Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare startups are rapidly emerging as leaders in health technology, leveraging AI, ML, IoT, VR, and blockchain to revolutionize their models. Prioritizing accuracy and efficiency, these startups focus on disruptive solutions, champion health equity, and enhance digital health literacy. The convergence of medical technology, AI, and workflow innovations is reshaping patient and clinician experiences. The transition involves collaboration between traditional and innovative approaches to collectively transform healthcare outcomes.
Healthcare startups in India are boldly taking on the intricate challenges of healthcare. These new stars of the healthcare system lead the charge in leveraging technology to address the nation’s complex health issues. Motivated by the goal of enhancing accessibility, affordability, and quality of healthcare for every Indian, they are at the forefront of innovation in the sector. But more needs to be done. The industry, in the coming days, needs to focus on tangible clinical applications, emphasising presenting real-world examples, case studies, and data that demonstrate the potential for transforming patient outcomes and clinical workflows. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare startups are rapidly emerging as leaders in health technology, leveraging AI, ML, IoT, VR, and blockchain to revolutionise their models. Prioritising accuracy and efficiency, these startups focus on disruptive solutions, champion health equity, and enhance digital health literacy. The convergence of medical technology, AI, and workflow innovations is reshaping patient and clinician experiences. The transition involves collaboration between traditional and innovative approaches to collectively transform healthcare outcomes.
Addressing health issues
Healthcare startups include digital health, med-tech, and biotech. As far as digital health startups are concerned, beyond technology-enabled services or online consultation platforms, they prioritise accuracy, efficiency, and innovative solutions to disrupt the sector with cost-effective strategies to promote health equity. Med-tech startups, particularly in secondary and tertiary healthcare, drive innovation with AI, quantum computing, AR, VR, and cloud technologies, crafting cutting-edge devices and tools. From wearable personalised devices to robot-assisted surgical solutions, their focus has transitioned beyond treatment to predictive health management. By gathering and analysing data, they aim to predict health issues and behavioral changes, facilitating early intervention. Med-tech’s business model has evolved from focusing solely on clinical efficiency and the hospital market to encompassing individual consumer care, enabling prevention and early intervention in healthcare services. Biotech startups which have grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic are dedicated to establishing state-of-the-art biology technology platforms for therapeutic products, research tools, and service-based business. Their focus spans precision medicine, cell therapy, ML-driven drug discovery, nanomedicine, and the development of therapeutics for neurological disorders, immune-oncology, and aging-related conditions.
High growth potential
According to a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and B Capita, the digital transformation of India’s healthcare industry can potentially rise tenfold, from $2.7 billion in 2022 to approximately $37 billion by 2030. This remarkable expansion is propelled by swift digitisation, the emergence of inventive health tech platforms, collaborations between startups and established firms, and favourable funding ecosystems for sustainable business models, bolstered by the government’s initiatives. Additionally, factors such as the rising incidence of chronic illnesses, the expanding middle class, the widespread adoption of cell phones, and the increasing internet penetration are also contributing to the expansion. Assessing the market sise and growth trends of healthcare startups can offer valuable insights to stakeholders, such as investors, policymakers, and healthcare providers. It helps them understand the potential opportunities and challenges within this dynamic sector. While the government is playing an enabling role, the private sector must leverage the available resources. The country’s top-tier institutions, such as the IITs and IIScs, boast exceptional R&D capacities, and the healthcare industry must tap into the full potential of these institutions to achieve comprehensive advancement. The last Budget also unveiled low-interest R&D grants or loans for MedTech companies and startups, aiming to foster an R&D ecosystem. State governments on their part must seise opportunities presented by production-linked incentives and the establishment of MedTech zones. Now is the opportune moment for the private sector to capitalise on these initiatives and significantly scale up operations.
Way forward
India’s healthtech startup ecosystem is primed for substantial growth and influence, despite facing challenges like funding constraints and infrastructure gaps. United by a common goal of enhancing healthcare accessibility, affordability, and quality countrywide, these startups stand at a critical juncture. To fully unleash their potential, a multifaceted strategy is imperative. This entails bolstering academia-industry connections, securing funding avenues, promoting digital literacy, and addressing infrastructure deficiencies. Collaboration among startups, government entities, and established healthcare providers will be crucial in surmounting these obstacles.
For healthcare startups to flourish, they should consider forming close partnerships with service providers sooner rather than waiting for a product to reach full maturity. There lies an opportunity for collaborative involvement in the product development phase, enabling both parties to exchange inputs and collectively establish a scalable model. Early engagement in partnership, coupled with transparency regarding their respective capabilities, presents a valuable opportunity for mutual benefit and success.
Healthcare startups can leverage generative AI for extensive benefits spanning medical imaging, surgical planning, personalised medicine, medical robotics, drug discovery, and medical writing. It creates synthetic medical images, 3D organ models, and enhances medical robot performance. It streamlines drug discovery and improves medical writing, showcasing its transformative potential in healthcare. Given that AI will be the main driver of healthcare startups, the future looks bright. No less than Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft recently hailed India as being on par with the rest of the world in AI capabilities. India has the potential to develop solutions that not only benefit society and enhance productivity within the country but also hold relevance for the global community. Healthcare startups will undoubtedly be among those entities that will develop those solutions.
Dr Shravan Subramanyam, Advisor, Healthcare & Med-tech Investments, Premji Invest, Immediate Past President, NATHEALTH
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