Startup Archives - InnoHEALTH magazine

Startup India

InnoHEALTH magazine digital team — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 08:49:10 +0000

Dr. V.K.Singh, Editor-in-Chief & MD, InnovatioCuris

COVID-19 has given us many lessons by handling miseries and challenges given to mankind. It has forced us to innovate due to compulsions. The production of vaccines is one such big success story for India lauded by the world community. The impetus of the government encouraged the community to make devices by health startups and be “Atmanirbhar”. Many items we were importing are gone for export. Annual budget of 2022 has also encouraged innovators by incentives. The Prime Minister often speaks about innovations and participates in Hackathons and Ideathons conducted in the past by the Ministry of Education. The funding and prizes given to young innovators to motivate is the new norm of today. We also encourage such initiatives by publicizing through our magazine.

The behavior of the community has changed drastically that they are now transacting business with so ease in virtual/online mode which was not done in the past.

InnoHEALTH has a circulation of 93,000 readers. With multiple sources the funding in the present situation has become more convenient which was earlier a tough task. The behavior of the community has changed drastically that they are now transacting business with so ease in virtual/online mode which was not done in the past. We have entered the digital world by compulsion to organize events in virtual modes, teaching in class to election rallies are accepted online. While we lost something but also gained by not running organisations in physical mode.

We have progressed and brought innovations in fast track. India is home to 81 Unicorn with a total valuation of USD 279 billion of these 43 with USD 89 billion emerged last year. USA is top in number of Unicorn while India is fourth after China and UK. Media is reporting how we are added to every month’s list of Unicorn and soon we will surpass 100 Unicorns.

Let us innovate to improve quality, reduce cost and import. It would generate more employment and create a better economy.

In Jan 2022 there are 46 companies in the world having decacorn status out of which India has four: Flipkart, BYJU’s, Paytm and Swiggy. Let us not count on rosy pictures but to be successful analyse our failures too. IBM institute study finds that 90% of Indian startups fail within the first five years of inception. Innovation has become a buzzword lately but what we need to ensure the reduction in failure rate of innovations. Let us innovate to improve quality, reduce cost and import. It would generate more employment and create a better economy. As quoted in my book: Alexander Blass, CEO of Innovation Institute of America, Inc. and winner of Top Innovator of the Year award said “It is no secret that many of the world’s top innovators come from India. Within the past few decades, India has embarked upon an incredible transformation from an agrarian-based society to a knowledge-based economy. Along with the population growth came survival instincts and the need to be different, better and unique. One can see innovation everywhere in India, whether in large game changing innovations that garner lots of publicity, or in less obvious yet important incremental fashions”

We are celebrating 75 years of independence but simplified govt policies in the last few years and recent challenges have encouraged our younger generation of 11 to 12 years of age to innovate who have been awarded by the President/Prime minister every year. We also publicise their good work through our innovators’ club meetings and magazine to let the ecosystem know and motivate others. The Prime Minister always talks of “Naya Bharat”, it is our duty as citizens to make our country of 1.3 billion population the best in the world. It should not be a country known for snake charmers and beggars but rather a country of innovators showing way to others.

Credit: Photo by Unsplash

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17 startups, five student innovators win bio-entrepreneurship contest

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 01:32:59 +0000

New Delhi, Dec 20 (India Science Wire): Seventeen startups and five student innovators have been declared winners in this year’s National Bio Entrepreneurship Competition (NBEC). Now in its 5 th year, the competition is an annual showcase of promising business ideas with commercial, innovation, and impact potentials in the life sciences and biotech domain.

NBEC is organized by the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology’s
Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) to identify and nurture game-changing deep science ideas with business potential. It receives support from national and international partners with some of the biggest names in the biotech industry in India coming on board. This year, 34 of such enterprises supported it.

The winning startups stand to receive a cumulative sum of Rs. 8.6 crore in cash prizes and investment opportunities, while the student-led teams swooped up a sum of Rs. 14.5 lakhs in cash prizes. Additionally, C-CAMP will conduct a one-year Programme for the winners, which will comprise of mentorship including one month of incubation. Among other ecosystem support, the competition will provide access to industry mentorship in tie-ups with key industry leaders to all winners.

Forty-six finalist pitches were judged for novelty, scalability, and business potential parameters. These were culled from 322 in a regional qualifying round. The winners join an illustrious cohort of 39 winners since the NBEC launch in 2017. Many of them are already in the market with globally acclaimed and investor-backed healthcare, agriculture, or environmental technologies.

Minister for Higher Education, IT & BT, Sci & Tech, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood, Govt. of Karnataka, Dr. C.N. Ashwathnarayan, in his Keynote address, said "It is heartening and encouraging to see that such a good amount of investment has been made in innovative ideas at NBEC. I convey my best wishes to the winners and going ahead, we will together build more innovations along with C-CAMP.”

Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO & Director, C-CAMP, Dr Manish Diwan, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Entrepreneurship Development, BIRAC, and Mrs. G.K. Krupalini, General Manager – Biotech Karnataka Innovation & Technology Society, Dept. of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka congratulated the winners and urged them to continue to innovate to reduce the burden of diseases, increase crop yield and contribute to bioeconomy. (India Science Wire)

ISW/SP/DBT/20/12/2021

Credits: India Science Wire

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Interview with 1mg

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Wed, 27 May 2020 11:03:28 +0000

The responses have been given by Ankur Gigras, VP, E-commerce of 1mg

What are the objectives and your vision to start this organization?

1mg was launched in 2015 with a vision to make healthcare accessible, understandable and affordable. In the last five years, we’ve fundamentally disrupted healthcare in India and have emerged as clear leaders of the fast evolving digital health ecosystem.

Here is a look at what we have achieved so far:

~35% share of category amongst medical apps; 350m monthly page views on 1mg platform
Integrated Healthcare Platform: “Wiki” for healthcare information & India’s largest ePharmacy, eDiagnostics and eConsultation lines of business
Strong supply chain across India and a fast growing profitable B2B business line [Pharma distribution & Phlebotomist network]
Strong ecosystem partnerships with unique integrations with Insurance, Hospitals & Pharmacos to deploy novel models of healthcare delivery to patients across India

Patient centricity forms the core of our values. In the times that we are currently in, a digital healthcare platform is incomplete without online consults or telemedicine. We believe in offering our users a complete treatment cycle: from online consultations to ePharmacy and Lab tests.

What do you think needs to change in the health sector?

In healthcare, the information around our medicines and lab tests is either unavailable or incomprehensible to us, and that is the biggest change the sector needed to go through. Hence, with an aim to democratise healthcare, we decided to create a platform that stood for transparent, authentic and accessible information for all.

Unavailability of doctors due to a low patient to doctor ratio is another issue faced by the healthcare sector, especially in rural areas. With our video, audio and chat consultations, we hope to reduce that gap.

What tools and resources do you propose to bring these shifts in healthcare delivery?

In addition to the transaction & information services, we have built and launched many popular digital health tools such as medicine reminders, digital health locker, emergency profile etc. We also work on several unique models for patient support programs, digital health education programs, insurance solutions etc;

eConsults or telemedicine is another tool that we believe can bring about this shift. With most people practicing social distancing and minimizing contact, online doctor consultations, as per the guidelines issued by the Government of India, seem to be the safest option of seeking expert medical opinion and diagnosis.

Can you share about your business model?

1mg operates on a marketplace model where we have tie ups with licensed pharmacies, accredited diagnostic labs and with registered doctors/medical professionals. 1mg is an information technology platform on a digital and electronic network and acts as a facilitator between a buyer and a seller. The business model of 1mg is tied to the online transactions completed by consumers for Pharmacy and Diagnostics. The partners pay a small commission to us for bringing them orders and as volumes drive up, so will the profitability. As consumer usage increases, we would try and also introduce other monetization models through advertising. However, we are going to keep the offering free for consumers. [ lil’ bit on how econsults operates]

As mentioned earlier, patient centricity has always been our focus. 1mg believes in taking care of the needs of the patients, bringing about transparency and making healthcare accessible to all. We started out as a content platform for all health and medicine related information and later on went on to become an ecommerce platform.

What is the key strategy you adopted for acquisition?

1mg is a leader in the industry, with a ~35% share of category amongst all medical apps in India. So far, we have received over 350m monthly page views on our digital platform. Our app downloads have crossed 33 million till date.

It was possible for us to acquire such a huge user base only after we built enough trust among the people with the authentic information we provided. A major chunk of our customers are those users who came to our platform to consume health content.

What are the factors that influence market innovation and its impact on your organization?

To put it simply, the needs of the customers impact market innovation. For example, in the current times as the world is battling COVID-19, there is an urgent need for authentic and updated information around the same. So, we took it upon us to keep people informed. We experimented with different forms of content like ebooks, mailers, app notifications, website landing pages and more to help people consume as much authentic and medically accurate information as possible.

What are your strategies to deal with your competitor and what makes you different from others?

Being an integrated healthcare platform, 1mg enjoys leadership position and is driving the digital healthcare innovation in the country. Today, 1mg has become the most preferred integrated healthcare app for consumers/patients, and we clearly stand-out in the competition in terms of

Relevance and speed of search results for users
Quality of medical data/content available on our platforms, which is kept up-to-date at all times
Predictive algorithms and machine learning

We have great respect for our competitors but our qualities and values set us apart from the pack:

Clarity of vision – Since day one, 1mg has believed in integrated healthcare as the only model of healthcare that works for a consumer. We believed in it even before it was fashionable and for the last 5 years, we have worked very hard to make it happen. Our thought process, our innovation is naturally ahead of time.
Superlative team – We have one of the best teams in the Indian internet space, with leaders who have built and led large consumer businesses or healthcare divisions. We have also had the good fortune of having worked (or known) each other for a really long period of time. As a result, our team has a very high degree of trust and works in a very agile and collaborative fashion to achieve quick results.
Clarity in values – Since the very beginning, we have been clear about the values we want to uphold at 1mg:
- Our value of “done is better than perfect” enables us to rapidly innovate and test real products out in the market
- Our value of “Be CEO” empower individuals to take charge and do what’s right without an organizational bureaucracy holding them back
- Our value of “accountability with empathy” ensures meritocracy
- And our value of “team before individual” enshrines collaboration

We strongly believe that this is our winning formula.

With respect to telemedicines, we are one of the firsts to introduce audio and video consults, as well as COVID-19 specific consults.

What were the challenges you faced in initial days and how are they different today’s scenario, especially during this pandemic and what is your role in that?

Access to healthcare has been a challenge even before the pandemic, and health tech companies have tried everything to knit the gap existing in the healthcare system, be it telemedicine, online doctor consultation, mobile hospitals, etc. But, with the demand surging due to Covid-19 across different parts of the country, health tech companies are witnessing a new behavioural shift in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, which is here to stay.

Do you see any major growth opportunity in the post COVID-19 world?

Doctors have now started recognising the need for technology to engage better with their patient base. Hospitals too have become receptive of the change, as most of them are seeing a 40%-50% reduction in footfall. Suddenly they have started to feel the pain that they are not connected with the patient when they are at home. Onboarding doctors on telemedicine platforms has been a major challenge in the sector. Realising which, existing telemedicine companies have even adapted to models like collaborating with hospitals, or local pharmacy chains.

In the post-COVID-19 world, we believe that consumer behaviour would shift towards teleconsultations. The consumer’s fundamental pain point has never been about saving money on healthcare or ignoring it, it’s always about access. Going to a doctor’s clinic, waiting for two hours, and having to leave work early is often seen as an inconvenience. But with telemedicine they can consult the doctor anywhere without having to go through the hassle of visiting a clinic.

Further, the involvement of corporates and insurance companies in digital healthcare is also expected to go up.*

Share a bit more about the culture and values of your company? What is important to you and why?

Our value of “done is better than perfect” enables us to rapidly innovate and test real products out in the market.
Our value of “Be CEO” empowers individuals to take charge and do what’s right without an organizational bureaucracy holding them back.
Our value of “accountability with empathy” ensures meritocracy.
And our value of “team before individual” enshrines collaboration

We strongly believe that this is our winning formula.

What are your Future plans and any message for our readers?

Since the inception of 1mg we have always believed that technology and data will fundamentally change healthcare delivery. 1mg has already changed the healthcare landscape by making consumer centric integrated healthcare real. Over the years we have invested significantly in product and supply chain and most of the investments will continue or get accelerated. Some areas which will see disproportionate investment will be the ones below:

AI and Machine Learning – Artificial Intelligence will fundamentally change healthcare and will make it personalized, predictive and preventive. With billions of healthcare data points, 1mg is already working on cutting edge AI models and we will continue to accelerate work in that direction. Our most recent peer review journal publication on teleconsultation is proof of our deep capabilities.
New healthcare models – It’s clear that at 1mg’s scale, we now have the ability to enable new healthcare models for the ecosystem. These models, such as smart hospitals, outpatient insurance etc. will be the models of the future and will make healthcare accessible and affordable. Accessibility and affordability are 2 core pillars of 1mg’s vision.
Integrated Care plans – Using the 1mg platform, our goal is to enable truly integrated outpatient care in the country. Such a plan will provide a patient with continuity of care both online and offline and across all their healthcare service needs.

We strongly believe that product and technology are our core strengths at 1mg and ones that have and will continue to help us deliver superlative value to a healthcare consumer.

Interviewed by Disha Soni & Dr Prateek Malhotra

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Dozee bags Assocham 'Start-up of the Year 2019 Award'

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 10:00:04 +0000

Adding another feather on the cap, Made-in-India technology Dozee received the Tech Start-up of the Year 2019 Award at Assocham’s Emerging Digital Technologies Summit and Awards held in New Delhi on 31 October, 2019.

Speaking on the occasion, Mudit Dandwate, CEO & Co-founder Dozee said, “I am glad and humbled to have received this award. I take this opportunity to congratulate the entire Dozee team whose tireless efforts have made it possible. Also, I would like to thank Assocham for bestowing us with the honour. This award all the more inspires us to put in our best efforts every day and work towards our mission of ‘Simplifying Healthcare’.”

Also Read: Reproductive Health Issues with Women-Based Approach

Dozee is a patented contact-free health monitor, invented by Mudit Dandwate and Gaurav Parchani, graduates from IIT. It is a thin sensor sheet which goes below the mattress and monitors heart health, respiration, sleep quality and stress levels with 98.4% accuracy as compared to medical devices. It’s AI-powered technology not only flags cases of health deterioration before they become serious but also provides personalized recommendations to improve health.

Dozee has saved 36 lives so far by alerting users about health deterioration and helping them detect Tuberculosis, Arrhythmia, Pneumonia, Pulmonary Edema, Cardiac arrest and underdiagnosed conditions such as Sleep Apnea.

Also Read: Social Behavior Modification for Unmet Need of Prevention

The device is built specifically for home settings, requires no technical expertise to set up and provides an effective remote monitoring service that enables high-skilled medical staff to take decisions remotely.

Innovation Pitches from Global & Indian Companies in InnoHEALTH 2018 conference

Have you built your own healthcare startup from the ground up? If so, InnoHEALTH Magazine wants to hear from you!

Healthcare Startup Facilitator is looking for entrepreneurs to share stories, struggles, and victories of their businesses. If you are interested, drop us a message at “magazine@innovatiocuris.com” with your response. After your confirmation, we will send you a questionnaire regarding your startup story.

Connect with us on Linkedin: Healthcare Startup Facilitator

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International Health Technology Conference – CAHOTECH 2019

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 07:49:22 +0000

More than 700 healthcare professionals and delegates from across the country will beattending the annual two-day event. More than 25 distinguished speakers will address theaudience
India’s biggest healthcare technology conference will also provide a platform for startups for funding, incubation and beta-testing of new health-tech products

CHENNAI / September 12, 2019: CAHOTECH 2019, the fourth international healthcare technology conference of Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO), will beheld at IIT Madras Research Park in Chennai from September 27-28, 2019. The two-day annual gathering is considered as the biggest healthcare technology event in India. (The event will be conducted for two days, However, the conference is held on 28th September 2019).

More than 700 healthcare professionals and delegates from across the country will be attending CAHOTECH 2019 this year to keep themselves updated with the latest technology and products related to the healthcare sector. These include med-tech vendors, process innovators, and solution providers; start-ups looking for funding and beta-testing space; hospital decision-makers; and investors scouting for innovative and disruptive technologies. Start-ups in healthcare looking for funding or beta testing can register for free for the pitchfest.

Mr. Sameer Mehta, Organizing Chairman, CAHOTECH 2019, said “The event this year will be on even a grander scale than before. An important aspect will be the sharing of experiences and key learnings regarding technological innovations already functional at some of our member hospitals. There will also be assessment of newer technologies and showcasing of promising start-ups. CAHOTECH 2019 will also facilitate business discussions through a separate arm of vendors showcasing their latest technology and products. This international healthcare technology conference organized by CAHO connects healthcare with technology. It is the definitive event for health and technology innovation, investment and best practices. It showcases the latest technology-based solutions to enable maximum efficiency at hospitals.”

More than 25 distinguished speakers will address the audience at CAHOTECH 2019 at about 25sessions and talks spread across two days. These include names like Som Mittal (FormerPresident & Chairman, NASSCOM), Dr. Gagandeep Kang (Christian Medical College),Lakshmi Narayanan (Cognizant Technology Solutions), Josh Foulger (Foxconn InternationalHolding), Arun Jain (Founder – Polaris), Dr. Bhaskar Ramamurthi (Director – IIT Madras); Dr.Yoon Kyoung Cho (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology), Dr. HooshmandPalany (ASEAN – Business Advisory Council), Ravindran B (IIT Madras), and Anil Relia(Quality Council of India). The event also has 28 technical partners and 3 knowledge partners.

Mr. J Adel, Organizing Secretary, CAHOTECH 2019 while addressing the conference said “Technology plays a critical role in increasing operational efficiency and profitability ofhealthcare providers. It is a driving force behind quality healthcare, helping increase providercapabilities and enabling them to offer better patient care. The focus of CAHOTECH 2019 is ontechnological innovations in the areas of process efficiency and optimum utilisation, enhancingclinical and patient care and empowering patients. This year, we are also bringing health-techstart-ups and investors on the same platform. The aim is to capture good technology at earlystages and empower the innovators to scale up and grow.”

Mrs. Bharathi Reddy, Tamil Nadu representative of CAHO, added that “CAHOTECH is theonly platform of its kind that brings together healthcare organizations and technology companiesunder one roof to share and utilize their experience and adopt more efficient practices byhealthcare organizations. The objective is to help introduce newer and better technologysolutions to hospitals.”

A major highlight of the event will be the presence of equity investors and venture capitalistswho will be assessing participating start-ups for funding opportunities in healthcare technologyspace. Start-ups will get to explore opportunities for incubation and engaging with hospitals forthe beta testing of new products. A pitch-fest for startups will be held, with a total purse of Rs 20 lakh available for funding.

For registration, visit: www.cahotech.com

Patient Experience Excellence Awards 2019

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Top 5 Latest Healthcare Innovations

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 04:57:07 +0000

Dr. Avantika Batish compiled Top 5 healthcare innovations

1. NovioSense – The device that can be kept in the eyes to monitor sugar levels

IEEE spectrum has discovered a recent study that seems promising for the Dutch startup Noviosense’s own wearable glucose monitor that measures tears by sitting in one’s lower eyelid. The result was close to 95%accuracy to the levels of glucose as recorded in blood. Therefore, the newly developed glucose monitor can be placed in the lower eye lid to measure glucose level in tears.It works by tapping into basal tears or a continuous stream of tears that do not require stimulation.The spring coil can rest in the eyelid for long periods and will not be displaced even if users’ rub their eyes.

Though the innovation seems to be another milestone in the management of diabetes which presently is painful, inconvenient or sometimes tedious but the study had a drawback. The sample size consisted of only six people. Noviosense will need to conduct more tests to further prove the device’s validity and reliability.

SOURCE: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

2. Sensors to detect milk adulteration

According to a recent research published in the Food Analytical Methods Journal, IIT Hyderabad has developed a sensor-chip based detector system to detect adulteration in milk. This helps to measure the pH levels of milk through an indicator paper that changes color due to acidity of the milk. Currently,methods like chromatography and spectroscopy are used to detect milk adulteration, which are quite expensive, so the researchers at IIT used a relatively cost-effective process called ‘electro spinning’ to produce halochromic paper-like material made of nano- sized nylon fibres and load edit with a combination of three dyes.

They have also developed algorithms that can be incorporated on the mobile phones to accurately detect the color change. The algorithm captured the colors of the sensor strips after dipping in milk using the mobile phone camera and the data was then transformed into pH ranges. On testing with milk spiked with various combinations of contaminants, they found near-perfect classification with accuracy of 99.71%.

In order to get comprehensive milk quality check systems that can be incorporated in mobile phones or any other hand aids the team now aims to study the effects of mobile phone cameras and lighting on detection efficiency and hopes to develop sensors for other physical properties like conductivity and refractive index and integrate them with the pH detection unit.

SOURCE: www.timesnownews.com

3. TestCard: A card sized urine test at home

The UK-based Med Tech Startup Test Card has created a postcard- sized urine test that can be done at home and is very much similar to a pregnancy test, which is analyzed by an accompanying app to provide immediate results.The postcard has an embedded, pull-out urine test. The urine test has no electronic component involved in its usage. The postcard test is likely to be launched in the UK in April 2019. In the near future, TestCard also plans to screen diabetes products in India.

4. IOTA Bioscience creates body sensor smaller than sand grain

An American biotechnology Startup, Iota Biosciences founded in 2017 by Carmena and Michel Maharbiz has recently raised 15 million dollars for its in body sensor which is smaller than sand grain.

The University of California in a micro electrode research developed the sensors called ‘neural dust’ which then transfers the data wirelessly from inside the body.The Co-CEOs hold exclusive rights to neural dust technology which offers revolutionary therapeutic applications for various chronic health conditions from inflammation to motor disorders and eventually cognitive impairment.

The advantage of this small-sized sensor is that it uses ultrasound avoiding any danger that is associated with wire and battery-provided implants. Since they are smaller and can be implanted deeper into the human body than traditional ones available, neural dust can interfere directly with specific nerve clusters allowing more precise diagnostics and treatments. Iota’s devices can concurrently record information and stimulate nerves giving near instantaneous closed-loop therapies that could better treat diseases from the inside out.

SOURCE: TimesNow

5. Wand… Pacemaker for the brain

Scientists at University of California have created a wireless device called ‘WAND’ which works like a pacemaker for the brain and may aid in the treatment of disorders like epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Wand is a neuro stimulator that can monitor and stimulate the brain with electric current. This device is autonomous and can simultaneously stimulate and record electrical signals in the brain.

About the author

Dr. Avantika Batish, working as the Director Strategy and Healthcare at International Health Emergency Learning and Preparedness. She is also a guest faculty for MBA (HR) and MBA Healthcare Management at various B-Schools and is a soft skills trainer.

Top 3 Latest Healthcare Innovations for the month of May

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InnoBRIDGE Sweden 2019 : Report

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 31 May 2019 04:56:06 +0000

Executive summary

InnoBRIDGE is an initiative of InnovatioCuris (IC) along with Swedish partners, Swecare and Business Region Gothenburg, where the primary aim is to create a seamless access platform for the Indian healthcare stakeholders to the Swedish healthcare stakeholders, to strengthen healthcare collaboration between Indian healthcare organizations and the Swedish organizations and showcase the best of Swedish healthcare to the Indian delegates.

Innovation unit in Hospitals

The hospitals that we visited had an innovation unit running over ten years and have formalized the innovation process. From sourcing of unmet needs from stakeholders (patients, care providers etc) to running of an innovation marathon. Such an intervention can be beneficial for hospitals in India and a collaboration can be sought from interested Swedish hospitals to launch such trainings and innovation programs.

Developing healthcare AI

Through the intervention of innovation units in hospitals and county level regional initiatives, Swedish agencies are evolving the understanding of developing AI solutions. With possibilities to pay with data to develop AI tools, hands-on experiments about trying latest AI tools to build an informative position are some of the considerations already being made at the Swedish end. There is a natural synergy between India and Sweden on the topic of AI^[1]. India can offer data to build AI and can gain from the Swedish expertise of processes and considerations to be made for collecting and refining data. These synergies were discussed at the India Nordic Seminar by stakeholders in detail from both sides.

New Innovation Model of large private companies to incubate SMEs

A path breaking innovation model, which is experimented by AstraZeneca in form of AZ Bioventures at their Gothenborg site was a key showcase of the visit. Home to some 30 SMEs for last 5 years, the model has already resulted in 5 Initial Public Offers to some billion dollar successes. The model was discussed in last year’s Davos Summit^[2] and now actively being taken up by other corporates like ABB, Volvo in Sweden and AkzoNobel in Netherlands as an inspiration to unlock innovation in the ecosystem.

Also Read:
Sweden-India Collaboration in Health Sector
Indo-Swedish Collaboration

Day 1

Figure 1 - Indian delegation with Swecare members at H2 Health Hub

The visit started with a visit to H2 Health Hub in Stockholm which is a coworking space where Nordic Health Tech startups can connect, collaborate and share their innovations. Currently, there are 45 startups representing 26 countries in this space. The Indian delegation met representatives from the Swedish Ministry of Health, Swecare, SMEs and startups comprising of medical technologies, wellness, Health IT, mental health, pharmaceutical, radiology solutions, etc. The Sweden Ministry of Health representative shared his views on how Sweden is facilitating cross-border collaboration with India by using innovation to increase social impact such as the 10-years MoU signed between Sweden and AIIMS Jodhpur aimed at learning and exchanging best practices. The discussion also pointed out the India-Sweden collaborative industrial research and development program between Vinnova (Swedish government agency) and GITA (executing organization under the Department of Science and Technology, India). The collaboration aims at innovation projects linked to addressing global challenges such as climate change and sustainable developments.

Figure 2 - Visit to EMPE diagnostics at Karolinska Institute Campus

The Indian delegates got an opportunity to go around the Karolinska Institute (KI), Sweden’s largest medical university, and academic research center. Since 1901, the Nobel Assembly at KI has selected the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine. The prime institute has university hospital, science park and innovation center. EMPE diagnostics which has background from KI and in collaboration with KI researchers presented their rapid diagnostic solution for Tuberculosis (Tb). The test uses DNA sequencing which can correctly identify virus or bacteria and their antimicrobial resistance within 2 hrs. India has around 86,000 new cases of Tb per day and 1.7 billion people at risk. Considering these statistics, EMPE through InnovatioCuris (IC) are looking forward to venture into the Indian market.

Next was a visit to Karolinska Hospital and its Innovation Unit which has collaboration with 8 EU countries. The Region Stockholm has a policy for innovation i.e. every organization should have an innovation center. The Innovation Center is a great model which encourage and engage all stakeholders, such as health professionals, patients, medical researchers and industrial partners to address unmet needs in hospital services through innovation. The innovation activities happen in day-to-day work at all levels and across each department. The center helps identify needs, define areas for innovation and develop the best solution. There is also a certification course for innovation leaders and managers. The center showcased project I-AID (Integrated AI Diagnostics) which aims to accelerate the development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare initially focusing on medical imaging and physiology. This is a learning for Indian healthcare sector wherein the hospitals foster innovation in their own setting by creating an environment where ideas can become reality.

Figure 3 - Indian delegation appreciating the serene and modern setting of Karolinska University Hospital

A part of the Indian delegation also visited the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services (SBU). Health Technology Assessment (HTA) involves systematic independent assessment of a method, including side-effects, cost-effectiveness, and ethical implications. SBU is one of the oldest organizations in the field of HTA and expressed interest in collaborating with India.

Figure 4 - Indian delegation members with SBU Staff, Sophie Werko

Day 2

The second day was in Uppsala, the fourth largest city in Sweden. Uppsala University is the oldest university in Sweden. The visit started with Region Uppsala where the delegation was welcomed by the chairman of the board, Vivianne Macdisi. Region Uppsala Innovation has a R&D department for 2 hospitals, primary care centers, and mobile units. The ideas from employees, patients, and relatives are collected by each hospital unit’s idea coordinator. The ideas are assessed and approved by idea counsel. The feedback on the idea is conveyed to the ideator. Region Uppsala innovation also organizes a workshop called innovation race where companies and innovators such as employees generate ideas and work together towards the idea.

The county also has Uppsala Innovation Center (UIC) which is the world’s fourth-best university-affiliated business incubator. UIC offers business development programs and supports innovative startups and growth companies to commercialize, scale-up and access the international market. UIC provides expert help, awareness and knowledge for companies, and a national platform to connect the best companies.

Figure 5 - Dr V K Singh from Indian delegation presented his healthcare innovation book to the chairman of Swecare board and Uppsala regional council, Ms Vivianne Macdisi

Day 3

The delegation had the opportunity to attend e-health matchmaking event, Vitalis which is the largest eHealth event in Scandinavian. Vitalis themes included Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Decision support, medical imaging, home care, elderly care, remote health care, and robotics.

The Business Region Gothenburg and Swecare organized a special seminar ‘AI and Collaborations in AI and Innovation’^[3]. The keynote speech was given by Linda Swirtun, program manager of Vinnova, Sweden’s government agency for innovation. Vinnova funds healthcare/life sciences innovation projects and research by collaborating internationally. Under the Swedish- Indian Innovation Partnership, the Swedish companies can collaborate with companies in India in joint research and innovation projects to address global challenges such as climate change and sustainable development. The corporate-driven collaborations can be in the area of smart cities and clean technologies, digitalization, and IoT.

Figure 6 - Linda Swirtun sharing the first keynote about India Sweden Collaboration

The panel discussions had representatives from the Nordic-Baltic region and India. The first panel focused on the transnational collaborations between the two regions and its challenges. Rohini Pimple, RICH, Dr V K Singh, InnovatioCuris, Dr Sandeep Bhalla, PHFI, Kingshuk Poddar, Medivalley Incubator represented the Indian side. Lars Lindskold, Swelife AI Institute, Iris Ohrn, Business Region Gothenburg, Jaanus Pikani, Scanbalt Forum and Magnus Bjorsne, AZ BioVenturehub represented the Nordic Baltic side. The session was moderated by Shampa Bari of Swecare. The Indian panelist discussed how the current government has been very supportive and driving innovation in all sectors. There have been changes in policies and regulations which has led to a smooth process for collaborations. India has huge data which can be used to develop AI tools by countries like Sweden. Also, knowledge sharing between the regions could be beneficial. The panelist further discussed the unmet needs, and public-private partnership models working in India. The research cluster of India shared the opportunities of life sciences. The government incubation center shared how it can be a soft-landing spot for Nordic-Baltic companies for medical devices. The representative from the Public Health Foundation of India discussed the challenges in public health in India and how capacity building can be done at scale. The Nordic-Baltic panelist emphasized on the various technologies which are relevant for India. In addition, the representative from Business Region Gothenburg stated that it is easier to do research collaboration – to test and validate one’s product in Sweden as compared to others. Furthermore, the Nordic/Baltic region has a strong IP protection regime. Therefore, the collaboration will be a win-win situation for both the regions.

Figure 7 - First panel had regions and clusters from both sides discussing collaboration

The second panel brought together hands-on experts on AI both from the developer and user side. Indian side was represented by Pradeep Mathapati, HCL, Deepali Jetley, Qwazent Healthcare. Swedish side was represented by Annie Chandy from LUDC, Devdatt Dhubhashi from Chalmers University of Technology and Peter Soderman from Karolinska University Hospital. The session was moderated by Sachin Gaur from InnovatioCuris. The panel discussed in depth the challenges of AI development and how processes are evolving at the end of the health system to collect and refine data. Interesting observations were made on the role of data in AI, future job roles for AI in health sector and business models that may emerge when the providers and IT players collaborate.

Figure 8 - Panel 2 keynote was shared by Pradeep Mathapati from HCL Germany office

Day 4

The last day gave a perspective about the second largest city of Sweden, Gothenburg. The delegation was welcomed by Business Region Gothenburg, West Swedish Chamber of Commerce, and Surgical Science. Surgical Science have virtual reality simulators for surgeries like evidence-based laparoscopic and endoscopic training. The representative of West Swedish Chamber of Commerce discussed why Sweden is interested in investing in India as it is an emerging market after China, and it is a volume market with rich data. India also has a large pool of highly skilled IT professionals. On the other hand, Sweden is one of the world’s largest 10 economies and has become one of the most innovative countries in the world. Sweden is home to companies like Volvo, Ericsson, SKF, Spotify, Skype, IKEA, etc. The Indian team visited the Sahlgrenska University hospital along with Gothia Forum, which has 54 clinics in West Sweden for clinical trials.

Figure 9 - Expert from Surgical Science ready to give us a handson training on various surgeries (ofcourse simulated)

Furthermore we visited Biobank West, a Swedish Biobank showed their infrastructure where they store the blood and tissue samples. Companies such as Surgical Science, Biobank West are actively looking out for collaboration with India.

Figure 10 - Site visit of Gothia Forum, Swedish Bio Bank

The last stop was at the famous Swedish pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca (AZ) which has been ranked number one in IDEA Pharma’s Pharmaceutical Innovation Index (PII). An interesting model has been adopted by AZ called AZ BioVenture Hub. It is a collaborative innovation ecosystem for emerging biotech, medtech companies, and academic groups to strengthen competitiveness in the Nordic life science industry. AZ provides space to the SMEs and an opportunity to interact with highly-skilled AZ professionals. In addition, the SMEs can use the state-of-the-art lab facilities and infrastructure of AZ. Currently, there are thirty companies in the AZ BioVenture Hub.

Figure 11 - Indian delegation with Magnus, Pernila and Jesper from AZ BioVentures and GoCo City

AZ has also enabled a bigger initiative called as GoCo Health Innovation City. GoCo will be a collaborative innovation ecosystem with more than 30 companies working in biotech, medtech, and academia. This city will be completed in eight years and will have co-innovation programs and services such as networking events, experienced facilitators to mentor the innovator, connecting members with similar challenges, growth guides. It will be a place for focused work and healthy living.

Figure 12 - Field visit to the site of planned GoCo Health City

The way forward

Sweden being the global innovation leader and start-up hotbed can be a great example for India. The country has an innovation policy and each county is working towards it. It is focusing on the unmet needs of the population and fostering a culture of innovation. The Swedish innovations can be plugged into the Indian ecosystem and vice versa. Innovation is fostered by opening boundaries, by gathering insights and information from new connections, and by sharing knowledge. Keeping this in mind, InnoBRIDGE was envisioned and continuously working towards other collaborations.

We look forward to build on the initial interests among stakeholders from both sides in form of knowledge webinars, physical visits and signing of MoUs in cases of where the concrete plans emerge. The next milestone for us would be InnoHEALTH 2019, 4-5 October where interested Swedish stakeholders plan to visit us in India and hopefully by then we would have progressed on some of the existing discussions. Also, some of our Indian delegates look forward to participate in Vitalis next year!

Send your comments / feedback to sachin@innovatiocuris.com

References

To know more about the InnoBRIDGE Sweden 2019 program and details of Indian delegation, you may visit innovatiocuris.com/innobridge/innobridge-2019

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Distributed incubation may help promote grassroots innovations

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 07:33:39 +0000

Several grassroots innovations which we often hear about failing to make it to the market. This is due to a number of factors including lack of access to formal incubation facilities, venture capital, and prototyping and mentoring. In order to overcome these hurdles, experts have suggested setting up of special purpose incubators that can provide necessary technical and mentoring support to innovators in the non-formal sector.
“The idea is to develop some kind of distributed incubation and to nurture ventures in their respective regions, in the spirit of in-situ incubation,” said Dr. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST) while presenting recommendations emerging from roundtables held as part of the Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Rashtrapati Bhawan few months back.

It was also suggested that since most innovative products fail to compete with large companies and against established products and brands, the government must develop norms for a preference in public procurement for such products.
Besides distributed incubation facilities, the roundtable also came up with the idea of ‘value addition centres’ which should be open for all innovators so that prototypes of innovations could be further developed and converted into marketable products. At present, academic and research institutions are involved in developing prototypes only and innovators have to look elsewhere for fabrication. Commercial fabricators accept orders for large quantities. “Innovators need special fabrication centers where limited units of a finished product can be developed for a pilot study, market research and test commercialization,” Dr. Sharma added.

Also Read: Innovation is the New Buzz Word

Innovators at FINE 2018
There is a need for testing and calibration of technologies developed by a large number of innovators. However, many innovators and startups do not have adequate funds for Distributed incubation may help promote grassroots innovations By Dinesh C Sharma this. A fund through which the testing and calibration of technologies could be facilitated is required.
In order to correctly ascertain the needs of the people, an appropriate need-gap analysis is essential to guide the R&D efforts in the right direction. If the industry could be involved during the initial phase of product development, the chances of the products’ acceptance by the people increase manifold. Hence, industry and R&D linkages at institutions be facilitated.
The roundtable on sustainable agriculture recommended adoption of one innovator by every agriculture institute and university. The Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) already runs a program called Innovator Farmers – IARI Fellows. It was recommended that this scheme should be extended to central and state agriculture universities for innovations in agriculture and allied activities.
“We have seen that coming together of innovators from informal sector and institutions in the formal sector can help disseminate innovations on a wider scale,” observed Dr. Anil K Gupta, Executive Vice Chairperson of National Innovation Foundation which organized the innovation festival in collaboration with the Office of the President and DST.
“The exhibition of innovations held at Rashtrapati Bhavan has demonstrated to industry, government and civil society how innovators are collaborating for a creative and compassionate India,” President Ram Nath Kovind said while speaking at the concluding session.
However, he said, merely showcasing innovations was not the sole purpose of this Festival.
(By India Science Wire)

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National Technology Awards 2018

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 11 May 2018 06:58:39 +0000

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the National Award for successful commercialization of indigenous technology to Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Ltd. and Ernakulam-based Agappe Diagnostics Ltd.

Bharat Biotech Ltd. has won the award for taking to the market a vaccine for rotavirus disease. The vaccine, Rotavac, is currently licensed in two countries, while the grant of license is under process in 30 other countries. It has also been prequalified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), making it eligible for procurement by UN and other humanitarian organizations for their public health vaccine programmes.

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Agappe Diagnostics Ltd. has won the award for commercializing an automated cartridge-based specific protein analyzer. The instrument has become highly popular as it is smaller and cheaper compared to similar machines available from multinational companies.

The President presented the awards to mark the 20th National Technology Day.

He also gave away national awards to five medium and small-scale enterprises for commercializing indigenous technologies. The winners are Synkromax Biotech, ANTS Ceramics, 3B Blackbio Biotech, Envision Scientific and Hind High Vacuum.

Synkromax got the award for marketing a life-saving implant developed by IIT Madras, while ANTS Ceramics got the award for commercializing high-end zirconia ceramic products and carbon sulphur analysis crucibles and 3B National Technology Awards presented Blackbio Biotech for working on a kit for diagnosis and prognosis of chronic myeloid leukemia.

Envision Scientific got the award for commercializing an indigenously developed drug eluting stent for diabetic patients and Hind High Vacuum got for commercializing thin film metallized alumina circuit for space applications.

Three start-ups got award for developing technologies that have commercial potentials – Astrome Technologies at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, for its work on GigaMesh, which is said to be the first point to multi-point millimeter wave wireless communication solution in the world; CyCa Onco Solutions at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar, for developing two drug delivery devices for delivery of anticancer drug, Crisplatin; and Xcellence in Bio Innovation and Technologies at BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus, for developing a point of care device for testing antibiotic sensitive of pathogens causing urinary tract infections.

Speaking on the occasion, the President noted that the National Technology Day was landmark day for the country as it was on this day two decades ago that the Pokhran nuclear tests took place and demonstrated India’s capacity as a nuclear weapons state as well as a mature and responsible technology power, capable of harnessing sensitive knowledge.

He said technology was a destiny for the country as all national programmes required a force multiplier in the form of technology. But, at the same time, it must also be about equity. “Its (technology’s) fruits must be accessible to all. Finance and resources should be available to all technologists who may wish to turn entrepreneurs – and to migrate from the lab room to the shop floor.” Above all, the President said, gender equity must be integrated with technology production and technology sharing.

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HEALTHI helps users to avoid chronic diseases

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Tue, 08 May 2018 05:43:38 +0000

The Startup raises $ 3.1 million to boost applications that empower people to take control of their health Healthi is a 2014 found technology backed preventive healthcare platform that uses analytics and machine learning to help users make smart choices about their health to avoid chronic diseases. This Predictive analysis-based healthcare Startup has recently raised funding of $3.1 million led by VC fund Montane Ventures. It intends to use to boost applications that empower it’s users to understand, engage with and take control of their health.

Co-Founders Rekuram Varadharaj and Krishna Ulagaratchagan of Healthi have been accorded the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year in Product – Healthcare’ category at the seventh edition of the Entrepreneur India Awards 2017 for their efforts in preventive healthcare. Their endeavor is to conveniently provide the community an access to the best healthcare practitioners and raise awareness about the prevention and management of lifestyle diseases.

Healthi is proving to be India’s fastest growing digital preventive health startup. It is revolutionizing the preventive healthcare market by combining scientifically validated predictive analytics, machine learning technology, contemporary design, strong partnerships with healthcare majors and cutting-edge research. It has made significant strides within a short span of time and now serves users in over 130 Indian cities. For its health check offering, it has tied up with most of the leading diagnostic and imaging laboratories, clinics and hospitals in India. Thus offering 400+ high-quality venue options for users.

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