IIIT-Bangalore Partners With DHN To Find India's Next Big Healthcare Innovator

Organised by Digital Health News (DHN) in partnership with IIIT-Bangalore, 100X.VC and ScaleHealthTech, the event focused on leveraging technology to improve India's patient care and healthcare delivery. Ninth Dimension was the programme partner for this year's challenge, which drew participation from leading innovators and startups nationwide. The event was supported by startup Karnataka and K-tech.

Over 200 startups participated in this year’s challenge, with 14 shortlisted for the pitch stage. Five finalists were selected to present at the demo day, showcasing groundbreaking healthcare solutions that address critical challenges in India’s healthcare system.

The panel of judges represents a convergence of global and Indian expertise, bringing a wealth of experience from the forefront of healthcare and technology. These distinguished leaders critically evaluated and guided the next wave of transformative digital health innovations - Lakshmi Jaganathan, CEO, Innovation Centre, IIIT-B; EVP, COMET Foundation; Feby Abraham, EVP, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Memorial Hermann Health System, Houston, TX; Girish Kulkarni, Chairperson, CHIME India; Principal Consultant (Digital), NIMHANS; CISO, IIIT-Bangalore; Vishnu Saxena, Founder and CEO, DHN and ScaleHealthTech; Sanjay Mehta, Founder and Partner, 100X.VC; Ganesh Hiregoudar, Director, TSB OTE Engineering, Dell Technologies

Karnataka Health Minister Highlights Role of Innovation

Chief guest of the event, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao praised the innovation challenge initiative, saying, "I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Debabrata Das, director of IIIT-B, and Mr. Saxena from DHN, along with everyone participating in this hackathon. Your innovative ideas have the potential to make a real impact in the healthcare and medtech sectors. While not every idea will succeed, those that do can significantly improve health outcomes, services, and care delivery”.

He acknowledged the participants’ efforts, noting, “The goal is to scale these solutions, reduce costs, and help many people—especially in a country like India, where we face massive-scale challenges. Technology, such as AI and tele-ICUs, is already playing a vital role in bridging gaps in specialist care, and it’s exciting to see what new ideas will emerge from initiatives like this."

MedySeva Takes the Win

The top prize went to MedySeva, a startup offering telemedicine services focused on providing affordable healthcare access to underserved rural communities. Their platform connects patients in remote areas with qualified medical professionals, improving access to essential health services in regions lacking adequate medical infrastructure.

The runners-up were MicroHeal, developing an innovative, clinically validated protocol combining Drug + DTx to improve patient outcomes for chronic gut conditions and Marbles Health, a startup focused on mental health support through an AI-driven platform.

Two other notable finalists were Janitri, which provides maternal health monitoring solutions and Moss.ai, a company working on AI-driven clinical decision support tools for doctors by facilitating voice-to-text clinical note-taking with support in several Indian languages.

The event marked another milestone in India's healthcare journey, bringing together startups, healthcare leaders and innovators to collaborate on shaping the future of healthtech.