i2india, an early stage seed funding, technology commercialization and incubation firm is now looking for potential diagnostic companies developing products for the primary healthcare sector including small clinics. The company recently launched a technology venture known as i2iHealth to address the challenges of Indian healthcare.
In the last one year, the company has invested in over 200 technologies developed by companies to test osteoporosis, diabetes, dermatology, breast cancer and cervical cancer for which the funding details were not disclosed. Currently, there are over a dozen concepts at various stages in its pipeline for which i2india has extended financial assistance for respiratory, breast cancer and cardiac care diagnostics technology.
“We see ample scope for simple medical devices that can be used at clinics. Such devices are not a substitute for the current high-end hospital systems, but provide lower-cost and ubiquitous access with better control at the primary care level, Deepam Mishra, CEO, i2india and chief mentor, i2iHealth told Pharmabiz in an email interaction.
Such technologies help to detect diseases early and reduce mortality. “For example due to lack of proper access in breast-cancer screening, about 90 per cent of the cases in Indian are detected in the late stages, leading to high treatment cost and mortality rates. Therefore, the company intends to focus on development of simple and effective primary screening process used in small clinics to as opposed to hospital-based solutions which eventually help to increase customer base and reduce costs,” he added.
i2india’s funding model is different from that of established venture capitalist. The capital infusion is at the concept stage of technology testing and prototyping. “Due to technology risk, many of the ideas explored do not reach the stage of company creation. Hence, we follow a capital efficient model to finance exploratory concepts,” stated Mishra.
For the early-stage technology companies, it supports scale-up. Through its global R&D networks, it is constantly looking for technologies which are viable for India and could be commercialized here. “For either of the opportunities, the company can provide seed-stage capital and management to help grow the start-ups. Due to relative lack of experienced entrepreneurs and mentors in India, i2india also has a capacity-building platform to incubate and mentor companies from scratch. This is where, its not-for-profit incubator: ‘Technovate’ extends the required support against equity stage and no cash-cost to the entrepreneurs,” stated Mishra.
Presently, i2india is working with companies engaged in the development of products to screen breast-cancer, respiratory diseases and cardiac care which would will improve patient compliance and affordability.
For respiratory diseases, a low-cost device that stimulates easier mucous expiration is being tested for accurate spot test options in TB testing which currently affects 230 million patients. The same device can also be used to diagnose asthma and COPD which affect around 50 million patients each. Increasing pollution and hygiene challenges cause Pneumonia, cystic fibrosis and lung cancer which are also major killers.
In area of cardiac care, i2india is supporting a company which is developing investigating technologies to test and monitor patients suffering arterial blockages and irregular heartbeats.