The medical equipment industry in India is still in the
developing stage. According to the information, around 80% of the clinical gear
utilized in India is imported. The two women- Shanti Mathur & Sakshi
Khandelwal who have been working as consultants in health analytics since 2014.
- The
idea of startup came across their mind when they noticed a two-year-old
hospital shutting down and the owners of the hospital were trying to sell the equipment’s which were almost new & great to use. They had a couple of good offers but in the end, the instruments were sold less than
1/3rd of the cost.
- However,
hospitals in small towns want to purchase used equipment as they have
budgetary constraints and the unavailability of instruments would stay
unattended for a long duration of time.
- They too
came up with the idea, “What if selling and buying hospitals could easily find each other in a large network? Both would get a more profitable deal.
What if the same network could help find a service provider when the
machine is down?” Such questions kept striking in Shanthi’s mind as she needed to plan something to solve the issues that the hospitals are facing.
- To
build the network Sakshi and Shanthi started helping several small
hospitals and make arrangements for the equipment. Sakshi who had
completed Bachelor’s in Dental Surgery (BDS) and a Master’s in Health
Administration, came up with the startup PrimedeQ which is now India’s
first e-marketplace for buying, selling & renting Medical Equipment,
connecting Healthcare Providers, Medical Equipments Sellers & Service
Providers all on one integrated platform which is based in Bengaluru.
- “The
target is to cover small and medium hospitals owned by doctors which have
10-100 beds”, Shanthi claimed. With the team of 6 members, she hopes that startup
would create a great impact and to make the presence in the market she
tried to connect people with digital marketing activities, WhatsApp,
multiple mail campaigns, on-field calls, etc.
- Recently,
for a pitch session, the two have been awarded by Women Entrepreneurs for
Transformation (WEFT) on International Women’s Day. To expand its
activities to six different cities, PrimedeQ is presently searching for
seed funding.
- Currently,
India is the fourth largest market for medical devices with an estimated
value of $11 billion and it has the potential to reach $50 billion by
2025, as suggested by National Investment Promotion and Facilitation
Agency Invest India. “However, in the challenging space of e-commerce,
medical equipment was a tough market, it was difficult to gain the trust
& confidence of the customers”, replied Shanthi.
- “At the initial stage, vendors were doubtful about the model but the hospital clients reacted positively which took time, but at the end promises which were made helped us through it”, She also added that, “the medical equipment industry is another male-dominant space which could be the purpose behind the doubt.” According to her, the consumer behavior has been changing faster as she strongly believed and moved forward without thinking about the outcome.
In the journey of entrepreneurs, the one does not fail they keep
on learning several things. It was an opportunity which came in front of these
two women and they utilized it by fulfilling the need of the consumer in the
medical equipment industry. As we always say “Entrepreneurs do not lose out on opportunities”.
Thank You,
Regards,
Karan Demblani,
E-Cell,
IBS Mumbai
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