Five start-ups that are changing the lives of rural India
India has become one of the fastest growing start-up hubs in the world in recent years. There are tens and thousands of start-ups in the country across various sectors, including technology, media, healthcare, and financial technology, business services among others. However, there are some start-ups working to bring about a change in the lives of rural India. Here's a list of 5 such start-ups.
GoCoop is an online social marketplace, connecting weavers, artisans, cooperatives, and community-based enterprises with buyers. The start-up based in Bengaluru was founded by Siva Devireddy in 2005. It helps handloom and handicraft cooperatives and artisans connect directly with buyers, allowing them to market their products online, reducing the cost, increasing efficiency, and transparency. The platform is beneficial especially for those in rural areas.
Maatritva is a Nasik-based start-up that provides a unique mobile health platform which empowers healthcare providers like Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANM), gynecologists, and medical officers and helps in screening, identifying and tracking of high-risk pregnant women. The start-up was founded by Pritish Agarwal, Abhishek Verma, and Garima Dosar in April 2017. The platform aims to prevent complications in pregnant women, enabling safe deliveries.
Chikitsak is a Bengaluru-based health tech start-up founded by Milind Naik in 2014. It focuses on screening non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, cancer, etc. through healthcare workers. It aims to provide rural population access to affordable primary healthcare, combining portable medical screening kit with technology. It leverages a tech solution with clinical decision support system bundled with certified medical devices.
Rozgar Dhaba is an innovative start-up founded by Vinod Pandey in 2018. It was started in Madhya Pradesh's Sehore district. Rozgar Dhabas are tea stalls that work as centers for exchanging or sharing information on job opportunities within rural communities. Jobseekers can display their information in the tea stalls; employers can also share their requirements. Rozgar Dhaba collects information and connects jobseekers and employers.
Bengaluru-based Intello Labs aims to revolutionize agriculture by leveraging Artificial Intelligence, deep learning, and IoT to help farmers scale their businesses. It is among the country's most awarded agritech start-ups. Its products use images for crop inspection, agricultural product grading, deriving insights/quality parameters, and recommendations.
