For every 10,000 US citizens, there is one radiologist available. But there’s just one radiologist per 1,00,000 Indians. Alarmingly, there’s one interventional radiologist per 2,18,000 patients. 

Things are dire as many radiologists are concentrated in metro cities. Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnata, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have 80% of all radiologists. This leaves states like Uttar Pradesh with less than 200 radiologists. In India, radiology is the most used tool for diagnosis. Yet there exists this huge disparity between tier 1 cities and the rest of India. One solution to bridge this huge gap is teleradiology. The concept of teleradiology has been around for a while but hasn’t been able to get its firm hold in India. 

Then in 2016, Kalyan Sivasailam and Syed Ahmed came with their venture 5C Network. Just like Uber connects its drivers to consumers, 5C too connects patients to radiologists. Their platform’s algorithm assigns the case to an experienced radiologist. 5C’s AI tools also help create accurate results. This innovative framework allows them to cut the usual time of 48 hours to produce results, down to just 42 minutes. They practise insightful radiology with which they can make accurate results for the patent’s treatment.  

In the last half of 2020, 5C had 2500 diagnostic and hospital partners across India. 5C became India’s leading radiology specialist group. It now houses the largest group of radiologists that provide accurate results 24x7. They have entered 27 states and solve over 1 lakh cases per month. They have since their inception saved the lives of 10 crore Indians. 

Initial support came from Bangalore's accelerator program by Unitus Ventures and Axilor Ventures. In total, they have raised  $1.8 million or Rs 13 crores in 2 funding rounds. They have also collaborated with GE Healthcare for the creation of GenWorks. The partnership helps GE sell their CT scan machines in remote Indian locations and get 5C to provide radiologists’ insights. 5C has also developed ATMAN AI, an AI that studies chest X-rays to know about Covid-19 infection. This product was developed in partnership with the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and Defence Research Development Organisation.