Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad-incubated startups have developed healthcare technologies to save babies lives and help bed-bound individuals. According to a statement from IIT Hyderabad, HEAMAC Healthcare, a startup, has developed a device that provides graded phototherapy so that babies suffering from physiological jaundice get sufficient illumination. Nearly 13 million infants per year are unable to process bilirubin quickly enough and require jaundice treatment to prevent death or lifelong disability.
Kvayat Medical, another startup, is on a mission to improve the quality of life (QoL) of bedridden patients by building innovative products that enable them to lead dignified lives. It has developed a faecal management system, which is non-invasive and hygienic, thereby improving the quality of life of bed-bound individuals and enabling them to lead life with dignity. The solution also has the potential to address infection rates and costs associated with them while reducing costs related to bed care, nursing and laundry.
As a part of their Fellowship, Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CfHE) Kvayat Medical co-founders have spent more than 400 hours to understand this problem through interacting with patients, stakeholders in hospitals and healthcare professionals across the country.
The Second Batch of Fellows graduating from CfHE, IIT Hyderabad, have formed two startups and met a jury panel to pitch their ideas during 'Second Graduation Pitch Day 2018' held yesterday, August 1, 2018.
The startups that came out of the 2016-17 batch - Nemocare, which works on ending preventable neonatal and maternal deaths by developing monitoring solutions, and Beable Health, which works on intensive rehabilitation for upper limb, also interacted with the investors during the Pitch Day 2018.
The Jury panel includes top investors in healthcare area, leading healthcare practitioners from hospital networks including Kamineni and Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and academics including lead advisers from Stanford University.
According to IIT Hyderabad, both startups were involved in lengthy clinical immersions over several months at leading hospitals to assess the unmet needs in the medical fraternity. They have gathered positive feedback on their proposed solutions
Prof. U.B. Desai, Director, IIT Hyderabad, lauded the startups and the technologies developed by them, and said the Institute is proud to incubate startups that are coming up with products that will have a huge impact on the society.
"We are sure their ideas will have a lot of traction with Indian healthcare community. We look forward to more startups coming up with innovative products from the upcoming CfHE batches," he added.
The Second Graduation Pitch Day 2018 is a platform to showcase the work of graduating CfHE Fellows and young entrepreneurs from IIT Hyderabad using a Pitch-to-Investor format. It is a forum to help forge new collaborations within and between the community of healthcare technologists, investors and social entrepreneurs.
Speaking about the two startups coming from 2nd batch of CfHE, Dr. Renu John, Co-Head, CfHE & Head, Dept of Biomedical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, said, "The clinical immersions of the teams at Kamineni Hospital and Asian Institute of Gastroenterology were helpful in identifying the unmet needs in Healthcare. The Biodesign process and the mentorship of various domain experts helped the fellows in successfully identifying the right scope and focus towards the development of the product."
Dr. Anurag Mairal, Director, Global Outreach Programs, Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, Stanford University, said, "IIT Hyderabad's Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship program has quickly become a well-structured effort with a high-quality pool of fellows and partners. The rigorous focus on the needs-focused biodesign methodology that forms the basis of the Center's Fellowship has led to new ideas that serve the real needs of India's healthcare system. The startups coming out the center seem promising and definitely worth watching closely."
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