Happiest Health gets Rs 500 cr tech boost from Soota | India Business News
Bengaluru: At 83, Ashok Soota remains upbeat about his healthcare venture, backing it with fresh funds to accelerate growth. He has earmarked Rs 500 crore from the proceeds of the sale of his stake in Happiest Minds to ITC Infotech to accelerate technology investments at Happiest Health over the next five years. About half of this amount will go towards its digital health business, Happiest Digital Health, the company’s fifth business unit, which will begin with a portfolio of 11 digital applications to be rolled out over the next 18 months.Soota said a substantial part of the Rs 1,330 crore proceeds from the sale of his 22.1% stake in Happiest Minds to ITC Infotech would be channelled into healthcare initiatives, including Happiest Health and a non-profit entity, SKAN Research Trust. He had previously committed Rs 200 crore towards SKAN, focused on ageing and neurological research.“Investment will come from the proceeds of the ITC Infotech transaction. Even after the merger, I will remain the single largest individual shareholder in the merged entity. My technology connection will continue. It’s a very important part of the business.”Digital health is a fast-growing segment of healthcare, expected to reach $1.8 trillion globally by 2033, growing at 25% annually, he said. The move is also aimed at overcoming the geographical limitations of physical healthcare providers.“Even companies that have been around for 30 years are present in only two, three or four cities. Some of the largest players derive 44% of their business from one city and another 40% from a second city, with only a small presence elsewhere. So nobody can reach out too far,” Soota said.He said the digital health business would draw on the medical expertise developed within Happiest Health, with doctors guiding the design and clinical content of individual applications. Happiest Minds is developing the technology, including small language models (SLMs), while medical inputs will come from specialists.The company is placing particular emphasis on diabetes management through DiaBeater, a doctor-led, AI-assisted application that uses glucose-monitoring technology. India has more than 100 million people living with diabetes, making continuous care a significant opportunity, Soota said. Dr Kashinath, who heads the endocrinology practice at Happiest Health and has 28 years of experience, including at the UK’s NHS, is guiding the medical framework for the application.Other planned offerings include Pediatric Expert and Cardio Edge. The company is also launching ColonE, a gut microbiome test that uses next-generation sequencing to analyse microbial DNA from a stool sample. The process generates about 5GB of data, which is used to prepare a report that nutritionists draw on to guide dietary and lifestyle changes. ColonE is a wellness offering, not a diagnostic test.SKAN Research Trust has conducted more than 1,000 gut microbiome tests and built a substantial data repository, Soota said. He identified gut microbiome research and bioinformatics as two important areas of work at SKAN, adding that it would remain a non-commercial entity, although monetisation avenues could be explored later.Happiest Health has identified 15-20 additional specialities for potential digital applications, though not all may lend themselves to digital delivery. The company will assess the market size and consumers’ willingness to pay in each segment before firming up revenue projections.Soota said the company expects to prepare internal financial plans by March and may share tentative business projections by June. It also plans to present its broader healthcare services business once six or seven facilities are ready, potentially by mid-2027.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com