San Francisco’s BetterDoctor platform has already been helping patients find the best health professionals to see them at late notice. Now India-based Medeel.com is offering a service that matches those in need of surgery with customized care packages based on their medical records.

Aimed at those who have been advised to undergo medical procedures by their doctors or GPs, but want to ensure they get the cheapest deal or the best surgeons, Medeel first invites patients to detail their treatment needs and upload their medical records using its secure submission process. Medeel then shares this information with local hospitals that offer the required surgery. After around two or three days, customers receive customized healthcare plans from those hospitals, enabling them to choose the one which is the most suitable for their situation. Users can accept a deal through the Medeel site and are offered contact details to arrange the surgery once the process is completed.

While Medeel could help Indians cut the cost of necessary surgery, it can also be used to find doctors who cater to their specific needs, ensuring they get the treatment that is right for them. Could this work in other parts of the world?

Website: www.medeel.com
Contact: www.medeel.com/contactus.html

Spotted by: Murtaza Patel

Startups in the health industry are quickly realizing how useful smartphones can be for getting a quick diagnosis of conditions like anaemia and malaria. A new app called uChek is now making it possible for anyone to check their urine for signs of a number of different diseases.

Created by Mumbai-based Biosense and presented at the TED 2013 conference in Los Angeles earlier this year, the app aims to replace the non-mobile and expensive machines that are currently used to scan the chemical strips used for patients’ urine samples, which can cost up to USD 10,000 per device. Customers purchasing the uChek app are provided with a color chart that is used in conjunction with the strips. The chart helps the app to discern the color of the strip in relation to the chart and is able to then make a diagnosis. The app is capable of detecting levels of glucose, proteins and nitrites – among other chemicals – that can indicate the presence of 25 different conditions. The app is currently awaiting approval for iOS devices, but will cost USD 20 – color chart and chemical strips included.

Apps like uCheck and line’s Piddle – which won first prize at the Health Hack Day 2012 in Stockholm but has yet to make moves towards market launch – allow healthcare professionals to replace expensive specialist equipment with the device they already carry around with them on a daily basis. Mobile urine checking could facilitate medical help in regions where on-site testing can be vital – especially in poorer countries – as well as enable patients to accurately diagnose themselves.

Website: www.uchek.in
Contact: www.facebook.com/uchekapp

Spotted by: Murtaza Patel

As the number of cellphone users continues to rise we’ve seen a number of innovations that have empowered consumers in rural areas over the past few years, and recently we came across another intriguing example. Launched by telecommunications provider Bharti Airtel in India, Apna Chaupal – or “Rural Portal” – is a voice-based service through which rural consumers can get a wide array of locally tailored information simply by calling a toll-free line.

Rural Indian consumers need only dial 58080 from their mobile phone to be connected with Apna Chaupal. From there they can browse various subscription packs focusing on categories including agriculture, health, education, employment, entertainment and religion. The service is available in all local languages, with highlights including Mandi crop rates, love advice, astrology, English lessons, visa information, music and more. Subscription pricing begins at INR 10 for 10 days. It is also possible to request expert advice for solutions to specific problems.

Roughly three-quarters of the world’s population now have access to a mobile phone, according to a recent World Bank report. Tech-minded entrepreneurs: How could you use that fact to serve this overwhelming majority better?

Website: www.airtel.com/wps/wcm/connect/Airtel.in/airtel.in/home/whats+new/apna-chaupal
Contact: www.airtel.in/wps/wcm/connect

Spotted by: Murtaza Patel

Deaf workers make up the core of the staff at the Atfaluna restaurant in the Gaza Strip, and now another business is making an effort to integrate those with sight problems into society. Made In The Dark is a jewelry brand enabling blind women in India to create designs using their sense of smell.

Created through a collaboration between three Royal College of Art students in the UK and two students from the National Institute of Design in India, the initiative is working with the Blind People’s Association and the Andh Kanya School in India to find blind women work making handcrafted jewelry designs. Made In The Dark uses scented beads so that the women can identify which colors they are using and alter their designs accordingly. The creations are then sold to ethical retailers to appeal to the growing market of progressive middle class women in India.

Considering that there are 15 million people with sight problems in the country – and that many blind people fully trained in craftwork still struggle to find sustainable jobs – Made In The Dark could help improve quality of life by providing a platform for those with existing talent, while also teaching them new skills and raising awareness of the blind community. Are there other ways to help disadvantaged people show off their skills in the business world?

Website: www.jonfraser.co.uk
Contact: www.jonfraser.co.uk/contact-me

Spotted by: Katharina Kleck

Brand mentions on social networks have already become sufficiently sought-after to warrant payback of free wifi and pizza in the recent past. Joining this trend, the most recent marketing campaign for Indian fashion designer Allen Solly has seen the company exchange tweets for men’s shirts.

Created by the India branch of advertising agency Ogilvy, the campaign saw a large billboard kitted out with 60 shirts and a mechanism that pushed each one forward a small amount everytime someone tweeted with the hashtag ‘#RainingSolly’. According to reports, people around the billboard were then invited to use their phones to interact with it, while a large screen displayed their tweets. The user who tweeted at the moment a shirt was released could collect it for free. The following video shows how the campaign worked:

The Allen Solly campaign is another example of a company encouraging social media activity in exchange for products. Could this sort of marketing work for your business?

Website: www.ogilvy.com
Contact: www.ogilvy.com/Contact.aspx

Spotted by: Raymond Kollau

The Wood Luck earthquake-proof bed coming out of Japan recently is an example of furniture going beyond the call of duty. Now, Indian mattress company Springwel is launching its Sleep Exchange campaign, which encourages customers to donate their old mattress when buying a new one, with spare beds going to shelters to make lives more comfortable for the country’s homeless.

Customers looking to take advantage of the offer need to donate their mattress to their local homeless shelter and obtain proof of the exchange. They can then contact Springwel by phone or text, or visit a store with the details of their donation. Once confirmed, the customer receives a voucher for INR 1,500 which they can claim back off a purchase of a new mattress. At the same time, Springwel will also give INR 100 to the shelter the donor used. The company has already teamed up with a number of homelessnessNGOs to make the process of donating smoother.

The idea behind the scheme is that shelters can boost their capacity, ensuring that homeless people who might be out on the streets get to sleep comfortably, while customers also get a better night’s sleep with a new mattress and the thought that they have done a good deed. What other exchange schemes could benefit society in this way?

Website: www.springwelsleepexchange.com
Contact: www.springwelsleepexchange.com/?page_id=84

Hospitals around the world depend on blood donors for the treatment of patients in emergency situations, as well as for the treatment of patients with ongoing conditions. Some blood types, however, are less common than others, making it harder to find matches. Now in India, Socialblood is taking advantage of Facebook to connect people of the same blood group, facilitating blood donations in emergency situations.

Socialblood was launched this summer by 22-year-old founder Karthik Naralasetty who won the Staples/Ashoka Youth Social Entrepreneur competition. The Facebook app invites users to register simply by selecting their blood group. They are then connected to one of eight Facebook groups — one for each blood type. They can invite friends to join the campaign via Facebook, post a message in case of an emergency or respond to requests for blood donations. Already Socialblood has seen participation from 1,500 people, and Naralasetty says a recent post from a man asking for blood for his daughter received 74 responses in 24 hours.

Could a similar campaign help hospitals find suitable blood donor matches quicker in your locality, and could you be the one to set it up?

Website: www.socialblood.org
Contact: hello@socialblood.org

Spotted by: Murtaza Patel

Earlier this year we featured Hollaback in New York, a mobile app that allows users to share stories and photos of street harassment to be displayed on a map of the city. Now, New Delhi-based Whypoll — which already hosts a visual guide of dangerous areas in the city — is launching the Fight Back app, enabling users to send an SOS message with their exact location if they come into trouble.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, rape cases in New Delhi have increased over 760 percent in 18 years, and activists believe this figure to be an underestimation, as many women are afraid to report crimes fearing stigma and family dishonour. Women can already anonymously report incidents of harassment on the Whypoll website, and the new Fight Back app is due to launch later this month. When feeling unsafe, women will be able to simply push a button on their phone, which will send up to five people — including police — a text message with their GPS location. The app can also notify friends and family by posting updates on Facebook and Twitter. Fight Back was developed with Canvas M and will be available to download from the Whypoll website.

The Fight Back campaign not only hopes to improve the immediate security of women, but also draw attention to the issue of sexual attacks in the city and increase pressure on authorities to take action. Could such a tool help women in cities around the world stay safe?

Website: www.whypoll.org
Contact: hindol@whypoll.org

Spotted by: Parul Rohatgi

Auto rickshaws are an ideal mode of transport for commuting around the hectic roads of Mumbai, however finding an available and reliable driver can be a challenge. It was this fact that recently inspired the launch of Rickshawale, Mumbai’s first automated dial-a-rickshaw booking service.

Rickshawale was founded by a group of transport, logistics and technology professionals, working together with the rickshaw community in Mumbai. The idea was to offer a reliable and trustworthy service — usually associated with radio cabs — for a cheaper price and using vehicles better equipped to weave around the city’s infamous traffic. Users can book a rickshaw 24-hours-a-day by calling Rickshawale and giving the details of their journey to a customer services agent. An SMS is then sent to the closest available drivers, all of whom are equipped with a tracking device. The driver accepts the job by pressing a button on the tracking device, which simultaneously sends an SMS to the customer containing the driver’s name, contact number and auto rickshaw registration number. Customers are guaranteed no refusal of service and standardized meter fares across all Rickshawale drivers. Drivers also benefit from the increased income generated by Rickshawale passengers, and are provided with SIM cards loaded with monthly talk time, genuine spare parts for their vehicles and financing opportunities.

By combining SMS and tracking technologies, Rickshawale aims to offer a simple passenger transport solution. A model that could be adapted and applied to local transport solutions in other busy cities?

Website: www.rickshawale.com
Contact: contactus@rickshawale.com

Spotted by: Murtaza Patel

About a year ago we wrote about Nokero’s effort to replace kerosene with solar-powered light bulbs in the developing world, and recently we came across a like-minded initiative that takes such goals even further. Based in Bangalore, India, Simpa Networks has developed a new pricing model that aims to make household solar energy systems “radically affordable” to the 1.6 billion consumers around the world who currently have no access to electricity.

Simpa Networks is a venture-backed technology company aiming “to make modern energy simple, affordable, and accessible for everyone,” in the company’s own words. Toward that end, it sells distributed energy solutions on a “progressive purchase” basis; customers make a small initial down payment for a high-quality solar photovoltaic system and then pre-pay for the service, topping up their systems in small user-defined increments using a mobile phone. Powered by the Simpa Regulator — a tamper-proof, system-integrated microcontroller and user interface — and cloud-based software, the system ensures that once prepaid consumption is exhausted, the solar home system is temporarily disabled until another payment is made. Each payment, meanwhile, also counts towards the final purchase price. Once fully paid, the system produces clean energy, free and clear for the rest of the system’s expected 10-year useful life.

Now available for customers in Karnataka, India, Simpa Networks’ model is built upon proprietary risk mitigation technology, with investment opportunities for market rate and social investors, it says. Time to help expand clean energy access around the globe?

Website: www.simpanetworks.com
Contact: info@simpanetworks.com