Blood donation is the most valuable gift one can make to another human being, but when the world faces a massive crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic, it is critical to consider blood donation.An adult can pass away from a bleeding wound in a crucial area in less than five minutes. Some areas, like  the neck, can be very challenging to control.In rural areas due to lack of inventory, blood banks ,transportation ,manpower and essential electricity services there are numerous cases of fatalities and health complications.

According to World Health Organisation "Blood donation by 1% of the population is generally the bare minimum for meeting a nation's most basic blood needs. As per the 2016-17 data, India fell short of the WHO standard by 1.9 million units (or 15%). At the end of March, 2022, there were 3840 licensed blood banks (blood centers) in the country. 

More about Bagmo Pvt Ltd.

Ashfaq Ashraf is the co-founder of Bagmo Pvt Ltd. It started with the aim to eradicate the non availability of blood in rural parts of India. Bagmo Pvt Ltd. also focuses on child and maternal healthcare.

“Availability of blood is very important because in certain situations,blood is the only thing that can save lives during emergency cases of accidents and maternal delivery cases.Even anemic patients require immediate transfusion at times. ”States co-founder of Bagmo Pvt Ltd. Ashfaq Ashraf. 

Since there is a huge shortage of voluntary donation even tho government is claiming that they are going ahead with 70% blood donation .The government initiated the storage facility in many rural areas but it is not sufficient at times and such pain points are addressed by Bagmo Pvt Ltd. and are giving emphasis upon it by delivering good quality blood in a safe manner and in adequate quantities.

USP of Bagmo Pvt Ltd.

Avoiding wastage of blood and having close monitoring of inventory and ensuring good quality of each blood bank while storing enough blood in rural areas.Even tier 2,3 and 4 face shortage of blood.

 Funding received and utilization by Bagmo Pvt Ltd.

“In January 2015, we heard that a hospital in kesinga district had all facilities in their hospital but we found out that 2 women died in a month after delivery due to lack of blood availability mainly because of supply chain scenario.If blood is not available ,make it available that's all what is needed. We wanted to start working on that .”describes co-founder of Bagmo Pvt Ltd. Ashfaq Ashraf.This incident made Ashraq Ashraf start the company and the government gave a grant which was a blessing for the company.

In the initial stages,the funds were used for product development and reaching to the government locations especially in the rural areas. Recently Bagmo Pvt Ltd. started marketing activities and started spending in marketing areas as well. The Major fund was collected as a grant from Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC). Additional equity based grants were collected from Brink, NIIIT,MK derby association Bangalore and C Camp association Bangalore. Bagmo Pvt Ltd. raised 1.5 crore as a grant and equity based funding and touched more than 80,000 families while it is being used in more than 10 rural areas and around 5 main blood banks.

2022 revenue and 2023 projections

Bagmo Pvt Ltd. focuses on breaking the company expenses by 2023 and make export the product ready for many other developing countries as well as low end middle income countries(LMIC) in the coming year. Selling the product and providing services will be the key way for sustainability.

Future plans and goals of Bagmo Pvt Ltd.

“In the coming future, blood should be available like any other medical product. When some patients are prepared the bystanders can go to the blood bank and get the blood. The patients don't need to start searching or calling friends for a replacement donation. Making sure always safe blood is available all over India.We are also collaborating with State Health agencies and other NGO partners for achieving this goal.” States co-founder of Bagmo Pvt Ltd. Ashfaq Ashraf.

Message for entrepreneurs

“Normal people can't set up a startup. Every founder would be eager to solve some problem in the society. Every step is a success,the moment you start up something you are successful. Startups may fail but entrepreneurs will never fail.”says co-founder of Bagmo Pvt Ltd. Ashfaq Ashraf.

(Edited by Elvis Almeida)