The Indian startups which caught the eye of Bill Gates

Bill Gates

A bevy of Indian startups paraded before Bill Gates, the cofounder of Microsoft and the world’s richest man, during his visit to India last week. Gates, 64, who is also the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was keen to become acquainted with startups specialising in healthcare, sanitation, agricultural development, and financial services, areas of particular interest to him. Tech2 did a bit of digging and unearthed the companies chosen to meet Gates. Here are short summaries of who they are and what they do:

Samunnati

Samunnati Financial Intermediation and Services is a non-banking financial company that provides financial and non-financial solutions to farmers and others engaged in the agricultural sector. The company’s services include financial intermediation, market linkages, and advisory services aimed at smallholder farmers. Founded in 2014 by Anil Kumar SG, Samunnati raised $55 million in a Series D funding round led by Nuveen earlier in May this year.

CropIn

Cropin is a Bangalore-based agri-tech company founded in 2010 by Krishna Kumar, Kunal Prasad and Chittaranjan Jena. The company provides SaaS based solutions to the agri-businesses sector. Cropin has developed SmartFarm, an intelligent farm management platform that provides features like data-driven decision-making, and resource management tools to farmers and agri-businesses.

Niramai

Bengalore-based Niramai Health Analytix has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based software solution to detect early-stage breast cancer. The company uses its patented thermal image processing and machine learning algorithms to power its solution, in the form of a low cost, non-invasive, automated and portable cancer screening tool aimed at hospitals and diagnostic centers. The company, founded by Dr Geetha Manjunath and Nidhi Mathur, is being supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

1mg

1mg is a Gurugram-based online pharmacy service founded by Prashant Tandon, Gaurav Agarwal, and Vikas Chauhan. The company also provides diagnostics and consultation services via its platform. Earlier this year, 1mg raised $70 million in a Series D funding round led by Corisol Holdings.

Meddo

Meddo is a Gurugram-based healthcare platform providing physical and online health services including doctor visitation, health records management, and diagnostic testing services. Founded in 2018 by Saurabh Kochhar and Naveen Nishchal, the company’s network currently covers over 400 doctors and 200 clinics across Delhi. Earlier in September this year, Meddo raised $3 million in funding as a part of a pre-Series A round led by SRI Capital.

HealthAssure

HealthAssure is a Mumbai-based primary healthcare aggregator platform founded in 2011 by Varun Gera. According to the company, its current network includes over 4,000 primary care centres across 1,100 cities in India. Earlier in July this year, the company raised $2.5 million in a Series-A funding round led by Blume Ventures.

DocsApp

DocsApp is an online doctor consultation platform founded in 2015 by Satish Kannan and Enbasekar Dinadayalane. The company’s platform connects its users with over 5,000 specialist doctors for consultations over video, voice calls or via text-based chat. Earlier in May this year, DocsApp raised $1.6 million from InnoVen Capital.