From Savings to Wellness: How HealthTech Innovations are Transforming Lives
Vishal Krishna
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A host of data-led startups are using data for people to live better and also save up for a better life. Find out if these two trends work.?
Trends mean that there is a change in the horizon. But not all trends see the light of day. Blockchain's impact on banking, for example, is still a trend.?
Let's explore trends in two aspects, healthcare and savings.?
We at The UpStreamLife had the pleasure of meeting some of these companies which are making habits change and hoping that their solutions become the future.?Here's how they do it.
Diet plans and fitness plans have been around for a decade in India. They fundamentally don't change a person. Just remember you may look fit but may not fit inside.?
There are startups, like Beyond, that are using at least 32 biomarkers to tell a person about their real health. There are more than 62 data points to cover your metabolism, sleep, cognition, liver, bone and muscle including electrolytes and fluids.
This data enables a person to look at the type of supplements they need to keep in shape from the body chemistry perspective and then adhere to any fitness or diet plans.?
If these types of services become mainstream then you will see the fabric of delivering healthcare change from a reactive and fear-based set-up to personalized & proactive approaches.?
Think about it like this. A person has been diagnosed with skin problems and he is treated with steroids for fungus or bacteria, but, it could just be an immunity-related problem and nothing more. It could be treated with food that can boost immunity or with some supplements.?
There are at least two more startups, one in Hyderabad and the other of course is Ultrahuman working on similar data-led healthcare.
According to research from the CB Insights report titled 11 Trends to Watch Closely in 2023, Companies are coming at the longevity challenge from numerous different directions, including:
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According to the report, more investors are taking note as well: dedicated VC funds like Apollo Health Ventures and Life Extension Ventures have recently raised massive funds to pour into longevity companies. Saudi Arabia said in 2022 that it would spend $1B a year on anti-ageing research.
One startup that has drawn attention is Altos Labs. The company, which is backed by Jeff Bezos and counts the Nobel Prize-winning co-inventor of the gene-editing tool CRISPR Jennifer Doudna as a director, closed a mammoth $3B funding deal in early 2022. Its stated aim is to “reverse disease” through what it calls “cellular rejuvenation programming” — in effect, hacking cellular processes to interrupt mechanisms associated with ageing and tricking cells?into re-entering a more youthful, healthier state.
Over the last decade, India's savings rate has been hovering between 25 to 35 per cent on average. It could lower over the next 15 years & as many young Indians will take debt. When this happens savings could drop to levels like Western economies such as the USA where the rate is around 18 per cent.?
Now at that point in time consumption can be high and the economy may boom, but debt can spiral the economy out of control and lead to a deep recession where the Indian currency will become valueless like that of Latin America. Let's get to what we know best and that's business.?
So promoting savings are companies like Multiple and Fello. These platforms make you invest in mutual funds, in the former's case, and the latter invests in gold and P2P lending. Fello also encourages gaming more on the platform to earn money and save. Multiple makes people save for their travel and high ticket purchases.?
Save Now, Buy Later is a movement that will pick up as more Indians realize that savings will be eroding because of inflation and the best way to beat inflation is to invest in securities that guarantee you a definite rate of return. Will this work, will this trend last?
According to global consulting firm Simon Kutcher, "SNBL is a payment method that includes a savings experience to help users set aside money to purchase a product or service later. SNBL users are often given attractive cashback, rewards, or discounts to save and buy from specific merchants.
AI engines, digital technologies, and new delivery channels have unlocked more ways for banks, fintech, and payment providers to transform the savings experience and make it easier for consumers to set aside money."?
This includes opening new bank accounts through retail channels where cash backs are recorded as savings and investments made for the long term are rewarded with either discounts on travel or additional money paid by brands for reinvesting a portion of their increase in savings on a purchase. Retailers often send the difference between the sale price and the discounted price directly to the bank account of the customer.?
The models are evolving fast.
In one case we want to live healthier and in the other, we want to save money for our families and ourselves. Hence the terms "live long and prosper".?
Management Consulting
1 年Vishal Krishna - Great read. Thanks for publishing. Health tech is getting its due, finally. From a corporate well-being perspective, there are 70M+ Indians working across large, medium and small businesses with a young (<35 yr) population. To your point, personalization, predictive intel and flexibility are key to providing better preventive healthcare options to keep their well-being on point. Not sure if you referred to ekincare as the other startup from Hyderabad :-) but to your point on savings - we've delivered over ?900 crores in productivity savings across our 500+ corporate customers through a host of OPD and well-being services on our integrated platform, along with a direct cost saving of ?50 crores to their bottom line. The brilliant part about all this is that the corporates are taking the first step towards their employees and dependents!