Categories
Med/Health Tech

Digital Health Care – Fast Forwarded

Written by Vinita Sethi on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Far too much illness and uncertainty, and far too many disruptions have characterised the Covid-19 pandemic.  With the onset of new waves of infection and emergence of variants, we are confronted with the same question repeatedly – what’s the future of ‘brick & mortar’ healthcare delivery system, and how will we ensure the resilience of healthcare systems?

Each time we have been hit by a new wave or by reinfections, there has been a pause on visits to hospitals, elective surgeries get postponed and even routine vaccination schedules get thrown out of the window. All steps and interventions towards preventive healthcare or chronic disease management are first to be displaced or put on a backburner.

The only silver lining in all this, is the seamless healthcare provided through digital healthcare tools. The pandemic has compressed digital transformation timelines in healthcare to 6-12 months, from earlier estimated 4-5 years.

India has emerged as one of the biggest adopters of digital healthcare– nearly 80 % rise in consumption of digital healthcare services after Covid-19. Aarogya Setu & Cowin have achieved global recognition for contact tracing and streamlining digitalized vaccination processes for our 1.3 billion population. Start-ups and innovations that emerged during the pandemic, be it personal wearables, 24*7 tele-medicine, robotics and 3D printing, or process automations, AI(Artificial Intelligence) & ML(Machine Learning) based predictive tools, all have put digital on a fast track and are transforming healthcare like never before.

There is no turning back, as digital healthcare has improved healthcare outcomes, processes and is building more equity. Covid-19 has given us a moment to rethink healthcare in ways that will help us reach those whose needs and access issues were not being catered to earlier. India’s 900 mn active internet users by 2025, rising tele-density and increasing smartphone base, augurs well for digital healthcare apps and tools. This in turn should lead to more value based, equitable healthcare.

Here is an illustration on how value-based care will get a boost through digital health care modules. India has approx. 77mn people, who are diagnosed with diabetes. This has made India, the diabetes capital of the world. Usually the focus is on episodic acre and it is the patient who visits the doctor with an issue. Digital healthcare is transforming these mechanics and design of healthcare delivery. Diabetes focused apps can connect patients with doctors, give them regular reminders for medicine compliance, updates such as dietary or exercise counselling, at low cost and across geographies. This implementation of continuum of enhances patient experience and standardises outcomes, cost of care, and treatment delivery through a collaborative chain of activities.

This is particularly beneficial to those living in remote or rural parts of our country, where the doctor-patient ratio is dismally low- often just one doctor per 25,000 population. It is estimated that innovative healthcare solutions like tele-medicine could save India between USD 4-5 bn every year, replace half of in-person outpatient consultations, and reduce the cost by 30% less than equivalent in-person visits. Reduced waiting time, on-demand doctor availability, no infection risks, EMRs availability, have all increased the demand for digital health.

Digital apart from strengthening the iron triangle of cost, quality & access, will go a long way in streamlining the supply side- reduced administrative burden on providers, real time updated registries & repositories of doctors and other healthcare workers, availability of full medical history of the patient to consulting doctors, and better time management for doctors who can spend more time on patients. In the not-so-distant future, a software platform could emerge as the biggest provider of healthcare, creating a smart bed less hospital just as Airbnb has emerged as the biggest hotel chain without owning any rooms.

However, for the future of healthcare to be successfully anchored in omni, we need to bridge the digital divide. For instance, 47% of global population is not using the internet, & the cost of available broadband exceeds affordability targets in 50% of developed countries. Similarly, in lower income economies, only 32% of population has basic digital skills.

We need to address these underlying issues of lack of skills, connectivity, affordability and accessibility. Multi-stakeholder participation is the way out, along with upskilling healthcare professionals in digital tools, sustaining investments, and providing conducive policy support. Initiatives such as the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM)  are timely and will provide necessary support for integration of digital health infrastructure in the country.

What stands out most in digital health ecosystem, is that it empowers the patient, who can now make informed decisions about treatments basis medical history, lifestyle preferences and other factors. It offers immense opportunities to integrate continuum of care with insurance and pharma, and thus reduce drops offs in patients’ funnels from diagnosis to treatment. Providing digital health access and tools to all could go a long way in accelerating our mission towards achieving Universal Health Care, that leaves no one behind.

Categories
Climate Tech

Satgana: A Global Venture Studio

Written by Jashna Pillay – Digilah (Thought Leadership)

Want to find out more about our operations and exactly what we can provide to you and your start-up? Or are you looking to make an impact investment and explore the potential of capital for good. You’ve come to the right place!

Why?

Today, the investment landscape is powered by a broader base of investors who are marshaling billions of dollars to tackle one overarching global threat: climate change. “Climate tech VC isn’t just having a moment, it’s entering a new age”, says Andrew Beebe of Obvious Ventures. Climate tech includes solutions aimed at decarbonizing the planet. This has been bolstered by recent trends including a staggering rise in extreme weather disasters, an international push for net-zero emission targets and new technological breakthroughs that can potentially fight climate change. 

We believe that some of the most successful businesses of this decade will stem from solutions addressing the climate and ecological crisis. Based on this premise, Satgana was launched in September 2020 with the aim of being a launchpad for other good companies that develop market-based solutions to solve these issues.

What?

The Venture Studio Model is dedicated to systematically producing new companies. Our mission is to launch and fund planet-positive startups that address the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

The diversity of fund structures positioned to foster and profit from early-stage business development and support is increasing. Incubators and accelerators are the first round of model innovation whereas Venture Studios represent a continuation of this trend. Further, this model thrives on shared solutions, shared talents and shared growth, which in turn result in reduced, distributed costs and better applied efforts. 

How?

For an entrepreneur, starting out may seem like the hardest part. How do you grow an idea from the ground up with little resources, reputation, or staff? You’ve had this amazing idea, you know it has potential, you’ve identified your target market and know how to sell to this demographic. But there’s work to be done in getting a company off the ground. 

At Satgana, we support and invest in impact-driven startups

The best entrepreneurial talent is sought by their ability to solve real world problems and to execute on those ideas. Therefore, our purpose as a Venture Studio is then to test those ideas and back them with funding and resources to launch and grow responsible companies with a triple bottom line approach: People – Planet – Prosperity

How much?

We create bespoke support from the idea-stage until the first round of external funding, which typically occurs through a seed round, 12-18 months after our Venture Studio work.

Our goal is to invest capital in tranches, from 30k€ in founding capital to pay a stipend to entrepreneurs for their first few months, and up to 500k€ in pre-seed capital. The goal is to work alongside entrepreneurs during the “valley of death”, where great ideas are not yet fundable by traditional sources of capital which typically require traction and oftentimes existing revenue and growth.

Where?

We are a globally distributed company, leveraging remote work to tap into global talent and foster collaboration between teams in the Global North and the Global South. We are a diverse team of professionals from a large spectrum of backgrounds across Europe, India and Africa.

We believe that talent is evenly distributed across the world, and so should opportunities. ​At Satgana, we strive to solve wicked problems and we have the opportunity to do so through the flexibility that the Venture Studio model allows. Guided by the SDGs, we see the challenges the world is facing and aim to create start-ups to solve these gaps by inspiring entrepreneurs around the world to build market-based solutions. 

If you’re interested in building an impact-driven startup with Satgana, apply here or, send us your pitch deck to jointhejourney@satgana.com. We are on a mission to build and invest in climate-positive start-ups.