HealthIntel delivers end-to-end patient care, eyes revenues of Rs 50cr in 3 years
Technology startup HealthIntel is disrupting the healthcare sector, redefining end-to-end solutions by catering to the needs of doctors and patients with clinic automation and delivery of medicines through its integrated online-offline model.
When it comes to bridging the gap between supply and demand, startups hold utmost promise in the Indian healthcare sector. The startups in this space cater to all segments, including discovery, specialty care, care delivery, digitising, diagnostic devices, tracking and e-commerce.
HealthIntel is creating a niche in the healthcare sector by redefining end-to-end solutions. The brand caters to the needs of doctors and patients, offering integrated healthcare.
For healthcare professionals, the brand offers an e-prescription-based application, ensuring efficient patient and clinic management. HealthIntel has a unique online-offline pharmacy model, and consumers can buy medicines at the click of a button from its e-pharmacy, dawaiweb.com, or from various offline HealthIntel pharmacies present across multiple cities.
The brand’s inception
The healthcare sector in India has witnessed a boom, but accessibility to quality healthcare remains a problem for majority of India’s population.
In 2015, when technology was disrupting most sectors, IIT alumnus Sameer Bhalla entered the healthcare space to build a brand that leveraged technology.
With over 14 years of experience across diverse sectors, Sameer built a disruptive health-tech brand HealthIntel, which aimed at easing pharmaceutical ordering and delivery. The brand has been well received by consumers, witnessing traction of 1.5 lakh new patients.
Sameer, the Founder and CEO of HealthIntel, says: “The issue of healthcare delivery in tier-2 and 3 cities was tackled as we set out to develop our presence in Ghaziabad, ancillary cities around Ahmedabad, Meerut and other cities in Uttar Pradesh.”
Improving the standard of healthcare
Since 2000, India’s healthcare sector has received over $18.5 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), 6.4 percent of the total $288 billion the country has received so far.
Marrying technology with healthcare, HealthIntel envisions digitising patient care, providing cheaper medicines and improving the standard of care across the globe. The services it offers to healthcare professionals and clients include digitising independent doctor practices with Electronic Medical Record capability, patient connect appointment systems, lab record automation and digitising prescriptions. It aims to bring different spectrums of healthcare under one platform.
In its endeavour to revamp the healthcare space and cater to the needs of India’s ailing population, HealthIntel’s offline pharmacies provide medicines at discounted prices to patients. They are presently located in Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut and other cities in Northern India.
The booming Indian market
The healthcare market in India is poised to grow from $100 billion in 2016 to $280 billion in 2020. This explosive growth will be enabled by broader and deeper penetration of broadband internet and smartphones, growing at a breakneck CAGR of 20–30 percent.
As more Indians get access to broadband internet and smartphones, they are more likely to avail digital services. Healthcare is no exception.
India’s healthcare sector is crowded with diverse platforms that offer doctor appointments/discovery, differentiated products and pharmaceutical delivery. All of them aim at transforming the sector.
HeathIntel faces competition from established e-pharmacy brands such as Netmeds, 1mg, mChemist and Pluss. However, it differentiates itself from other startups with its quick delivery of medicines and strong offline presence. Today, it is one of the few brands in Northern India that delivers chronic and non-chronic medicines to patients within 3–4 hours.
“Other providers have a delivery span of 3–4 days and hence concentrate on delivering chronic medicine; this limits them from nearly 70 percent of the medical market. Also, other competitors are restricted to direct-to-patient model while we have tied up with doctors, getting subscriptions directly from their offices,” Sameer says.
Time to escalate business
HealthIntel recently raised undisclosed funding from BLIP Initiatives, a start-up accelerator in the health, beauty and wellness space. With the secured growth capital, the health tech startup, currently building a strong presence in UP and Delhi-NCR, plans to boost its robust expansion plans pan-India.
“The funds will be invested to escalate business operations for the next 15–18 months, primarily for expansion in 8–10 cities over the next 12 months. We will efficiently expand our reach into other cities and offer seamless offline and online services under a single umbrella,” Sameer says.
HealthIntel clocked an annual turnover of Rs 5.2 crore last year and is gearing to achieve revenues of Rs 50 crore in the next three years. It may be an ambitious target, but the brand is betting that its innovative offerings aimed at streamlining the sector will help it get there.