide spine surgeries for tribal patients. Together they have completed 500+ life-changing spine surgeries, bringing advanced specialist care to one of India's most underserved regions.
• Assam UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 July 2025Collaboration with Assam University to support large-scale healthcare initiative in Silchar combining telemedicine, diagnostics, and surgical outreach. Hundreds of spine cases evaluated and multiple free surgeries performed.
• VN Desai Hospital, MumbaicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Transformative partnership from establishing the first spine unit in 2009 to over 1,000 free spine surgeries. 36 fellows trained through this partnership, representing a flagship program for the foundation.
• Rotary InternationalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRotary and TSF partnership bringing free spine care from rural India to Africa. 146 surgeries funded through Rotary's global grant. Includes supporting free spine camps across Maharashtra and life-changing surgeries in Burundi.
• Bilaspur Super Specialty HospitalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerComplex spine surgeries performed with support from specialist surgeons from Mumbai. Three complex spine surgeries successfully conducted, marking significant advancement in spine care accessibility.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Operation Smile: International medical non-profit providing free reconstructive surgeries (cleft lip/palate) in low- and middle-income countries via volunteer surgical missions and partnerships — analogous volunteer-driven specialty surgery model.
• Smile Train: Global non-profit specializing in free cleft-palate surgeries in low-resource settings. Operates a partnership-and-training model with local hospitals analogous to TSF's hospital-partnership and fellowship program.
• Partners In Health: Global health justice organization delivering free, high-quality specialty care to the rural poor alongside training and capacity building — directly comparable mission to TSF's rural spine-care-for-the-poor model.
• Aravind Eye Care System: Larger, established Indian non-profit healthcare system specializing in eye care for the underserved. Comparable because it pairs free/subsidized specialty surgical care for the rural poor with a self-sustaining cross-subsidy model and training programs.
• Sankara Eye Foundation: Indian-origin specialty non-profit delivering free eye surgeries to underserved populations via hospital partnerships, community outreach, and rural camps — closely mirrors TSF's specialty-care + medical-camp operating model.
• CURE International: Non-profit hospital network providing free specialty surgical care (orthopedics, neurosurgery among others) for children with disabilities in low-income countries — adjacent in specialty, geography, and charitable-care delivery model.

Direct peers

• Tribal Health Initiative: Co-recipient of the 2025 Paul Farmer Award for Global Health Equity. Runs a community hospital model delivering primary and specialty care to tribal populations in South India — closely comparable mission, geography, and operational structure.
• SEARCH (Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health): Direct peer and active hospital partner operating in Gadchiroli. Delivers community-driven rural and tribal healthcare in underserved Indian regions with a comparable NGO model and shared Paul Farmer Award recognition.

Others

• Rotary Foundation (Global Grants): Active funder and partner co-financing TSF's surgical work including the Burundi expansion. Included as an ecosystem peer because of the deep operational integration with TSF's service delivery.

Emerging players

• ReSurge International: Non-profit focused on reconstructive plastic surgery and training in underserved regions; comparable to TSF in combining specialty surgical missions with a training-pipeline approach for local surgeons.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@thespinefoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-spine-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Spine Foundation