HITLAB & Unitus Seed Fund announce winners of 2018 HITLAB World Cup

New Delhi: After receiving over 180 applications from digital health innovators around the world, HITLAB and Unitus Seed Fund, through its StartHealth initiative, have announced that Medi360, a cloud-based telehealth solution, was the winner of the 2018 HITLAB World Cup competition, a part of the HITLAB Innovators Summit held on 10th February at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Medi360 integrates electronic medical records with diagnostic devices and prescription capabilities.

“It was a great experience participating in the HITLAB World Cup as one of the finalists and we are extremely thrilled to be recognized as the winner. This provides further fuel to our motivation in the journey of making a meaningful impact to healthcare in India,” said Kumar Amar Jamdhiar, CEO of Medi360.

Runners-up include MUrgency, a medical resources aggregator, Mother Diagnostics, a low-cost digital X-ray device, Mimyk Medical Simulations, an immersive medical simulation technology, and VOTIS Subdermal Imaging, a non-invasive and inexpensive technology to identify foot pathologies in diabetics. Winners will now be considered for up to USD $500,000 (INR 3.5 crore) in grants and equity funding by Unitus Seed Fund and its AmpHealth program to fund their continued work and expansion.

“Presenting at the HITLAB Innovators Summit is an unparalleled opportunity for innovators to showcase their work before an international audience of leaders in public health, medicine, science, technology, and design,” said Stan Kachnowski, HITLAB Chair. “We are excited to see how these digital startups will improve the healthcare system in India. The support that Unitus and HITLAB can provide these impactful organizations as they grow will prove invaluable as they bring innovative, transformational technologies to the people who need them.”

The HITLAB World Cup judges – representing senior leadership at Unitus, HITLAB, Boston Scientific, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) – reviewed applications from a wide range of innovative companies working in artificial intelligence, telehealth, home health, mobile applications, and biotech devices. Entries were judged on their impact, innovation, sustainability, and feasibility.

The Innovators Summit featured speakers from leading organizations including Johnson & Johnson, Stryker, IBM, PATH, Terumo, and more. The theme for this Summit – the fourth in India – was Enabling Inclusive Digital Health Innovation and Diffusion.

For more than 15 years, HITLAB has helped leading organizations ideate, create, evaluate, and diffuse technology-based solutions to pressing healthcare challenges. It has hosted the annual HITLAB World Cup Challenge since 2006. Past innovations have ranged from a tech-enabled dynamic scoliosis brace to a voice-activated blockchain ecosystem for diabetic patients and caregivers. Winners have since raised over $50 million in follow-on investment funding and launched commercially viable products that transform lives.