Startups in India have raised around $42 billion in 2021, which was double the amount raised in 2020. As startups are growing in India, we can see a lot of digital healthcare startup companies blooming in the country.
After witnessing the global pandemic, Healthcare is one such industry that has shaped and changed itself. Covid-19 not only affected the global economy but also exposed the inadequacies of the healthcare system in the country. The lives before and after pandemics are completely different. The shift from offline to online made us realise both the positive and negative aspects of digitalisation.
Startups in India have been expanding and growing exponentially. This growing industry has given space to digital healthcare startups that have entered this domain. Various healthcare startups offer consultations, medicines, advice, etc digitally which has helped people across the country. During the coronavirus lockdowns, these digital consultations were one of the best ways to ask for advice from expert doctors from any part of the country or globally.
Below are some notable Indian digital startups on healthcare that offer various facilities to their audience. Let’s have a look at them
1. Pharmeasy
You may recall this startup from its catchy advertisement with its tagline of ‘Take it easy Pharmeasy’, which was similar to the tune of Urvashi by the maestro AR Rahman. Pharmeasy offers over 1 lakh+ medicine across the country. The delivery takes a time of 4 hours with a guarantee to deliver the package within 24 to 48 hours. Founded in 2014, it was founded by Dharmil Sheth, Mikhail Innani, and Dhaval Shah to develop an application connecting users with pharmacies. It connects users with different pharmacies on their smartphones, serving almost 5 million customers. It aimed to deliver people medicines at a minimal cost. You are just three buttons away from Pharmeasy. It also connects pharmacies to users from small villages and towns.
2. Docplexus
A platform for doctors wherein they can create their communities and interact or discuss the medicine world with other fellow doctors. Docplexus was founded by Phanish Chandra, an IITian, it is a free platform with just one clause – you need to be a licensed doctor to start a community!
It has connected more than 2 lakh doctors as members.
3. Practo
Practo is on a mission – to make quality healthcare affordable and accessible to all the citizens of the country. For them, health is a habit. They are firm believers in empowering people with appropriate knowledge of the medical world. They offer a Comprehensive medical directory, online appointment booking, online consultation subscription-based health plans, and medicine delivery. It is established in more than 20 countries with over 1 lakh doctors as its partners and they have around 30 crore plus patients every year. Founded by Shashank ND, the idea behind the startup was that the gap between healthcare and people can be easily filled by technology.
4. Blood Sure
Founded by Raghav Baldwa in 2012, he was inspired by his dad who was a blood donor, hence he realised the importance of blood donation, hence came the idea of Blood Sure was to make sure that those who need blood get a donor. It aims to fill the gap of blood shortage in India which is quite visible as well. They have a strong community of over 1.25 lac active donors in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal and they have so far helped 15000 people.
Remember, blood donation can save several precious lives. You can be a blessing in disguise for some families.
5. NetMeds
Netmeds is India Ki Pharmacy, which has experience of over 100 years. It is one of the most trusted websites in India and covers audiences across the country. It offers streamlined shopping for medicines 24X7 on its online portal. It is supported by 14 logistics centers across the country. It provides multilingual voice chat, and email customer care center, and a team of licensed pharmacists who receive, digitize, and approve millions of handwritten prescriptions. You can order your medicines on Netmeds anytime, anywhere!
6. Impact Guru
Impact guru is a health-tech startup with a vision to make healthcare facilities accessible to all. Founded in 2014 by Piyush Jain, it gives solutions regarding crowdfunding to empower individuals, NGOs, and social enterprises to raise funds and other medical facilities.
7. BeatO
A startup that is founded by diabetes patients is a tech solution for all those who have diabetes. BeatO provides convenient and smart solutions to measure your sugar levels using smartphones. In this digital world, almost everyone has smartphones and we use them extensively. From social media to emails to shopping, we have access to all categories of apps and BeatO can be your solution for measuring sugar levels every day. It even provides you suggestions and shares the results with BeatO’s experts if medical intervention is needed.
8. Tata 1mg
They say ‘we make health accessible, affordable and understandable’, Tata 1 mg is a leading digital platform that is an e-pharmacy, that provides online consultations, lab tests, and most importantly authentic information. Authentic information is quite a need in the time we are living in. You may remember how people spread misinformation around health during covid times and they still do so. The main idea was to create a platform that stood for transparent, authentic, and accessible information. With delivering medicines to over 1000+ cities pan India, it is legit script certified and is one of the first healthcare startups to do so. They have also won several honours and accolades along with the trust of the audience.
Hence, these were the 8 digital health startups that are filling the gap between health and people by using technology!
A wise man said Health is Wealth. In the race for success, we often tend to forget to take care of our own health. Remember, health is imperative for all the success in our lives.
