EMeRG is a global med-tech platform helping medical device companies reach 51-plus countries globally. We are a SaaS-based platform that enables healthcare facilities around the world to access relevant innovations in medical devices. Our platform connects health-tech companies to their end customers while supporting them throughout the product life cycle. We are building the world’s largest med-tech ecosystem here in Canada, where medical device companies, healthcare facilities, academia, and research facilities can perform meaningful liaisons.
Tell us about yourself?
I am an accidental entrepreneur. My academic background involves a Masters in Biomedical Engineering, with the majority of my higher education being funded through scholarships. At an early stage in my Consulting career, where I was gaining sectoral expertise in medical devices, I had observed the inequity in healthcare access, especially in the developing world. I was determined to use my understanding of medical technologies and associated markets to help bridge this gap in a commercially viable manner.
The dream took the shape of EMeRG, which started as a med-tech consulting firm in 2014. Over the years, as we began travelling to far-off places, including Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, we got a first-hand experience of the need-gaps prevalent in the healthcare facilities in these regions. With more travel came more profound connections across the healthcare value chain as well as access to intricate data about infrastructure in these hospitals and their unique challenges. Consecutively in 2020, we pivoted to create the world’s only med-tech platform that could connect medical device companies to their end-customers in 51-plus countries.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
With the power of hindsight now (which is convenient), I would have prepared better for the pandemic. A faster technology development phase for our platform would have positively impacted the access to medical devices during the most critical hours our generations have witnessed. Our platform could have played an active role in ensuring that technologies such as ventilators/respirators were made accessible faster during the peak of the pandemic.
What problem does your business solve?
Knowledge-lacunae around customers’ need-gaps as well as limited access to healthcare facilities are among the key challenges for both large medical device companies and startups. Our platform is dedicated to helping such health-tech companies meet their end customers in 51-plus countries. Along the way, all the related challenges, such as knowing the actual market potential, conducting clinical research, navigating through regulatory barriers and supply chain issues as well as developing an optimal go-to-market strategy, can be addressed on our platform.
Our platform, for instance, helps large medical device companies having well-defined supply chains evaluate their distributor strategy and expand to new geographies with confidence. The platform, on the other hand, also helps startups to understand their true market potential, collaborate with relevant partners to hasten their technology development cycle, and conduct pilots in new facilities. These would be just a handful of use cases of our SaaS-based med-tech platform.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
EMeRG was founded with the vision of solving the “innovation in isolation” paradox. Several medical technologies are developed in simulated environments within closed labs with a limited understanding of the end-user’s true needs. In addition, the need-gaps and motivations of end-users vary by geography, their budgets, their specialties and focus areas (among others). We were inspired to be the guiding force to bridge this gap. As the company continued to grow, we stayed committed to acknowledging and solving the unique challenges facing the healthcare industry in both the developed and the developing worlds.
Our platform is helping true innovators of medical technologies expand their markets and reach. The platform is helping healthcare facilities and hospitals to make the most optimal procurement decisions. We are also helping academic institutions around the world support the growth of innovative, sophisticated and affordable medical technologies.
What is your magic sauce?
Our magic sauce is a three-layered recipe. Central to it is the Content, including hospital data at an account-level, device-level, department-level, and region-level, developed through years of travel, research, and building connections. The second layer involves Technology, where we are utilizing advanced technologies as well as AI & ML modules to make the platform more proactive and intelligent. The third layer includes Network , which is testimony to our diligent work over the years to develop profound connections with healthcare personnel across 51-plus countries. I would add a fourth layer, which is the Team. The founding team, including Tanuja Khanolkar (COO) and Neeraj Gupta (CSO) are equally passionate about solving this colossal challenge and leave no stone unturned when it comes to making the platform and our business operations more robust. The dedication is equally shared by our larger team of analysts, researchers, tech developers, coders, and beyond.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We wish to be the largest med-tech ecosystem, enabling innovations globally in the next five years. Our vision is for all medical device companies (large-scale or SMEs) to utilize this platform to develop meaningful and relevant technologies while taking their innovations globally to 100-plus countries.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
I would have to say – hiring and retaining the right talent has been one of our greatest challenges. We are now collaborating with some of the finest and best universities in Alberta and beyond, along with the top head-hunters, towards hiring talent in technology, research, consulting, as well as AI & ML. As the organization grows, we are dedicated towards making it an ecosystem where all employees thrive, learn, and make an impact in the global healthcare industry.
How can people get involved?
We encourage you to visit our website www.emerg-inc.com