Shriram Sonawane, a pharmacy graduate and an MBA dropout from Symbiosis, floated his startup Rentomed this summer to cater to the medical equipment needs of medical professionals through an online medium. The Pune-based entrepreneur has completed 100 rentals till now and is in talks with 20 more hospitals for the expansion of this business.
Rentomed is a subsidiary of RentoMed Pvt. Ltd., which was launched in 2020 with an aggregator platform called The PassBox to connect manufacturers and buyers of medical equipment. Rentomed, which has more than 20 employees, is now considering arranging funds to establish 15 more of its centres across the country.
Sonawane had the dream of launching a start-up that would improve healthcare. Rentomed was a step towards that dream. He noted that the healthcare system in Tier II and Tier III cities is not on par with that in Tier I cities. “RentoMed’s purpose is to ensure that no patient is deprived of the technological benefits due to the non-availability of resources in Tier II and III cities," he says. RentoMed provides equipment for treatment, monitoring, diagnostics, mobility, and personal protection. These equipments focus on surgery, gynaecology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, etc.
Sonawane also observed that every year, lakhs of medical graduates in India try to establish their practice but struggle to do so because of the huge amount of investment required for infrastructure. RentoMed is trying to bridge that gap, as many doctors do not have the resources to purchase expensive equipment. However, he admits that he is facing a challenge in doing so. Many middle-aged doctors find it difficult to adapt to digital gadgets and are thus resistant to e-commerce platforms. Secondly, clients do not trust such startups easily. He is also trying to gain their trust through word-of-mouth publicity and good work practices.
The Rentomed application allows users to track their orders in real-time, which includes delivery and pick-up. Clients usually have a demand for energy sources to conduct surgeries and similar procedures. Sonwane’s startup has also started focusing on the B2C market. They also provide ICU beds for in-house patients on a rental basis as low as Rs 100 per day.
Shriram Sonawane’s noble idea of providing cost-effective healthcare outreach to smaller cities looks promising and will certainly make healthcare more accessible.
(Inputs from various media sources)
(Rehash/Dr. Sushmita Ganguli)