Do you know that India has the largest student population? An IBEF survey of 2019, recorded 37.9 million students. Many of these students find online courses better and more engaging. The pandemic added fuel and increased student’s participation in online courses by 70%

Investment in the ed-tech sector too rose. Going from $553 million in 2019 to $2.2 billion in 2020. Indian startup BYJU’s became the world’s most valued ed-tech, followed by other Indian ventures like Unacademy, UpGrad and Vedantu.

One such ed-tech platform to help doctors upskill and attain the latest information is Mediknit. It was started in 2016 by Dr Bhaskar Rajkumar and Surendar Parasuraman. The former realised that the only way doctors could attain the latest information was through seminars or reading long research papers. After a constant stream of patients and long working hours, the thought of reading long research papers was tedious. 

The cost of attending medical associations conferences was Rs 5000 to Rs 50,000. So annually, every doctor spent more than Rs 1 lakh to upskill. Rajkumar and Parasuraman thought of creating a subscription-based platform where all the crucial information and industry updates could be provided. They created a platform with the collaboration of the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists and the Association of Minimal Access Surgeons of India. 

Initially, the co-founders invested their own Rs 1.2 crore and raised Rs 1.5 crores from relatives. In 2018, their revenues were around Rs 2.2 crores. They have successfully expanded into Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries with more than 35 institution collaborations. In November 2020, Mediknit partnered with Amazon Web Services to broadcast their live surgical training for 10 thousand participants in 40 countries.  

Mediknit has slowly gained the title of being Asia’s largest platform for continuing medical education of our doctors. It has provided upskill opportunities for doctors in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of India. This helps bridge the gap of the urban-rural healthcare divide. Will Mediknit be able to leverage the momentum of ed-tech funding and receive funds for further expansion? Both within India and abroad as well.