Duvvuru Varshitha and Vimal Kumar, founders of VivaLyf Innovations, an incubated startup at the University of Hyderabad, see an opportunity in the current healthcare industry’s unprecedented rate of change. Her struggle as a diabetic since infancy, combined with his desire to better people’s lives through technology, has resulted in the creation of a low-cost and easy-to-use Non-Invasive Glucometer. In the coming years, they aim to reshape the medical device market by developing a variety of self care diagnostic solutions to solve the most imminent healthcare concerns in cardiology, ophthalmology, pulmonary medicine, and cancer.
Meanwhile, they are on the verge of releasing India’s first ideal non-invasive glucometer, EzLyf. This tiny glucometer connects to one’s smartphone and provides actionable diagnostic information. As stated by the founders, “In 2021, diabetes killed the lives of 6.7 million people, with 4 out of 5 diabetics living in low-income countries. Traditional blood sugar monitoring methods are both expensive and inconvenient. Currently there is no pleasant way to regulate blood sugar levels at a lower cost and we want to change that by empowering people with diabetes to be more self-sufficient in measuring their best lives.” In this regard, EzLyf stands out as a more configurable, inexpensive, and painless plug-and-play glucose monitoring system.
All of this attracted the attention of SHARK TANK INDIA-2021, who invited them to present their business story, which had enthralled the sharks resulting VivaLyf Innovations in winning a deal from Mr Peyush Bansal, Founder of LensKart, who named EzLyf as his favourite product, and Mr Anupam Pittal, Founder and CEO of People’s Group.
When asked what led the founders to start this project Varshitha agonizes, “Can you imagine getting pricked every day since you were born, wasting 5-6 drops of blood and having to take injections four times a day? It is not only my story, but the story of 537 million people worldwide who suffer from diabetes.” Her personal distress as a type 1 diabetic drove her to leave IIT to seek a career in biotechnology, swearing on to find a painless solution. That’s when she met Vimal, an electronics engineer who shares his ambition to improve people’s lives. As he says, “I’ve always wanted to work on advanced health-tech, to provide better treatment to our country’s most vulnerable population. This can be addressed in a variety of ways, including technology to check for early diagnosis, sending notifications to our phones, and optimal healthcare analytics.” His passion and technical abilities as well as her personal experiences were the magic sauce that allowed VivaLyf Innovations to happen.
VivaLyf, like any other innovation, needs the right finance to flourish where investors must be prepared to spend in true R&D. However, by presenting their idea to Mr Bhanu Prakash Varla, ‘the tornado of business management’ called by his peers, they have figured out a proper strategy. Guiding them as a mentor he catalyzes connecting with investors in bringing their vision to the limelight. They are now optimistic about the numerous chances and assistance they’re getting to build a Healthcare Ecosystem.
The founders proclaim, “We’re busy disrupting the healthcare industry, designing high-quality products that are portable and tailored to Indian needs, especially in remote areas.” They were the second runner-up in the EMPOWER-2021, Accelerating Women Entrepreneurship competition and won the TiE Women Global Pitch-2021 in Hyderabad. They also represented Hyderabad as one of 42 finalists at the TiE Global Pitch Competition in Dubai. They also won the NITTE healthcare innovation hackathon and were named in AIM-NITI Aayog’s top nine prospective healthcare startups for 2021.
