Diagnostics Startup Neodocs Bags Seed Funding Led by Omidyar Network

The latest infusion of funds will help the startup accelerate its plans to expand in international markets, including Europe, Australia, and the Americas, among others.

IIT-Bombay-backed healthtech startup Neodocs has raised $2 million (16.6 Cr) in a seed funding round led by Omidyar Network India.

Founded in the year 2020, by three IIT-Bombay alumni - Nikunj Malpani, Anurag Meena and Pratik Lodha, the healthtech startup aims to democratise healthcare in the country.

Neodocs initially disrupted the medical landscape with two revolutionary urine-based tests: The Kidney Care Kit and the UTI Care Kit. These tests eliminated patients’ dependency on traditional lab machines.

Further, the startup also developed smartphone-based at-home test kits that enable personalised approach and ongoing progress monitoring.

Neodocs Scaling Up Game

The latest infusion of funds will help the startup to scale up its existing kidney care and UTI care kit as well as accelerate its plans to expand in international markets, including Europe, Australia, the Middle East, the Philippines, and the Americas.

Neodocs is also developing 'instant' finger-prick blood tests that offer quick results accessible via a simple phone click—a remarkable leap in healthcare technology.

Nikunj Malpani, CEO & cofounder of Neodocs told DHN that the funds raised will help the team build R&D capabilities for the project.

Highlighting the pressing need for timely diagnosis, Malpani said, “By enabling in-clinic testing Neodocs is empowering doctors to screen and diagnose patients instantly, and start treatment immediately,” he said.

Echoing Malpani's sentiments, Aditya Misra, director, Omidyar Network India, emphasised the necessity of transitioning from reactive to preventive healthcare practices. Real-time diagnostics, he noted, stand as a cornerstone in this transition.

“We believe Neodocs’ pioneering solution can significantly expand access across income segments and geographies, enrich patient health records, and reduce cost of care to improve health outcomes,” he added.

Key Offerings from Neodocs

Neodocs platform features custom-designed test cards embedded with highly specific biochemistries, triggering visual changes such as colour or intensity alterations upon reaction completion.

With the use of a smartphone application, users can capture images of the test cards. According to the startup, its sophisticated algorithms then compensate for environmental factors like light and camera variations and provide semi-quantitative or quantitative results based on the specific test conducted.

The Kidney Risk Test, a component of Neodocs' offerings, assesses urine albumin creatinine ratio (UACR) alongside 14 other vital parameters, crucial for early detection of chronic kidney disease. In 90% of the cases, chronic kidney diseases often go undiagnosed making early detection extremely significant.

Meanwhile, the UTI Care Kit, designed to swiftly identify urinary tract infections, addresses a pressing global concern affecting 60% of women worldwide.

Shedding light on the project in the pipeline, CEO Malpani said, “The instant finger-prick blood test will be launched to test Haemoglobin levels- crucial in the detection of Anaemia, Ferritin and TSH-closely linked to hair fall, Malaria, HIV, Sickle cell anaemia, etc. So, we are coming up with a bouquet of blood tests.”

Available for online purchase, the test cards are conveniently delivered via postal services, enabling users to perform simple sampling steps and obtain results anytime, anywhere.

Additionally, Neodocs’ products have over 200,000 test cards sold and adopted by more than 4,000 doctors nationwide.

Established during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthtech startup’s partnership goes beyond clinical settings, boasting collaborations with leading pharmaceutical giants such as Cipla, Eris, Sun Pharma, AstraZeneca, Bayer, and RPG Life Sciences.

These partnerships, coupled with governmental initiatives in Maharashtra (Nashik) and Rajasthan (Ladnu), aim to digitise testing services in remote areas, amplifying Neodocs' footprint across over 250 primary healthcare centres and sub-centers.