Inito—a company which builds an all-in-one medical device to enable dozens of diagnostic tests at home, has seen a spike in demand since the Covid-19 outbreak; its cofounder talks about how it equipped itself to increase supply and the challenge of getting expert talent in India
Aayush Rai, co-founder, Inito
The covid-19 pandemic has pushed people to be more health conscious, especially when it comes to lifestyle diseases that require constant monitoring. Tapping into this segment, is Bengaluru-based medical device startup Inito. Founded in 2015, by IIT Roorkee alumnus, Aayush Rai and IIT Madras alum, Varun AV, the duo have built a technology that allows a single device to do dozens of diagnostic tests at home, a product which may see many takers as Covid-19 continues to rage and people prefer to stay at home. Currently, the startup that has received $4 million in funding and has its fertility home test in the market.
The Y Combinator-backed startup's co-founder Rai, talks to Forbes India about the dire need for monitoring one's health and the challenges of catering to a rise in demand during the pandemic. Edited excerpts:
To what extent has demand for health monitoring devices increased due to the pandemic?
Lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cholesterol, thyroid or fertility issues need constant monitoring and you are on some form of medication throughout your life. But our healthcare system is not designed to have continuous interaction with the patient. You visit a doctor for a consultation and then get need to get tests done over and over again at periodic intervals. The whole idea is to have a single device that can let you do multiple diagnostic tests, sitting at home.
The pandemic is not just about testing for Covid-19, it is also ensuring that people who have other lifestyle diseases don't need to go to the lab for tests and can stay safely at home. The number of tests taken per user has gone up by about 30 percent due to the pandemic. Although supply chain has been an issue for us and things are getting streamlined now, demand is through the roof.