GE startup GenWorks’ rural India healthcare push

Some stories have a long tail. GE Healthcare’s several attempts to crack the Indian market is one such story.

 

In 2012,  when Terri Bresenham, now the Chief Innovation Officer at GE, took charge of its healthcare business in India, she said, during a conversation, that she found this market unique. Mostly because people shopped around for healthcare, it was not a payer-driven market. Which, in her view, brought out the “best in people”.

 

She would go on to push GE’s Make in India drive that year that would manufacture devices locally and sell it across rural India and the rest of the developing world. (As would other medtech giants like Philips and Siemens.) But nothing much came out of those high-decibel, high-PR strategies. For the simple reason that even if a product line is actually low-cost (which for all these companies was not exactly), the crux lies in bringing a complementary change in the business model. Can those who sell high-end equipment also sell low-cost devices? Are they incentivised enough? And even if they sell, is there recurring revenue to be made out of those sales?

 

GE finally understood this in 2015 and invested in a startup (26% stake) which it carved out of its own products, people and potential revenues. GenWorks was created to push GE Healthcare boxes beyond tier-1 towns. It was helmed by one of GE’s consummate salesmen, who was also promised a certain revenue in sales commissions.

 

Now that’s a calculated move. One that the conglomerate has not taken elsewhere. A unique market calls for a unique measure.

 

GE is super secretive about it, but we know it has yielded good results for the two and which is why GenWorks is closing $10 million in funding very soon. But can funding find a solid business model? One with recurring revenue?

 

That’s Gayathri’s story today; a giant’s small bet in India. Let’s dive right in: https://the-ken.com/story/genworks/