Disease patterns in India have undergone a dramatic shift. Non-communicable diseases are emerging as a major cause of increased morbidity and mortality. This shift necessitates lifestyle changes with continuous screening and adherence to clinical protocols. Further, chronic conditions such as anaemia continue to have a high prevalence. More than half the women of childbearing age in India are anaemic and 33% are undernourished. A malnourished mother is more likely to give birth to malnourished children. In addition, the burden of diabetes is high and increasing globally. The estimates in 2019 showed that 77 million individuals had diabetes in India, which is expected to rise to over 134 million by 2045.
Biosense has developed point-of-care devices that address extremes of anaemia, diabetes and more. Their flagship product – ToucHb – is a non-invasive anaemia screener, which means it detects anaemia without a needle poke by identifying the presence of pallor in conjunctiva. Another key product developed by Biosense is Biosense SYNC. This is a smart, all-in-one, compact sized glucometer designed for personal use. It is designed, developed and manufactured in India, and has affordable glucose test strips provided with it. Biosense uses connected diagnostics with geo-tagging. Data generated by these devices enable targeted use of scarce government resources. All its devices are portable,, and they use advanced algorithms to deliver care in under-resourced settings.
An estimated 89% of K-12 students in India do not have proficiency in reading literacy at or above the baseline level needed to participate effectively and productively in life. This has been established as one of the root causes that is adversely impacting the quality of education in India’s schools and the confidence levels of many children.
Stones2Milestones (S2M) is building an English Operating System for the world. Just as a computer needs an operating system, the world needs an OS for English as a second language. S2M’s flagship product is fREADom – an english learning ecosystem for children of ages 3-12. This ecosystem comprises an app, a live online group class, a live 1:1 class, a blog, and a YouTube channel. fREADom was launched in 2016 as a reading-as-a-life-skill product. S2M believes that one can achieve true freedom only when one can read.
Mathematics is called the queen of all subjects and also the mother of all sciences. But for millions of students Maths elicits fear. India has displayed its love for mathematics since the Vedic period. India’s contribution to the world of mathematics includes the discovery of zero, the decimal number system and negative numbers.
The National Achievement Survey 2017, conducted by the MHRD, to assess learning outcomes among children across India in different subjects shows class 3, 4 and class 5 students getting 64%, 53% and 42% respectively in the mathematics test. This shows a trend of declining interest in mathematics. More concerning is the fact that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) confirmed that only 21% students passing class 10 opt for mathematics at the senior secondary level.
Math Buddy aspires to change this. The company provides schools and students with comprehensive maths learning solutions for Grades 1-10. Its offering includes hands-on activities and online practice, and it also prepares students for Math Olympiads. The activities covered by Math Buddy are mapped to the approved curriculum. It sets up dedicated maths labs in schools, and its hands-on activities make the concepts simpler and enjoyable to imbibe. The concepts are then reinforced through continuous practice, with a dashboard providing granular data to students, parents, and teachers on progress made by students against each of the concepts.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a major threat to public health. Resistant infections can be difficult, and sometimes, impossible to treat. Misuse and overuse of antibiotics is the main cause of AMR. Lack of clean water and sanitation and inadequate infection prevention and control promotes the spread of microbes, some of which can be resistant to antimicrobial treatment. India carries one of the largest burdens of drug-resistant pathogens worldwide.
Diagnostic cultures take 3-5 days and during this time medication gets initiated without the culture results being known. This can accelerate AMR. Hence, it becomes critical to have diagnostic technologies that can undertake rapid pathogen identification, which will lead to quicker, targeted treatment and medication, ultimately eliminating AMR.
Omix has developed a next generation molecular biology-based diagnostics platform for rapid detection of infectious diseases. Its DNA-based proprietary tests allow detection of infection-causing bugs within a few hours. Omix provides specific information on AMR, enabling targeted treatment. More importantly, its proprietary ambient stable protocols make it possible to use it in under-resourced settings.
Today, 65% of youth in India are in the working age group. This demographic advantage can be harvested through skill development of the youth so that they add not only to their personal growth, but to the country’s economic growth as well.
Leap Skills was launched to provide project-based skill training and placement to motivated, undergraduate students from tier-3 cities and rural areas of northern India. Course content was developed in partnership with a few leading corporate partners, covering the IT, retail, hospitality and BFSI sectors. Leap Skills later added an employment-focused English communication program for young graduates, and partnered with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to provide upskilling and training for already-employed informal sector workers.
Of the 580,000ha land being used for tea cultivation, 65% is managed by large estates and only 35% by small tea growers. Average land holding of these small tea growers is less than 1ha. At the same time, they face considerable challenges, such as non-availability of finance, pest and disease attacks accelerated by climate change, poor agronomic practices that lead to low quality tea leaves, very limited access to high value markets and hence low share of the consumer rupee.
Iron Kettle is a unique business model that challenges the notion that small growers have inherent and unsurmountable diseconomies of scale. It starts with the premise that a small grower can deliver superior quality that the market will reward with higher prices.
Iron Kettle aims to establish a leading front-end tea brand, providing premium tea grown by small tea growers using sustainable tea practices. The market position is centred around small tea growers with end-to-end traceability and premium blends to cater to high value tea consumers.
