This healthtech startup has developed smart kiosks to provide health reports on the go
Hyderabad-based Quantificare’s Pulse Active Stations provides detailed health analysis and gives results of various body parameters within minutes.
Coin weighing machines have been a common sight at bus stands, railway stations, and shops for a long time now.
This triggered the idea for techie-turned-entrepreneur Joginder Tanikella to develop a device, which gives the user quick and detailed health analysis.
A techie by profession, Joginder was also looking to get back in shape after he was shocked seeing the results of his medical check-up. None of the measures he undertook were giving the desired results, but a fitness tracker on the wrist revealed the importance of measurement, i.e., to understand whether the steps taken were providing any tangible result.
Quantificare Health founder Joginder Tanikella
“The day I started measuring myself on the impact of various exercises, I realised the importance of quantification,” says Joginder.
This led him to start Quantificare Health Stations in 2018. The Hyderabad-based startup has its own branded health machines called Pulse Active Stations.
Mostly installed at locations with high footfall such as metro stations, bus stands, and shopping malls, the IoT-enabled smart kiosks give the user a medical report within five minutes, and costs as less as Rs 50.
According to Joginder, these kiosks are currently installed in 150 locations spread across various states in the country, and around 4.5 lakh people have engaged with it.
The journey
A techie with specialisation in full-stack and internet of things (IoT), Joginder started building a health measurement device in 2017, which could provide results on varied body parameters like height, weight, BMI, blood pressure, mineral content, muscle and bone strength, and body water content.
These are indicators of various lifestyle diseases like diabetes and cardiac issues, among others, he says.
The startup took about a year to engage in research and development (R&D), and the first Pulse Active Station went live in Hyderabad at a metro rail station in February 2018.
“My idea was to make a machine, which one could easily access to get basic health indicators,” says Joginder.
Since the launch of the first machine, there has been no looking back for the startup, he adds.
The product
Pulse Active Stations are user-friendly machines and has a person to guide the consumers on the tests they would like to undertake.
The IoT-enabled devices, which are connected to the cloud, gives health indicators for 21 parameters.
The startup charges anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 150 for its services depending on the number of tests taken by the user, and takes around one to three minutes to give results. Besides, the startup has developed an app which provides personalised information to the users.
“Our biggest USP is affordability and accessibility. We want to be very near to you and at a cost that is easy for you,” says Joginder.
However, Joginder says, the results generated by Pulse Active Stations are not final as they are just a health indicator, and that it only provides an alert or early warning to users with their proprietary AI-based recommendations engine.
“We are not competing with any diagnostic laboratory or hospital. Our services are complementary to them,” says Joginder.
Revenue and funding
According to the founder, Pulse Active Stations are a product of the fact that it is a device that fits the “Make in India” bill, as the entire machine is manufactured within the country.
The startup was also part of Y Combinator’s accelerator programme, which is a leading mentor globally, and fund startups for the 2019 batch.
This also helped the bootstrapped startup raise funding from Japan-based firms Mistletoe and ASICS.
Mistletoe is a seed-stage venture capital firm founded by Taizo Son, brother of SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, and ASICS, is a leading manufacturer of high-performance sporting goods and services. The startup claims it is also in the middle of raising another round of funding. Without quantifying the quantum of funds, he only says it runs into seven figures.
“Because our focus has always been on 'Make in India', we are not impacted due to the ongoing Corona crisis in China,” remarks Joginder.
On the growth recorded by the startup, the founder says the number of Pulse Stations installed are a strong indicator.
Future plans
Quantificare has got ambitious plans ahead. Joginder says, “We have a robust system to scale. From day one, the question was always how do we scale,” says Joginder.
In the next three years, this startup plans to have Pulse Active Stations at 11,000 locations providing employment to 8,000 people. Besides, it will also be adding more health parameters on the machine.
However, the bigger aspiration for the startup is to become the one-stop-shop for all health needs. “Many people are not aware of their health status. We want to be that single point of contact to understand where you stand,” says Joginder.
The startup has also joined hands with various other companies to popularise its devices, which include a new-age insurance startup, sports goods company, and a diagnostic lab chain.
With a team size of 23 people, it has also started providing regular information on the state of health in the country, given the huge amount of data at its disposal.
“We want to create greater awareness about health issues for people in the country. Prevention is always better than cure,” says Joginder.
(Edited by Megha Reddy)