India’s Biggest HealthTech Pitch Day Wraps Up at IIT Indore as Startups Battle for the Top Spot

The DHN HealthTech Innovation Challenge 2025 closed with high energy as India’s most promising digital health startups took the stage for live demos, real-world pitches, and one of the most competitive jury evaluations in the ecosystem.

Returning for its second edition, the DHN HealthTech Innovation Challenge doubled in scale, ambition, and impact this year.

DHN HealthTech Innovation Challenge 2025 wrapped up its Demo Day, a finale that showcased how fast India’s digital health ecosystem is maturing, scaling, and shifting into real-world impact mode.

The previous edition had crowned Medyseva Technologies as the winner, setting a strong benchmark for innovation in rural and digital health delivery.

This year’s event opened with an address by Vishnu Saxena, CEO & Founder of ScaleHealthTech and Digital Health News, who set the tone for a day dedicated to high-impact, future-ready innovation. It was followed by a keynote session from Dr. RS Sharma, Strategic Advisor, DHN; Former CEO, National Health Authority, capturing the urgency, opportunity, and direction of India’s digital health transformation.

Vishnu Saxena, Founder & CEO, DHN & ScaleHealthTech, said, “This year’s Challenge has reinforced something we have believed for a long time, that India is entering a phase where the most meaningful healthcare solutions will emerge not from legacy systems but from the bold, mission-driven founders building at the intersection of health and technology. What stood out about this cohort was their ability to blend clinical insight with technological innovation in a way that can truly shift outcomes on the ground. HealthTech in India is no longer about experiments or pilots; it is about scalable, implementable solutions that can serve millions. Today’s winner, along with the finalists, demonstrated not just innovation but clarity of purpose, market understanding, and a deep commitment to solving India’s most urgent healthcare challenges. As DHN, our goal is to give them a platform where their ideas can grow, mature, and impact real lives across the country.”

The Jury Panel brought together influential global and Indian leaders shaping digital health today: Dr. Uma Nambiar (CEO, IISc Medical School Foundation, Chairperson-DHI), Dr. RS Sharma (Strategic Advisor, DHN; Former CEO, National Health Authority), Dr. Feby Abraham (EVP & Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Memorial Hermann Health System, Houston), Cdr. Navneet Bali (Executive Director & CEO, Clearmedi Healthcare), Vishnu Saxena (Founder & CEO, DHN & ScaleHealthTech), Tushar Sadhu (Associate Vice President, W Health Ventures), and Ben Patel (Chief Technology Officer, University of Cincinnati Health, Ohio).

Each finalist was then given a 15-minute slot for a full demonstration, product walkthrough, impact metrics, market readiness, and jury interaction, making this one of the most rigorous founder-evaluation formats in the country.

After intense live demos and jury questioning, Ivory, co-founded by Issac Mathew John and Rahul Krishnan, claimed the winning spot.

Commenting on the same, Issac said, ''The DHN HealthTech Innovation Challenge was a prestigious milestone for us, particularly given the deep expertise of the jury as they comprised leaders who truly understand large-scale healthcare systems and their impact on health outcomes. Rahul and I are delighted to have first been selected among the top five, and then to have secured the top honors.

We remain steadfast in our mission to improve brain health for India, and to build a company that serves and scales to the world. This recognition is a powerful reaffirmation of our team’s commitment to our mission.''

Curebay Technologies (Oralcare) secured 1st Runner-Up, while Plus91 Technologies, led by Aditya Patkar and Neelesh Bhandari, was announced as 2nd Runner-Up.

Sharing thoughts, Aditya Patkar of Plus91 Technologies, said, ''It was a pleasure to reconnect with old colleagues, meet new partners, and see solutions ready for real-world use. Events like this reinforce Plus91’s view that progress is collective: conversation sharpens ideas, partnerships scale programmes, and collaboration produces more patient-centred care.''

''We were happy to showcase ur work at Plus91 to operationalise this vision at the clinical workflow level. Interoperability must be dependable, real-time, and invisible to frontline teams, so that every citizen can access, share, and govern their health data with confidence, continuity, and genuine clinical utility across the entire care network,'' he added.

The event was hosted in partnership with IITI DRISHTI CPS Foundation, with ecosystem support from W Health Ventures, CDAC, iCreate, and AWS.

This year’s edition held exceptional importance as it was officially recognized as a Pre-Summit Event for the India–AI Impact Summit 2026, hosted by MeitY and IndiaAI, setting early momentum for India’s future in deep-tech healthcare.

The day ended with the winners gaining access to the DHN ecosystem, visibility across India’s healthtech community, strategic networking, and opportunities for deeper collaboration through 2025–26.

A Demo Day that Signals What’s Coming Next

With deep-tech innovation, ABDM integration, AI-led diagnostics, and rural accessibility at its core, this year’s Challenge reflected the next decade of Indian healthcare - faster, smarter, more connected, and built at scale.

As DHN begins onboarding winners into its ecosystem, the platform is now positioned to accelerate the next wave of India’s digital health breakthroughs. The event closed on a strong note, with DHN receiving active interest and early queries for the next edition of the Innovation Challenge.

For participation or partnership details, DHN has opened communication at info@digitalhealthnews.com

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