High newborn and mother death rates in India continue to be a major concern despite medical breakthroughs. In India, the infant mortality rate (IMR) was 30 per 1,000 live births as of 2019. Maternal mortality, low-birthweight infants, and a lack of institutional births are some of the additional issues the nation is facing.
To address these issues, the government put up a number of programmes and frameworks, including the Janani Suraksha Yojana in 2005 and the Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) Framework in 2013. The growth of women and children in India is, however, hampered by a lack of access to primary healthcare facilities and other problems.
The most recent startup on Shark Tank India S2, Janitri, intends to address this issue with “medical-grade foetal and maternal monitoring solutions” using wearables, as well as with reasonably priced AI-enabled hardware and software.
A software, a wearable, and a patch
Arun Agarwal founded the Bengaluru-based startup Janitri, which began conducting business in March 2021. It provides the Keyar Patch, Daksh, and Navam wearable products. The Navam wearable, which aids in foetal monitoring and may be worn on the wrist, is still a prototype.
The Keyar Patch, which is made of silicone and plastic, can be placed to a pregnant woman’s tummy to track the foetal heart rate, mother heart rate, labour contractions, and foetal movements. It is offered for $29,000.
Keyar Patch connects to Daksh, a mobile app that may be used with any Android-powered smartphone or tablet. By continuously delivering pertinent information to the doctors, it assists in monitoring moms during their prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum phases of labour. For a yearly subscription fee of 10,000 it also generates critical warnings, notifies the personnel, and is available.
Doctors may now remotely evaluate foetal movements to benefit both the mother and the unborn kid thanks to Keyar Patch and Daksh. According to Aggarwal, 80% of pregnant women and/or newborns who die from problems can be saved with timely monitoring during the final trimester and labour.
A foetal monitor, also known as a cardiotocography machine, is typically used in hospitals. Doctors study the thermal print graphs it creates, but it isn’t digital. Every 30 minutes, the nurse must adjust the placement of the probes on the mother’s tummy. According to Agarwal, these machines cost at least one lakh rupees each.
Change things up from the ground up
Agarwal, who is originally from Alwar, Rajasthan, attended the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) for his undergraduate studies before going on to earn a master’s degree in biomedical engineering there. His goal to alter the Indian healthcare system led him to decide to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering.
“I had a dream to use technology to address the fundamental issues in healthcare. One of my grandmother’s six siblings, I learned from my grandmother’s tale, passed away just a year after birth. the time I began my B.Tech I concluded that this was a major issue with a lack of technology in this area, which Agarwal shared.
Prior to founding Janitri, he spent two years working as a patent analyst in the healthcare sector to secure his financial future. He also attended Healthcare Hackathons, visited hospitals, and observed live deliveries to gather further industry knowledge. He worked on R&D, clinical trials, and legal compliance at Janitri for five years.
Grants from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Karnataka were given to the company during this time.
Additionally, an angel investor contributed 2.35 crore in a seed round in February 2020, valued at 15 crore. In April 2021, it obtained an additional 1.15 crore via convertible notes from the same investor. According to Agarwal, Janitri has so far raised $7 crore through a balanced combination of grants and stock.
Four of the startup’s twelve patent applications have already been approved. The business generated $1.03 crore in sales in its first year of business.
Numerous offers, however there are restrictions
The product impressed all of the sharks, but Namita Thapar, executive director at Emcure Pharmaceuticals, was the first to make an offer: 75 lakh for 5% equity and 25 lakh in debt for the product in exchange for the sum.
She did match the startup’s previous valuation, but the founder pointed out that it was an earlier, pre-money valuation. The valuation was then raised to 30 crore by Thapar, who then offered 60 lakh for 2% stock and 40 lakh for debt.
“In this country, we must rely on technology if we are to provide effective healthcare. We can work magic the day pharma and tech collaborate, said Thapar.
Peyush Bansal and Amit Jain, co-founders of Lenskart and CarDekho, together offered 1 crore for 2.5% of the company, valuing it at 40 crore. The offer was conditional on Janitri generating sales of 20 crore in the next year; else, the sharks’ equity would increase to 5%.
This offer was matched, and Thapar added that Janitri could easily reach sales of 50 crore with her assistance. Aggarwal ultimately decided to accept Thapar’s final offer of 1 crore for 2.5% equity, but only under the condition that Thapar would receive an extra 2.5% equity if the business did not generate 20 crore in revenue the next fiscal year.
