Indian startups lack vision and will to tackle big problems: Rahul Alex Panicker

Rahul Alex Panicker, 35, is co-founder and president of Embrace Innovations, a Bengaluru-based healthcare tech startup that has done pathbreaking work in lowcost medical innovations.

These include an awardwinning infant warmer that's been adopted by underserved communities in 15 countries and has helped save more than 2 lakh babies worldwide.
How important is developing low-cost technologies for nations that struggle with infrastructure issues, such as lack of dependable power supply?

I have seen donated incubators being used as file cabinets. They make good file cabinets because they're sort of airtight and keep insects out, and have wheels to be pushed around. And why is this happening? Because the staff don't have the training to attach the probes right and set the right levels and are scared to use it. They need continuous electricity and simple UPSes sometimes won't do, and once they break down, there are no service networks available in small towns. And this came absolutely free.Just illustrates that low-cost doesn't always solve the problem. It is crucial for us to innovate products and services around the conditions we have in our country , like un reliable and widely fluctuating power, unreliable service networks, limited access to clean water etc. These rarely need any fundamental technology breakthroughs. All of these require product and business innovation. For example, in the West, babies are typically born in multi-specialty hospitals where ob-gyns and neonatologists are available. In our country , when born in facilities, babies are delivered in maternity clinics or PHCsCHCs, where an ob-gyn handles the delivery . But if the baby needs special care, it has to be referred to a facility where there is a pediatrician (we have a shortage of neonatologists). So, transport is a significant use-case for us, and we had to make our product portable.

Recently, NR Narayana Murthy said there had been no major invention in India in the past 60 years, and that our elite educational institutes had failed in this respect. Do you agree?

Data supports the statement he made. He was referring to a list of 150 fundamental technological innovations from MIT alone that have had wide-ranging impact. These include email (the first email was sent at MIT), the transistor, the human genome project, radar, e-ink (which drives Kindle's display), colour movies, spreadsheets (any office worker who hasn't used Excel?), PET scans. I have trouble finding a comparable example of something that has come out of India. Norman E Borlaug's invention drove the Green Revolution that Dr M S Swaminathan championed and furthered in India.That's one example I can think of that comes close. But while Dr Swaminathan's work, which made the Green Revolution real, took place in India, the first scientific breakthroughs were not done here.

Most innovations I see in the startup world or industrial research labs in India are product innovations, incremental innovations, or business-model innovations.I know of few examples of fundamental technological innovations. But I am hopeful it will happen as the tech-driven the tech-driven economy around us develops.

There's a lot of excitement about startups in India, but aren't they somewhat `me too' -ie, they follow existing successful models instead of doing anything pathbreaking?

I do think that there is a lack of big visionary thinking and the willingness to take on large problems. It will take a while longer before we have a Tesla or Google or Genentech happen here. Right now, it's a bit of a land grab going on. It feels reminiscent of the 2000 dotcom boom in Silicon Valley , but in a mobile and app-driven world. Easy money , high valuations, lots of consumer businesses, all chasing users with the hope of becoming viable some day . Some will succeed. Many won't. The startup ecosystem here feels like it is in its adolescence. Not the infancy we had seven years ago, when people didn't want to work for startups, or the investor landscape was forming. Not the stage where we have truly visionary companies taking on big problems. But we'll get there.What can we do to take innovation and entre

What can we do to take innovation and entrepreneurship to the next level in India?

A few things I can think of -create universities as opposed to engineering, medical, business, design, and law colleges. Innovation happens when people of different backgrounds think together, challenge each other, and help each other take innovations out. Our educational institutions are siloed.Also, continue with the current encouragement of startups. As a generation of entrepreneurs gain experience, they will take on new challenges, become role models and mentors, start collaborating and pushing technology pioneers, and even start funding them. Young scientists, engineers, doc tors, designers, business leaders have to grow more guts and spine.

To stomach risk, to take on big challenges, to maintain intellec tual integrity, and to stand up and face creative disappointment.

What's next for Embrace?

We are continuing to scale the reach of warmers, and developing a new product for the developing world. This involves sensors, Inter net of Things, big data, and Artificial Intelligence to revolutionize the monitoring and diagnostics of babies.