SUMMARY
Five Fledgling Healthtech Companies Pitched Their Ideas For A Chance To Win $500k In Funding
Impact Venture Fund Unitus Seed Fund, through its StartHealth programme and HITLAB, a digital health innovation lab, announced the healthcare startup winners of the 2018 HITLAB World Cup India recently.
First place went to healthcare platform Medi360, a cloud-based technology enabled telehealth solution. The smartphone system integrates electronic medical records with diagnostic devices and prescription capabilities.
Speaking at the event, Milind Shah, Venture Partner at Unitus Seed Fund said, “Unitus Seed Fund aims to invest into scalable healthtech businesses that also impact the bottom of the pyramid through improved access and reduced cost of modern healthcare. The 2018 HITLAB World Cup India offered a great platform to bring together the most creative minds in health and technology.”
Runners-up at the event included MUrgency – a medical resources aggregator, Mother Diagnostics – a low-cost digital X-ray device, Mimyk Medical Simulations – an immersive medical simulation technology, and Israel-based VOTIS Subdermal Imaging – a non-invasive and inexpensive technology to identify foot pathologies in diabetics.
Winners will now be considered for up to $500K (INR 3.5 Cr) in grants and equity funding by Unitus Seed Fund and its AmpHealth program.
Congratulating the winner at the World Cup, Milind said, “Medi360 has been chosen from over 190 startups for its innovative technology, and a business model that are effectively addressing the healthcare needs of India’s low-income population.”
Kumar Amar Jamdhiar, co-founder, and CEO, Medi360 has averred that he is overwhelmed by the response and the exposure of the HITLAB World Cup India.
He further said, “It was a great experience participating in the HITLAB World Cup as one of the finalists and we are extremely thrilled to be recognized as the winner. This provides further fuel to our motivation in the journey of making a meaningful impact to healthcare in India,” said.
The HITLAB World Cup jury comprised of global healthcare experts – Milind Shah, Venture Partner at Unitus Seed Fund, Prof. Stan Kachnowski, Chair at HITLAB, Biten Kathrani, Director, R&D and NBD, AMEA at Boston Scientific and Dr. Deepak Agrawal, Professor of Neurosurgery, AIIMS – who reviewed applications from a wide range of innovative companies working in artificial intelligence, telehealth, home health, mobile applications and biotech devices.
“We are excited to see how these digital start-ups will improve the healthcare system in India. The support that Unitus Seed Fund and HITLAB can provide these impactful organizations as they grow will prove invaluable as they bring innovative, transformational technologies to the people who need them,” said Professor Stan Kachnowski, Chair, HITLAB.
Here is a brief on the winning startup Medi360:
The Bengaluru-based startup is transforming primary healthcare in underserved areas through an innovative and effective solution. Medi360 has created a cloud-based, end-to-end technology enabled telehealth solution.
The Medi360 Hospital and Clinic-in-a-Box is a tablet and smartphone-based system with electronic medical records, integrated with diagnostic devices (vitals – BP, temperature, SpO2), ECG, blood sugar, cholesterol, spirometer, stethoscope) as well as telediagnosis and prescription.
In addition, Medi360 has built a doctor network and last mile delivery network to provide effective service delivery in underserved areas. Founded in October 2016, Medi360 now has 15 operational units and has serviced more than 18, 000 patients.
Since 2015, Unitus Seed Fund’s StartHealth competitions have attracted more than 800 applications. UE LifeSciences, the previous winner, is bringing low-cost breast cancer detection to the masses in India with iBreastExam, an FDA-approved handheld scanning device. The company has since raised Series A investments of $4 Mn.
In the past, HITLAB World Cup winners have raised over $50 Mn in follow-on investment funding, launching commercially viable products that transform lives.
