Startups harness technology to make dreams come true

abu dhabi - One has automated pathology results, another offers offline mobile payments

The two-day Startup India Summit was a revelation of sorts for Emiratis and expats alike. Some startups served abundant food for thought to investors and the audience.

Consider this: One startup has converted a simple microscope into a smart screen digital scanner, thereby digitalising pathology. It is also among the few startups which Google selected for its Launchpad Accelerator Programme this week.

An abysmal doctor-to-patient ratio and inaccurate medical test reports led the Bengaluru-based healthcare technology startup SigTuple to come up with Manthana - a solution for blood, urine, semen, chest X-ray and retinal scan tests. The startup, using technology and artificial intelligence, has developed a cost-effective machine to digitise pathology and make the lives of millions better with affordable healthcare screening solutions.

"We are trying to improve the efficiency of doctors," SigTuple co-founder Rohit Kumar said. "We have added electro-mechanical components on top of a normal microscope and converted it into a digital scanner. Now by pressing an auto-scan button, a blood sample placed on the device gets digitalised. It is then pushed onto a third platform, which has artificial intelligence models, and a digital test report is generated. This report is made available to any pathologist sitting anywhere through a cloud-based platform. This is how we enable telepathology or telemedicine, which is the next big thing in the medical industry."

SigTuple takes under five minutes to generate a report. "Every number is backed by comprehensive visual evidence. A pathologist doesn't need a microscope or blood slide to review and approve a report," Kumar said.

The startup has global ambitions. "We expect to go commercial by the end of the year. We are looking at market access to bring our solution here."

Then, there are FinTech startups that are driving the 'Digital India' dream.

ToneTag is a sound-based digital technology offering contactless and cashless payment on any device. A feature phone with or without Internet can be used to make contactless offline payments. There is no additional hardware requirement.

"ToneTag allows easy, frictionless and secure proximity payments using soundwaves [tone] or NFC [tag] and enables contactless experience on any device. With ToneTag you can buy grocery, coffee, vegetables and even pay for your taxi ride using a mobile phone," co-founder Vivek Kumar said.

Kumar personified the confidence of Indian startups. On who he considerd competition to ToneTag, he said: "Globally, no one."

- ashwani@khaleejtimes.com