To encourage innovation in the health sector in India, ANVKA Foundation, the CSR arm of Aakash Healthcare, has established the Azure Innovation Lab, a MedTech Accelerator programme with support of its healthcare partner Aakash Healthcare in New Delhi. This is the first med-tech incubator and accelerator in North India inside the hospital setting. The goal is to encourage start-ups and entrepreneurs in healthcare technologies.
Azure Innovation Labs is an initiative supported by Innoscale Global Foundation, which serves as the execution partner, and Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital, which is the healthcare partner. It is a healthcare and technology platform that aims to promote innovation in the sector.
Speaking at the launch, Dr. Aashish Chaudhry, Managing Director, Aakash Healthcare and founder ANVKA Foundation said, “We plan to leverage this programme to help us build such an environment where innovations in the healthcare sector are validated and implemented. Our aim is to give the right environment for new ideas to prosper and take shape, and those in the prototype stage to get accelerated.”
Mr. Prateek Deshmukh from Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog, and Chief Guest at the launch said, “Our focus is on giving a complete environment for entrepreneurship or ideas to flourish — from ideation to execution. This sector-specific programme is certainly going to bridge the gap between the industry requirements, validation, and clinical research and provide a complete ecosystem for new innovations.”
Dr. Shishir, the trustee of Innoscale Global Foundation, said, “Our mission is to build ecosystems for the start-ups. This initiative will assist health technology start-ups in scaling up their innovations from the ideation to the execution stage.”
Azure Innovation Labs will offer assistance to start-ups to scale their innovations, strengthening India’s healthcare innovation ecosystem. Mr Deepak singhal, CEO ANVKA foundation said, “The launch marks an important step towards building a more collaborative, innovation-driven healthcare system in the country.”
The event also saw participation from over 20 start-ups, of which six presented their pitches.
