US pharmaceutical multinational
Pfizer
has selected 14 Indian health-tech startups for a grant of ₹60 lakh each and 18 months of incubation support.
The startups – winners of Pfizer’s ‘INDovation Program 2025 edition’ – have developed robust solutions in the fields of immunisation, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), brain health, oncology and maternal and child health, the company said.
The programme offers tailored support to startups through two parallel tracks. While incubation track provides support for clinical validation, regulatory approvals, and go-to-market strategies for startups with validation-ready products, deployment track offers deployment support for startups with regulator-approved products in Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, enabling real-world clinical efficacy data collection and scalable public health impact evaluation.
The programme is backed by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Department of Pharmaceuticals, NITI Aayog and MSINS, the initiative is implemented by Social Alpha and supported by the Foundation of Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi.
The eight start-ups selected under the incubation track are Rheoheme (a company that has developed a reagent free, AI enabled, blood diagnostic platform designed for low cost deployment in primary settings), Medblue Innovations (which developed a hand held, non invasive bilirubinometer to enable painless blood free screening for neonatal jaundice), Astraeus Innovus (developed a rapid, saliva based field deployable screening test to detect oral cancer), Skyfire Applied Intelligence (developed AI powered mobile application for oral cancer screening using images captured on smart phone), Heethox-K (developed a low-cost test card that enables rapid point of care screening of diseases like sickle cell anemina), RNT Health Insights (developed AI assisted diagnostics software that provides real time guidance during endoscopic procedures), Vidcare Innovations (developed a credit card size microfluidic immunoassay for TSH results from a single drop of blood) and BioLockey (developed an affordable, rapid and highly sensitive IVD to detect multiple high riskHPV strains).
The six advanced startups with products ready for deployment placed under the second track are AI Health Highway (developed AI enabled smart stethoscope that converts heart and lung sounds into visual insights), Blackfrog Technologies (developed a portable, battery powered, medical grade, refrigeration device for last mile vaccine transport), Doto Health (developed an integrated digital care continnum that connects last mile antenatal monitoring with real time labour room surveillance for timely maternal care decisions), Neodocs (developed a smartphone based diagnostic platform for rapid urine and blood tests for CKD biomarkers), Pragmatech (developed at home HPV sample collection solution for cervical cancer screening) and Sunfox (developed a pocket sized 12-lead ECG device that works with any smartphone and operates without a technician and internet connectivity).
According to Pfizer, the 14 winners were selected based on stringent criteria including potential public health impact, technological advancement, uniqueness of value proposition, competitive differentiation, scalability, and a clear development road map.
The programme aligns with the Central government’s efforts under the Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma MedTech Sector (PRIP) Scheme and the broader Make in India mission.
The INDovation programme has so far supported over 40 Indian healthtech startups for screening and diagnosis innovations to enable market readiness.
