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Health

TechEmerge Health India

assess
source
select
match
pilot
scale
Project start
Oct, 2015
Open Call
Jan, 2016
Finalists announced
Apr, 2016
Matchmaking summit
Jun, 2016
Pilots announced
Nov, 2016
End of project
Feb, 2018

In partnership with:

  • Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland
  • Israel Flag

IFC launched its very first TechEmerge initiative in 2016, with an open call for innovators across the globe to bring new technologies to India’s health care sector. After a thorough needs assessment and curated matchmaking, 22 pilots kicked off at 70 clinical sites in urban and rural locations across India to address clinical and operational gaps in the health care ecosystem.

By the end of 2018, TechEmerge Health India pilots had reached over 18,000 patients with innovations in operational efficiency, patient engagement, remote monitoring, patient safety, point-of-care diagnostics, and telemedicine. 

Innovators and Indian health care providers signed 22 commercial contracts worth over $1 million as a result of the program. These are expected to benefit more than 300,000 patients annually. Several innovators signed local distributors and went on to work with other health providers for broader deployment of their solutions in India. During the program, our tech companies raised $14.5 million, and one was acquired for over $100 million.

Read the TechEmerge Health India Impact Report

Read our Stories from the Field

Market context

1.39 bn

India's population in 2021

$372 bn

India's healthcare market expected size by 2022

$4 bn

The Indian diagnostics market value in 2021

India’s unmet demand for health services, its attractive market for tech companies, and strong IFC footprint made it a good candidate for TechEmerge’s inaugural health program.

Like many developing countries, India battles with communicable diseases and a rise in non-communicable conditions like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. These challenges are compounded by a lack of access to basic health care, with just seven doctors per 10,000 people and a shortage of health infrastructure. The private sector provides most health care in India. However, only 17 percent of people are insured, and about 70 percent of health care expenditure is paid out of pocket. 

Despite these complex challenges, with 1.3 billion people, the opportunities in India are significant – insurance coverage is expected to expand and business models to meet the country’s diverse needs will also evolve and spur growth. This is, driven by a steady rise in income – the Indian median income per household is expected to increase by 90 percent between 2015 and 2030 – giving people greater capacity to invest in preventative care and diagnostic procedures. 

This presented opportunities for health technology innovators to enter the Indian market, and for local health care providers to adopt new solutions that increase operational efficiency and improve patient outcomes.

TechEmerge Health India was supported by a network of advisors from across the globe with decades of experience in health, technology, the Indian market, investment, and working with startups.

Our 15 technology adopters are leading companies in India’s health ecosystem, including multi-specialty hospitals, speciality clinics, laboratories and diagnostic centers with over 60,000 beds in 400 locations.

Competitively selected from a field of more 330 companies from 29 countries, our 17 innovators piloted a wide range of cost-effective, accessible, effective health technologies and solutions.

In total, the TechEmerge Health India initiative supported 20 successful pilot projects focused on operational efficiency, patient engagement, remote monitoring, patient safety, point-of-care diagnostics, and more.

Operational Efficiency
Patient Engagement
Point of Care
Remote monitoring
Telemedicine

As a result of participating in TechEmerge, our innovators signed 22 contracts with Indian health care providers within one year of completing their pilots. Several went on to sign contracts with local distributors for broader deployment of their solutions across India.

20

Successful pilots conducted by 15 innovators and 13 healthcare providers

22

Commercial contracts signed by innovators & Indian healthcare providers

$1+ mn

Value of commercial contacts generated by the program

300,000

Patients expected to benefit each year from deployment of these technologies

$14.5 mn

Raised by innovators during the program

$102 mn

One of our innovators was acquired during the program

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"Being selected in TechEmerge was a key turning point...we took what we learned from the TechEmerge pilot project, replicated it in other markets, and have grown over 1 million patients in 12 countries."

Tricog

Innovator in :

Blockquote icon

"India was not a market that we expected to enter before 2019... But being selected as one of the companies involved in the program has accelerated the initial plan. Entering such a big and complex country without the program would have been very difficult at this stage. TechEmerge has provided us the training, the initial contacts and the platform to start commercial actions [in India]."

Transmural Biotech

Transmural

Innovator in : TechEmerge Health India

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"The collaboration with Dr. Agarwal's' Hospital has been a deep learning experience and will lead to further collaborative projects in India."

Ceeable

Innovator in : TechEmerge Health India

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"The TechEmerge program is powerful in that it funds and brings together unmeet needs with powerful solutions, aimed at bringing innovation to the developing world. The team at TechEmerge is also very professional, world-class."

WellDoc

Welldoc/ Max healthcare

Innovator in : TechEmerge Health India

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