India start-ups brave the new world of wearables
Mint profiles start-ups looking at meeting the demand of wearable health devices
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The sector itself may be in its infancy, but Indians are showing keen interest in buying fitness monitors, smart watches and Internet-enabled eyeglasses. The wearable health devices market in India is pegged at 25 crore in 2014, and expected to touch one million units in 2015 in India compared with the US, which stands at $1 billion touching eight million units in 2014. Here is a list of some Indian start-ups looking at meeting these needs.
MAKE CALLS, CHANGE MUSIC WITH A RING
ENTREPRENEUR: Rohildev Nattukallinal
FIRM: RHLvision Technologies Pvt. Ltd
SET UP IN: 2012
The company has already received pre-orders and is looking to ship about 3,000 pieces starting May. The firm raised $200,000 through crowd-funding platform Indiegogo and is looking to raise $1 million next year.
A TAG THAT HELPS YOU TRACE LOST DEVICES
ENTREPRENEUR: Abhishek Latthe and Apurva Shetty
FIRM: SenseGiz Technologies Pvt. Ltd
SET UP IN: 2013
SMART SHOES VIBRATE TO GIVE DIRECTIONS
ENTREPRENEUR: Krispian Lawrence and Anirudh Sharma
FIRM: Ducere Technologies Pvt. Ltd
SET UP IN: 2010
However, the two entrepreneurs have decided to broaden the user-base for the product to enable people to get directions without looking at the screen of the phone. They plan to produce shoes in different styles and have created insoles fitted with the technology that can be placed inside regular shoes too. The pricing of the shoes has not been decided, but the insoles will cost $100-150. “We are looking at selling 100,000 units by the end of the current fiscal," Lawrence said. The company has filed for patents in India and the US.
MONITOR CALORIES AND SLEEP QUALITY
ENTREPRENEUR: Mohammed Hussain
FIRM: 2mpower Health Management Services Pvt. Ltd
SET UP IN: 2011
Former Infosys Ltd director T.V. Mohandas Pai has invested an undisclosed amount in GetActive.
A SOLAR BACKPACK TO CHARGE YOUR DEVICES
ENTREPRENEUR: Gandharv Bakshi and Lavina Bakshi
FIRM: Lumos Design Technology Pvt. Ltd
SET UP IN: 2012
YOUR FITNESS COACH ON YOUR WRIST
ENTREPRENEUR: Vishal Gondal
FIRM: GoQii Inc.
SET UP IN: 2014
GoQii​ has raised an undisclosed amount in angel funding from Neeraj Arora, business development head at instant messaging subscription service WhatsApp Inc., and Marco Argenti, vice-president (mobile) at Amazon Web Services Inc.
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