CAWACH to provide support for start-ups to find innovative solutions against COVID-19: 5 startups that have already stepped it up

India’s start-ups are proving their mettle in the national fight against COVID-19. From bringing out a ventilator the size of a kitchen toaster to designing a testing kit that gives results in 5-10 minutes, the amazing thinkers and innovators at these companies have stepped on the peddle like never before.

On 3 April, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, announced that it was setting up CAWACH - a centre with a Rs 56 crore kitty to back more start-ups and more out-of-the-box ideas to beat coronavirus.

CAWACH stands for Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis. Though the acronym may be a bit laboured, the centre will have the important task of identifying up to 50 innovations and startups that can help in the current situation and supporting them. The implementing agency will be Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a business incubator at IIT Bombay.  

While CAWACH is yet to announce which firms will get research and development support from it, here’s a quick look at what some Indian start-ups have managed to do so far:

1. MyLab

Mylab Discovery Solutions, a Pune-based start-up, developed a coronavirus testing kit and got approval for commercial use by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). They can produce 1-1.5 lakh tests per week but they hope to scale production to meet the growing demand. These tests reduce the testing time considerably as they complete the screening as well as confirming process within 2.5 hours. The kit was developed in six short weeks and is being sold at 1/4th of the cost of the imported kits.

2. Bione

Bione is a Bangalore-based biotech start-up that has launched it’s rapid, at-home testing kits for the novel coronavirus. The kits claim to provide a result within 5-10 minutes. The company is at the moment producing 20,000 kits per week and will be selling them through their own platform for Rs 2,000-3,000. These kits are approved by the ICMR and are said to be extremely easy to use. All you need to do is sanitize your finger and prick it to get a drop of blood for the test.  

3. AgVa

AgVa, a Noida-based start-up, is aiming to bridge the gap between the projected demand and supply of ventilators. The company makes a portable ventilator that is the size of a toaster.

Maruti Suzuki will be working with AgVa to scale up the production quickly. Their goal is to be able to manufacture 20,000 ventilators in 30 days. The device runs off room air and doesn’t need an oxygen supply. It is also a lot more affordable than traditional ventilators, at Rs 1.5-2 lakhs per unit. (A traditional ventilator, by contrast, can cost upwards of Rs 7 lakh each and requires an oxygen supply).

4. Haptik

The Internet makes it easier to spread awareness but also to spread misinformation. Haptik is a Mumbai-based start-up that launched a chatbot on Whatsapp aimed at answering COVID-19 related queries and dispelling myths. The service used machine learning and the information they provide has been sourced from the World Health Organization.  

5. KlinicApp

KinicApp, a Gurgaon-based start-up, has tied up with government-approved coronavirus testing labs to provide doorstep testing in Mumbai. The test needs to be prescribed by a doctor still and the results are delivered within 48 hours. The test is priced at Rs 4,500. The company plans to roll out the service in other major cities as well.

Full disclosure: myUpchar is a health start-up with services like medicine e-commerce, lab testing and teleconsulting with doctors open during the lockdown.

For more information, read our article on   COVID-19 Point Of Care Tests _._

Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, India’s first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.