According to UNICEF, even today in India, 113 mothers die per one lakh births, either during pregnancy, delivery, or post-delivery. While 30 out of 1,000 newborn babies die during or after delivery, according to data for 2019 available on pib.gov.in. So how can we reduce the numbers?
This is why Shark Tank India 2 contestant Arun Agarwal from Alwar, Rajasthan, the founder of Janitri, introduced a patented device for remote fetal-maternal monitoring. Janitri makes AI enabled devices and software that monitor the vitals of the mother and the unborn baby. This is to provide a trouble-free experience to expecting women and reduce death rates of newborns and mothers during pregnancy and post delivery.
What products does Janitri offer?
Janitri has three products - Keyar Patch, a wearable that monitors foetal and mothers heartbeat and labor contractions, Daksh a software and Navam which is a wearable used to monitor fetal movements. Navam, which is a watch, is still in a prototype stage and hasn't been launched. The patch is available in the market for Rs 29,000 while the annual subscription of the software is Rs 10,000.
The USP of the products is that the medical-grade fetal and maternal monitoring device is wearable and gives auto generated interpretation with no radiation and automated alerts. The device monitors vitals of the mother and unborn baby and continuously transfers the data to the doctors mobile app. This data helps the doctors make the right decision at the right time and at the same time reduce complications.
The company spent 5 years in research and development and was funded by organisations like BIRAC, GATES foundation, Government of Canada and Government of Karnataka.
Agarwal asked for Rs 1 Crore for 2.5 per cent equity.
Investments by the Sharks
The pitch led to fights among the sharks to be a part of the innovative healthcare technology. Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, said that her company has a huge presence in gynaecology and she is the queen of the industry. She extended a deal of Rs 60 lakh for 2 per cent equity and Rs 40 lakh in debt at a valuation of Rs 30 crores. Sharks Anupam Mittal, Founder and CEO of Shaadi.com and Aman Gupta co-founder and CMP of boAt appreciated his effort and the fact that he was willing to compete with global players who have very high costing, but backed out saying Namita is a better shark for the company.
While Peyush Bansal, founder and CEO of Lenskart.com, and Amit Jain, CEO and co-founder of CarDekho, make a joint offer of Rs 1 crore for 5 per cent equity.
Namita, appreciating the competitive investment, said she will match their offer on the condition that if the company doesn't achieve revenue of Rs 20 crore in the next financial year, the shark will get an additional equity of 2.5 per cent.
Agarwal finally accepted the second offer by Namita, he later said, "It's a great moment for us as this social cause needs a huge amount of attention and awareness, apart from just funding."
