Five Healthtech Firms To Watch In 2023

The health-tech sector is the fastest-growing in healthcare. In layman’s language, "health tech" is the convergence of healthcare and technology. It is broadly defined as any technology that allows for the delivery or consumption of healthcare outside of a hospital or doctor's office.

Here are the five health-tech startups disrupting marketplaces across India.

PharmEasy

PharmEasy is an online pharmacy ordering platform that enables users to order diagnostic tests and medications. The app allows users to order medications from nearby pharmacies and collect samples from nearby labs for diagnostic testing at home. They can also use the website to upload images of their prescriptions and place orders with local pharmacies.

Users can also search for diagnostic tests and schedule diagnostic tests for home sample collection.Supplements and other healthcare products are also available on the platform. A few months ago, an online pharmacy startup raised Rs 750 crore in convertible notes. So far, it has received over $673 million in funding.

Netmeds

It is an online platform that offers medicine and other healthcare product delivery services. Netmeds currently has a million users and services over nineteen thousand PIN codes throughout the country. In addition, the company operates fourteen logistic centres across the country.

Their services are available through their app or their website. It has received over $99 million in funding.

At the moment, there is a strong emphasis on the adoption of internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). 37 percent of healthtech startups incorporate IoT products, while 54 percent rely on AI and machine learning to provide their services. Healthcare has become much more accessible, the large population and overburdened healthcare infrastructure are the major challenges that this country's healthcare sector faces.

HealthifyMe

HealthifyMe is a Microsoft Accelerator program-incubated startup. Initially, the startup concentrated on producing deliverable results based on eating habits, fitness, and current lifestyles. It offered personalised wellness services to corporations and healthcare providers.

During the initial phase of the lockdown, the company provided a free 21-day programme that allowed customers to develop healthier eating habits. Currently, the startup offers personalised nutrition tracking services as well as fitness plans.

It also offers a continuous glucose monitor that works in tandem with the app to show how different foods are metabolised by the body. In addition, the company has a smart scale that provides more information about weight and body composition. It has received over $100 million in funding.

In addition to providing healthcare products and services outside of hospitals, healthtech companies provide information technology solutions to improve healthcare delivery while lowering costs. Cloud computing, internet services, and social mobility, for example, contribute to better patient-centered care.

Fitterfly

Founded in 2016 by Dr. Arbinder Singal and Shailesh Gupta, Fitterfly is led by a doctor who understands health and technology.  The company has over 250 employees and is headquartered in Mumbai.

The Fitterfly management team comprises senior doctors, nutritionists, fitness experts, psychologists, management experts, and technologists working together with the sole aim of preventing, reversing, and managing metabolic health conditions such as prediabetes, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and heart disease thereby increasing quality of life and health for people.

Fitterfly has so far raised a total of $16.6 million from marquee investors. The last funding round of $12 million was led by Amazon with participation from existing investors - Fireside Ventures, 9 Unicorns, and venture catalysts.

Dr Arbinder Singal, CEO and Co-founder of Fitterfly, stated about personalised medicine, "Every human being is different, whether it's their genetics, habits, body structures, or the kind of physiological responses they have to different medications. If we can understand these processes and the genetic and human variability in designing the medications, then we will land up with more personalised medications, and these personalised medications will indeed be more effective as well. In the long run, a personalised medication will always be more effective; smaller dosages may be required, and hence it can lead to cutting down the cost of medications."

Clevergene

Clevergene is a DeepTech company offering genomics services for contract research and genetic diagnostics. Through its high-end laboratory housing next-generation sequencers and high-performance computing infrastructure, Clevergene claims to churn out life-impacting outcomes. It analyses the genetic code of organisms like plants, bacteria, viruses, insects, humans, and other animals to hunt for patterns that offer insights for improving the quality of life on this planet.

So far, Auxano Capital-backed Clevergene has raised a total of $631K in its seed funding round.

Brijesh Damodaran, Chief Investment Officer and Co-founder, Auxano Capital, said, "Treatments that were accessible to a few are now affordable by the masses, thus healthcare as a sector is growing both vertically and horizontally. Insurance penetration is also enabling increased accessibility to healthcare. The first human genome sequencing cost around $3 billion and took 100s of researchers 13 years to complete; now, the same can be done for $100 in 48 hours and is expected to drop further."

The Indian startup community is gradually redefining healthcare delivery through various digital solutions, bridging the gap between patient and provider. Creating an ecosystem in the healthcare industry will help provide better, faster, and more efficient care. There are approximately 3,225 health technology startups in India, with several more planning to launch.