The knowledge paper evaluates the role and need for healthcare startups in India, their evolution in the sector and the funding scenario. It also assesses the future of these startups, highlights some of the challenges being faced by them and suggests a way forward.
Some of the key finding presented in the knowledge paper are:
- Startups can act as a much needed facilitator to help approximately 70% of the rural population with limited or no access to hospitals or clinics.
- Mobile and internet platforms can be one of the means to address India's deficient healthcare facilities, via innovation in technology and telemedicine. This could result in better diagnosis by doctors making the history of patients available on cloud platforms.
- The startup domain is struggling to rope in the right investors and arrange for adequate funding, which could largely be attributed to the slow pace of growth in the sector. It takes anywhere between 10 to 15 years to introduce a new product in the market with very few prevalent business models to compare with.
- India's public spending on the healthcare sector comprises of only 1.4 per cent of the GDP and is amongst the lowest in the world.
- Private sector stakeholders could play a crucial hand in the growth and development of healthcare start-ups, by investing in high-risk which could enable entrepreneurs to bring medical advancements and generate higher returns for the
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