Former Amazon Product Manager Startup Lifeboat should be an Expedia brand for medical travel
Prior to launching Lifeboat in 2015, Mithika Gupta had a prolific career of 15 years at Dell, Microsoft and Amazon in the United States.
She established Lifeboat as a technology-led marketplace that allows patients to diagnose, compare and connect with trusted hospitals and healthcare providers around the world - often for complex illnesses.
As medical tourism continues to grow, not only do Indians travel abroad for improved health care, but hundreds and thousands of patients from less developed countries also come to India.
Lyfboat, headquartered in Delhi (with an office in Seattle), has a 12-person team. Mitika's sibling Anuj Gupta is the co-founder and CEO while she doubles as the company's founder and chief product officer.
As for Mitika, Lyfboat was born from a personal crisis.. She said : My father was seriously ill a few years ago and it made us realize how difficult it is to get treatment abroad. Everyone deserves access to good health care. But when you fear losing a loved one, you need someone to handle you through the process. We saw a huge need for a site that would make it easy.
Thus, Lyfboat was launched in April 2015 with the goal of becoming the "Expedia for Medical Travel".
Currently, Lyfboat 's managed marketplace lists about 70 hospitals, doctors, medical specialists, facilities and services, mainly in India, APAC and the Middle East. These include top JCI accredited hospitals such as Apollo, Fortis, Max, PLK, Workhard and Zulekha (in Dubai). The startup plans to expand to Africa and Europe soon.
Nevertheless, India is its main hub, with Chennai, Mumbai, Kochi and Delhi emerging as major medical tourism centers. In fact, according to a study by Grand View Research, India is the preferred destination for cardiovascular and orthopedic procedures.
Grand View Research estimates that medical tourism will be a $ 180 billion global market by 2026. It generates direct foreign exchange income and contributes to the overall growth of any economy, GVR states in a study.
However, despite its tremendous growth potential, there are only a few sites that offer complete medical travel services. Medico in Berlin is one of the so-called "hottest health startups" in Europe.
