Studies show that most common nutritional deficiencies that Indian adults grapple with are due to inadequate consumption of proteins, Vitamin D, iron, Vitamin B12 and folate.
Several other studies have also shown that the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency is anywhere between 55 to 90 percent in the country, while for Vitamin B12, some studies have shown deficiency as high as 70-100 percent. Meanwhile, other studies carried out in New Delhi and Maharashtra among preschool children and adolescents have indicated deficiency of around 40 to 60 percent.
These deficiencies can trigger different kinds of health concerns, including fatigue, anaemia, bone loss, depression etc.
Unfortunately, the majority of these deficiencies and conditions go undiagnosed and hence can’t be prevented – largely due to access, ease and cost effectiveness of testing. Pathology labs can solve this, however, they are concentrated in metro areas and for rural patients it takes up to three days for results to come back. Also, the cost isn’t economical and there is a risk of sample contamination.
Instant, affordable lab results – anytime anywhere
NeoDocs, however, is looking to close the testing gap in India with instant point of care testing via smartphones for various metabolic and infectious diseases.
The platform essentially transforms users’ smartphones into a mini lab – one can simply take the test, click a picture, and instantly receive the results on their phone.
“We want to provide our users with an instant lab test which they can take anytime and anywhere with a smartphone and get the results as well within 30 seconds,” says Anurag Meena, Co-founder and COO, NeoDocs which currently offers results for 15 parameters across 10 panels including kidney health, liver health, hydration, ketones, UTI, pH and more.
Once the test is done, the app gives users easy-to-understand digital results and actionable insights and helps them take the next steps with personalised recommendations. With regular testing users can monitor trends to notice any improvement or deterioration in their health and take the required next steps as recommended by the app.
“Everyone is unique based on their biomarkers, and we personalise the next steps for each user based on their current lifestyle, results and age,” says Pratik Lodha, Co-founder and CTO, NeoDocs.
What’s next for NeoDocs?
Though the startup operates within the highly competitive healthcare industry, they are confident that they will reach their desired scale as they believe they currently have any competition for instant testing in India.
“There are a few companies globally in the same market. However, they are only focused on urine tests, while we are developing instant blood tests as well. Also, when compared with them, we track more parameters and we are the only available device in the SEA market,” says Nikunj Malpani, Co-founder and CEO, NeoDocs.
The startup is also working on instant blood tests for vitamins and allergies. “Microfluidics really intrigues us with immense potential to perform multiple tests with low volume of blood,” says Anurag talking about future growth plans.
“We are currently exploring B2B partnerships with various hospitals, doctors, government agencies, and pharma and insurtech companies, among others,” says Nikunj, explaining that the startup plans to reach and impact life of 10 crore people in the next few years, in addition to expanding globally to USA and Africa.
“In terms of tests we would like to launch a series of qualitative tests like malaria,
dengue, HIV, syphilis, drug abuse, chlamydia, H. Pylori, HCG (pregnancy), LH
(ovulation), Hep B, Typhoid, Troponin – I, and FSH,” he adds.
On winning the Dell Startup Challenge Season 6
Besides winning the Dell Startup Challenge where it beat more than 1,600 entries to emerge as the grand prize winner of Rs 15 lakh worth of Dell technology and other perks, NeoDocs has accumulated a string of other wins including the Maharashtra State innovation Society Startup Week Challenge, the India-Sweden Innovation Challenge, and the Wharton India Startup Challenge, in addition to being listed as one of YourStory’s Tech30 for the year 2022.
We felt honoured and motivated to do better and work harder after winning the Dell Startup Challenge Season 6. We are excited to connect with various key stakeholders at Dell and look forward to learning from them, says Anurag.
Dell Technologies offers startups like NeoDocs, which leverage technology to grow, scale and remain competitive, an array of flexible end-to-end hardware and software support to help it power its growth ambitions.
Companies like NeoDocs can maximise their productivity by focusing on their business strategy and outcomes as Dell Technologies caters to their need-based technology solutions.
