Speaking on the funding, Chris George, Co-Founder & CEO, Qube said, “Qube is changing the way Indians pay for their family’s healthcare. Integrating payment methods, no-cost medical loans, an open network of healthcare providers, we are on a mission to make healthcare payments, frictionless. This funding round adds to our pre-series-A corpus and gives us a runway of up to two years, while setting us up for our upcoming Series-A.”

Qube offers a payment system and healthcare credit line to employees of companies that subscribe to its QubeHealth-Credit product. This offering complements the group health insurance policies provided by employers.

Users of Qube can borrow and pay for various healthcare expenses, including medical bills not covered or partially covered by health insurance, non-cashless bill payments, or outpatient department (OPD) costs. Users can choose the amount they need, the healthcare provider, and a payback period of up to one year, all without incurring interest or fees on repayments. The credit line is provided to employees free of charge, with the employer covering a small subscription fee on behalf of the employee.

With medical inflation doubling in the last five years, insurance is turning out to be inadequate. Add to this a high friction insurance claims experience, and cashless payments continuing to be a burden, Indians are paying over $55 Billion every year on healthcare expenses, from their pockets. Qube operates in this part of the healthcare market, using embedded finance and payment systems to provide better access and options for healthcare to employed Indians.

Although specific funding amounts were not disclosed, Qube stated that it has already activated Rs. 1000 Crore in medical credit for over 2 lakh employees of 270 corporations in India. Over the next three years, the company anticipates deploying Rs. 3000 Crore in medical credit. This credit enables quick payments via the Qube mobile app to any hospital or clinic in the country, linking a user’s bank account, insurance payments, employer reimbursements, and Qube’s own no-cost credit line.

QubeHealth is currently available exclusively through Indian employers.

Mitesh Shah, Co-founder, Inflection Point Ventures said, “The intersection of finance and healthcare is a very interesting area for us and Qube has been at the forefront of this from the time we first invested in the company two years ago. Their focus and financially prudent approach to building a company has seen our initial investment grow four times and we believe that they are on a path to dominate the healthcare payments sector in India.”

Puneet Kothapa, for Green Ivy Ventures added, “Paying for your family’s healthcare is the foremost fear in the minds of any Indian and a solution that helps them in taking control of this will see rapid adoption. We believe Qube has proven that financing and frictionless payments is a great way to solve the healthcare access problem.”

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The round was led by SP Ganesan, a pathologist from Chennai with 40+ years of experience and other investors.

The funds will be used to accelerate the iMS platform and for India wide expansion.

The startup develops a digital wireless patient monitoring solution platform for ambulatory, inpatient, and home care settings.

LifeSigns provides technological solutions for patient monitoring in hospitals, at home, and in ambulances, bringing high-quality, clinical-grade patient vital data continuously to healthcare professionals anywhere anytime at a reasonable cost.

Hari Subramaniam, founder and director LS Devices, said, ” We have been assisting hospitals become smarter, more technologically advanced, with leaner infrastructure and at lower costs. The new funds will allow us to work more on technology and HR to enhance the user experience, bring more efficiency in clinical data delivery, lower infrastructure spend, bring down cost of healthcare benefitting the patient and providers.”

The startup has collaborated with private and public government hospitals across India, currently in 48-plus hospitals, managing close to 5,100 beds deployed on 28,000 patients, including the largest private hospital chain and largest public hospital, helping them deliver better cost-efficient patient care with the most modern technology.

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Started by Abhishek Chandel and Rohit Singh in 2018, GoMedii is a full stack digital platform that aims to leverage technology to provide healthcare to overseas patients, who are now preferring India for quality medical treatment that is 50-80% less vis-à-vis other developed economies. 

With the government pushing forward for a national strategy and roadmap for medical and wellness tourism, GoMedii has emerged as a leading Medical Value Travel Facilitator (MVTF) that provides overseas patients a host of services right from discovery of the treatment to post-operation services. Working closely with the government, GoMedii aims to organise the highly fragment medical tourism industry by bringing all services under one roof.

Rohit Singh, Co-founder, GoMedii, said that the brand has been playing an active role as an MVTF in Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the SAARC regions that are the primary markets for medical tourism in India, with Bangladesh and Africa contributing a lion’s share of traffic.

“Government initiative of ‘Heal in India’ will strengthen Medical Tourism and would help the healthcare industry take a big leap. The need of the hour is a robust public-private partnership with MVTFs playing the role of a key stakeholder and drive the business by generating leads in different source countries,” said Rohit.

Rohit pointed out that Africa remains a largely untapped market offering great potential.

“The major performing markets that we see with huge potential to boost the medical tourism sector in India are the African countries like Nigeria, Congo, Ethiopia and more, hence, making the African continent a prime performing market for GoMedii,” said Rohit.

Abhishek Chandel, Co-Founder, said that empowering patients and their families with the right information remains the key and now GoMedii boasts a network of 100 plus hospitals providing quality and affordable treatment.

“We come first in the patient treatment value chain right from the hospital discovery phase and be with the patient in entire treatment journey through an ecosystem of 100+ Hospitals, 500+Doctors, partners, interpreters and pre-post treatment care,” said Abhishek.

GoMedii aims to bank on India’s quality and affordable healthcare as well as budget friendly allied services that make treatment costs 50-80% less vis-a-vis other popular medical tourism destinations like Turkey and Malaysia.

“Besides the significant cost factors, the high number of reputed workforce of the best doctors in the country, state-of-art hospitals, lesser waiting time for appointment, affordable tertiary services, and other medical infrastructure, make India most preferred destination for international patients. We plan to expand our reach across our prime performing markets in the world by empowering the patients and their families with the right transparent knowledge through a well-established partner’s-network,” said Abhishek.

With an aim to give a structure to the fragmented medical tourism industry in India, Rohit said that GoMedii is focusing on three key things – provide technology-driven healthcare solutions; empower patients with reliable information; formalize and give a structure to the medical tourism sector. 

Patient data on GoMedii suggests that most of the African patients are coming to India for transplant surgeries, IVF treatment, knee replacements, and oncology treatment. Over the years, patients from Gulf countries have also preferred Indian health care with most of the traffic coming from UAE, Oman, Iraq, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Most of the patients from Gulf countries come to India for orthopaedics, cardiac, bariatric surgery, and cosmetic treatments.

Patients from Cambodia, Myanmar, Maldives, and Uzbekistan have started preferring India over Malaysia for cosmetic surgery, dental treatment, organ related treatments, and orthopedic surgery.

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GOQii, headquartered in California raised capital through equity and debt, Blacksoil Capital and Trifecta Capital conducted the venture debt funding, whereas the equity led by Sumeru Ventures. The capital raised will be used in the growth of digital therapeutics and insurance in India. GOQii will focus mailing on various solutions around preventing healthcare, internationally.

Also, noticed participation from current buyers Mitsui, budget cautioned with the aid of using Mega Delta, DSG Consumer Partners, Galaxy Digital, Denlow Investment Trust, Edelweiss, Cheetah Mobile, GWC, Ratan Tata, Vijay Shekhar Sharma amongst others.    

The founder and CEO of GOQii, Vishal Gondal said “This funding round would help GOQii not only strengthen its current offerings but also expand in insurance, digital Therapeutics and international markets, where the foundation has already been built by us over the years.”

According to the founder of GOQii Vishal Gondal, his first venture capital IndiaGames was acquires by DisneyUTV Digital in 2012. GOQii is an Indian tech enabled healthcare platform head-quartered in California, USA which provides a wearable fitness band that connects to a mobile application and gives a remotely personalised coaching. It collects the activities and sleep cycle of the customers, later it is reviewed by a personal coach by a mobile app which guides customers about their health and fitness goals. They also target areas including in women’s health, diabetes and radiology.

Customers has to pay for subscription as to get access to the top rate services. The GOQii associate app permits customers to percentage their stats on social media and tracks Karma factors.

The app additionally helps a Hi-five characteristic in which a educate can congratulate a consumer for being on track. Players earn Karma once they meet each day goals. On August 4, 2016, in partnership with Thyrocare and Max Healthcare, GOQii released its new version, which protects a “non-public Health Locker” and a life-style doctor (referred to as the GOQii Doctor), who’s a certified physician (MBBS/MD) and to be had at the GOQii platform for scientific consultation.

In addition, a participant also takes a ‘Health Risk Assessment’ take a look at and get their ‘Health Score’ thru the app. The Health Locker consists of a diagnostic’s characteristic permits customers to book tests, take them from domestic and get consequences directly.

Rohit Pareek, who has worked with Jefferies, JM Financial and The Times Group was hired as the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and head of corporate development.

Saumen Chakraborty, the Managing Director at Sumeru Ventures said “health is a fundamental need which cannot be met with the traditional curative infrastructure alone. GOQii has been a significant contributor to the preventive healthcare ecosystem in India. We are confident that this funding round would help GOQii scale it to further heights.”

Digital therapeutics and healthtech corporations are gaining traction amongst investors. GOQii`s opponents with inside the area consists of VC-backed corporations such as Healthifyme, Ultrahuman HQ, Gymtrack and Tonal.

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At present, semen analysis requires men to visit a clinic and deposit the sample. Given the social taboos around sexual health and the lack of privacy at clinics, a lot of men back out from getting their semen analyzed. Semen testing from home has been challenging so far because of the quick mortality of the sperm which poses a logistical challenge. Led by Dr. S S Vasan, co-founder of Janani and former Founding Chairman of Manipal Fertility, Janani has developed a unique media that can store a sample without any damage to the sperms for up to 8 hours in non-laboratory conditions, thus providing enough time to for the samples to be collected from homes and then brought to the laboratories.

Once a person registers himself for semen analysis with Janani, they ship the DIY semen testing kit in discreet packaging to the person’s address. The user can then follow instructions on the package and easily deposit his sample at the comfort of his home. Then, the sample would be collected by an agent from the address and sent to Janani’s labs for testing. The user is then provided with a detailed and comprehensive report within 24 hours of receiving the sample.

Speaking on the launch, Nilay Mehrotra, Founder, Janani, said “Fertility discussions are still mostly limited to that of women. But we are here to change that. With rising male infertility and concern about male sexual wellness, it is important for men to come forward for fertility tests. But most men feel shy and uncomfortable with the current mode of semen testing at diagnostic centres. With our unique offering, men can now take the test from the comfort and convenience of their homes. At Janani, we want to make fertility care gender-neutral, comfortable and more accessible to everyone through technology. Guided by industry stalwarts like Dr. SS Vasan himself, we will continue to offer innovative, tech-enabled and personalised fertility care solutions for a modern India. “

About Janani

Janani is one of India’s fastest growing healthcare brands that effectively combines technology with medical expertise to provide affordable, convenient and end to end solutions around sexual wellness, reproductive health and fertility.

Janani’s cutting edge also lies in its strong founding team; Dr. SS Vasan, co-founder at Janani and ex- Founding Chairman Manipal Fertility Group and President of South Asian Society of Sexual medicine, brings unparalleled expertise and years of experience to the table while the founder, Nilay Mehrotra, Ex- Founder VC funded CharIoT and SenRa, was awarded Top 50 CEO by World Innovation Congress in 2018.

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There is no universal newborn hearing screening program in India and children show up to the doctors after 4-5 years of age when the golden period of speech development has passed. If deafness is diagnosed very early on in life the child can be treated e.g. by giving hearing aids or cochlear implant, they can start speaking normally.

Dr Narveshwar Sinha, Chairman of IDEAL Charity commented on this initiative, “The film is meant to promote the importance of early diagnosis of deafness. Hence the Charity hopes that the Government of India supports any ingenuity in this direction. We need to somehow get all newborn babies a 2-minutes’ hearing screening test (otoacoustic emission), for example, intervening at the point when the baby is born (if hospital delivery) or at the point of immunisation (if it is out of hospital delivery).”

Dr Sinha was the host and speaker of the event which took place over Zoom. Beside him, the guest speakers consisted of Mrs Gwen Carr (who is behind the world-class UK’s New Born Hearing Screening Program), Professor Martin Marshall, Chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioner, London and Mr Shantanu Moitra, well-known Indian score composer, musician and pianist who has composed lots of popular songs for the Hindi film industry.

Principal Health Secretaries and Directors of National Health Mission of various states and union territories of India were invited to attend the event as they will be the major players in taking this agenda forward in their constituencies.

About the Foundation

IDEAL Charity is a UK-based not-for-profit organization, registered with the Charities Commission of England and Wales. Since 2003, the Charity is involved with advancing the education of deaf persons in less developed countries particularly by provision of education, training, equipment and funding. The Charity concentrates on hearing impairment in young children.

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As per studies, the biggest challenge of healthcare in India is “awareness or lack of it”. At My Healthytude, the videos are backed by research papers and the content comes from reliable sources helping people to make more informed decisions about their health.

“Our goal is to reach everyone with vital health related information and to build a platform that provides outstanding patient care through patient education and awareness” shares Mr. Karan Arora, Director Marketing and International Business. He further added, “My Healthytude will promote healthy lives and wellbeing for everyone, everywhere, at all ages”.

COVID-19 is the first pandemic where technology and online media are being utilized appropriately to keep individuals safe, productive, and connected while being physically apart. According to the WHO, it is important to reduce risk factors associated with various diseases by adopting information and communication technology (health-promoting lifestyle behaviors).

Governments across the globe are working to integrate digital investments into health system. Digital health tools have potential to transform health services and to achieve general wellbeing inclusion. These tools can empower significant engagement and long-term good governance for digital health interventions – eventually ensuring that each individual has access to health care, information and education that is right for them. The most important step is right information at right time.

About Alniche: 

Alniche Life Sciences is one of India’s fastest growing Pharma Company based in New Delhi, serves patients and the medical fraternity by offering specialized, high-quality, effective, affordable medicines and wellness products. Alniche has carved a firm position for itself in the Indian Pharma market through a focused approach for key brands and deep engagement with doctors. Their 700 sales team members are covering 70,000 doctors and 30,000 hospitals with a strong portfolio of both domestic & licensed brands from global partners, in the areas of Nephrology, Critical care, Gastroenterology, Dermatology, Neurology and Advanced wound care. Alniche is ranked one of the top company in Renal care and Critical care. Alniche has partnered with global pharma organizations to bring novel global brands in India including Alliance (UK), FzioMed (USA), Adhezion Biomedical Inc. (USA), Mastix (USA), Biovite (Australia), PT Dermozone Pratama (Indonesia), J W Life Science (Korea), Dongkook (Korea), SK Plasma (Korea) and Mellow Hope (China).

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Speaking on the appointment of the PR Team, Sumit Mittal, Founder & CEO of VentAllOut said, “We look forward to this strategic engagement with Twenty7 Inc. to drive our brand narrative through media channels. The agency will help us to increase our brand presence in the industry and align our goals with media, stakeholders, and the public to conclusively convey our message and objectives to the target audience.”

VentAllOut is a Delhi-based health-tech platform designed to break the stigma around mental health. It is also India’s first AI-powered Vernacular platform that promotes mental wellbeing. The platform has trained psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health specialists in its panel. There are three ways to use VentAllOut. One can post their problem and get community support. Talk to a physician for a short period at a nominal cost or go for a detailed analysis with a specialist that will be a virtual therapy.

Speaking about the collaboration Nilayankur Bharti, Founder & Director of Twenty7 Inc. said, we are delighted to have the opportunity to manage the media presence of brands like VentAllOut. Sumit is a young entrepreneur, and VAO is an innovative brand that will not only allow us to explore mental health areas even further but also gives us a new path to work with new ideas and initiatives. For startups, PR and communications play an important role in brand building and reputation management, and we are confident that we will add value to the overall vision of the brand in the segment.”

As an agency, Twenty7 Inc. has expertise in promoting clients or brands through the channels of earned media by leveraging on communication bonds between the organization and its target audience to gain mutual benefits.

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From relationship issues to workplace issues, the conversation will be assessed by a team of experts and will cost just Rs 49.

One will be able to connect with the experts over a five-minute call where they will have the freedom to express or vent themselves anonymously.

The platform is available in select local languages and 15 minutes of free counselling is offered before the affordable packages are made available. The company plans to make the newly launched Talk Therapy available in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities very soon.

According to Sumit Mittal, the Founder and CEO of VentAllOut, “Through this feature, we want to reach out to as many users as we can because venting acts as a therapy. And once a person vents out their bottled-up emotions, the purpose of therapy gradually evades. From real-time user mood analysis to qualified and specialized therapists to meet end to end solutions is what VAO aims.”

A nationwide National Mental Health survey 2015-16 by Bengaluru-based NIMHANS has revealed that around 150 million Indians are in need of active mental health care interventions, while fewer than 30 million are seeking support. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, stress and mental health have been surfacing as a result of a sedentary lifestyle.

In India, 50% mental health conditions begin at the age of 14, followed by 75% mental health conditions developing by age 24. Hence, it is crucial to focus on mental health, and VAO provides the platform to unload the burden of stress from the individual’s life.

VentAllOut is India’s First AI-driven Vernacular platform promoting mental wellness by allowing users to share their stress, opinions, and comments anonymously. Its core objective is helping users in shedding and venting out feelings in all aspects of life, work, or anything in general on this platform and leaving with positive emotions when you are with loved ones or at the workplace.

The platform is available in eight different languages: English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada and can be accessed through the website or from Android or iOS apps. The platform has additional features like: Voice to Text for seamless venting experience; AI-based built-in technology for mood analysis; Expert Panel consisting of psychologists, therapists, etc. for last-mile connectivity and Gamification through instant cashback to encourage sharing and expression

“Talk Therapy” facility is available at: https://www.ventallout.com/checkout

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sense.bio, a Mumbai-based health-tech startup has launched an e-store selling COVID-19 essentials and personal protective gear to meet growing demand during the outbreak of the global coronavirus crisis.

The IoT-based sense.bio launched the e-store with an idea to reduce the risk of viral transmission and the store makes it convenient for the customers to order the products while staying indoors. It also ensures availability and safety while delivering it to their doorstep.

Talking about the launch, Mr.Atul Kapoor, Founder, sense.bio commented “Now since the unlock is happening across the nation and people are resuming work now it’s the time to take extra safety measures with protecting themselves and boosting their immunity. We have made sure of the quality of products and are made in India.”

The e-store witnesses the need for modern personal protective gear. It features a wide range of products including Oximeter, Masks, Gloves, Coverall suits, Surgical gowns, Hand- sanitizers, Air spray, Automatic sanitizer disposer, Electrolysis spray, Face shield, PPE kit, Immunity booster, etc. To make it extremely easy for the customers, the store promises to deliver the order at their doorstep even during the COVID crisis.

There is a huge supply and demand gap due to movement restrictions in containment areas and the COVID-19 essentials are significantly high in demand. sense.bio strives to reduce the gap and boosts the implementation of safety measures.

The data-driven app is backed by innovative technology and it works on a freemium model while its premium gives access to personalized and customized diet plans, nutritionists, and coaches to improve the overall healthcare experience of its users.

The products can be ordered from its user-friendly mobile app and website. The application endeavors to enhance the user- experience with more convenient, innovative, and useful products along with the expansion of their business to Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific, and other regions.

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