IIT Hyderabad Incubated Startup BeAble wins Rs. 25 Lakh Funding at India Innovation Growth Programme 2.0

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad-incubated Startup BeAble has won Rs. 25 lakh in funding at ‘Open Innovation Challenge 2019’ of India Innovation Growth Programme (IIGP) 2.0. The startup is a spinoff from the first batch of Fellowship in Healthcare Entrepreneurship at Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CfHE) – IIT Hyderabad, and works in the convergence of good design and technology to rehabilitate stroke patients.

The IIGP 2.0 Open Innovation Challenge 2019 received more than 1,600 applications from across India. BeAble Health was selected as one of the winners and awarded seed grant of Rs. 25 lakh to support its market penetration and scale-up operations.

The IIGP 2.0 is a tripartite initiative of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, American global defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin and Tata Trusts. Supporting the Government of India’s missions of ‘Start-up India’ and ‘Make in India,’ IIGP 2.0 works to enhance Indian innovation ecosystem by enabling innovators and entrepreneurs through the stages of ideation, innovation and acceleration to develop technology-based solutions for the future.

Congratulating BeAble on its success, Prof. Renu John, Co-Head of CfHE and Head, Department of Biomedical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad,said, “The Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CfHE), IIT Hyderabad, is focused entirely on boosting healthcare innovation in India. BeAble is one such example of an innovative startup coming out from the CfHE and we are sure they will make a positive impact on Indian healthcare sector. IIT Hyderabad looks forward to incubating many more successful startups through CfHE.”

‘ArmAble’ is BeAble Health’sfirst product and is aimed at solving the pressing need for an intensive, engaging and regular rehabilitation therapy for Upper Limb. It is aimed at conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Traumatic Brain Injury, Fracture and Frozen shoulder. The key features of ‘ArmAble’ device include:

             Affordable

             Engaging Game-Based Therapy

             Higher Repetitions and Intensity

             Data based quantified progress and recovery

             Full ROM for the Arms

             Tele-Rehabilitation

Highlighting the impact this Seed Grant will have on the startup, Mr. Habib Ali, a Biomedical Engineer and a CfHE Fellow who co-founded BeAble, said,“IIGP 2.0 has put BeAble Health in a position which allows us to aggressively pursue our targets. The seed granted will accelerate our pilot production.”

Further, speaking about the targets for BeAble, Mr. Habib Ali, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, BeAble Health, “We aim to deploy around 100 devices in the coming year, which involves both sales and rent. This will allow us to deliver more than 1 Lakh hours of therapy impacting the lives of many.”

As part of ‘Innovation Phase’ of the Open Innovation Challenge, IIGP 2.0, up to 50 innovators will get an opportunity to participate in a rigorous boot camp conducted by Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad. Select innovators may also get an opportunity to connect with industry players at Industrial Immersive Day.

Further, up to 10 innovators will undergo an incubation process and will receive seed funding. They will also get an opportunity to participate at an Immersion Workshop, and interact with global experts from the innovation, entrepreneurship and investment ecosystem besides access to network of sponsors, mentoring and hands-on support in building the enterprise from people who have done it before, and support for pilots/tests in India.

Another benefit for the startups is an opportunity to participate at ‘Demo Days’ organized under the IIGP 2.0 to showcase their technologies to and interact one-on-one with investors.

BeAble Health Pvt. Ltd is headed by Mr. Habib Ali and Mr. Sreehari. K.G, Co-founderand COO. ArmAble provides rehabilitation therapy for the upper limb through interactive and fun games, which motivate the users to perform therapy. It can be used by patients who have suffered a stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, frozen shoulder and/or fracture under the guidance of a physiotherapist. At present, the company is preparing to sell the devices to hospitals, physiotherapy clinics and rehabilitation centers as well as to individual customers on a rental basis.

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PHOTOCAPTION: Mr. Habib Ali (2nd Left), Founder and Chief Executive Officer, BeAble, and Mr.Sreehari K.G (Right), Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, BeAble Health, receiving the cheque from Mr. Mark Hewitt, VP International Strategy Lockheed Martin, (3rd from Left) Dr.Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary Department of Science and Technology (4th from Left) & Mr. Kamesh Gupta, Senior VP Tata Sons, (3rd from right), Dr.Vivek Lall, VP Lockheed Martin (2nd from Right) during the Awards Ceremony of IIGP 2.0 held at Taj Palace, Delhi on 17th July 2019

About IIT Hyderabad

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) is one of the six new Indian Institutes of Technology established by the Government of India in 2008. In a short span of less than 10 years, the institute built on an imposing 570-acre campus and has been ranked among the top ten institutes for four consecutive years in theNational Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. The Institute was also ranked #10 in the first edition of Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) introduced this year by MHRD to systematically rank all major higher educational institutions and universities in India on indicators related to ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development’ among students and faculties.

IIT Hyderabad has close to 210full-time faculty, 2,600 students of whom 20 per cent are women, nearly200 state-of-the-art laboratories and five research and entrepreneurship centers. The Institute has a strong research focus with more than Rs. 350 crore of sanctioned research funding while Ph.D. scholars account for about 30% of total student strength. IITH students and faculty are at the forefront of innovation with more than 1,500 research publications and patent disclosures, 300 sponsored/consultancy projects and 50 industry collaborations. IITH has MoUs with 50 universities in the U.S., Japan, Australia, Taiwan and Europe. IITH has been pioneering change in pedagogy with fractal academicprograms that atomizes course modules, encourageinterdisciplinary learning spanning innovative technology, fundamental science, liberal arts and creative arts like photography, theatre and painting.