The First Sino-India JV for Advancement in Telemedicine

In this post I will talk about how India and China, two of the fastest growing economies in the world, are collectively working together in the field of telemedicine. The population of these two countries poses an attractive domestic market for telemedicine. At the same time, the advancement in technologies in both software and hardware positioned India and China to enter and compete internationally in the telemedicine industry.

In September 17, 2007 the first ever Sino-India Joint Venture (JV) in telemedicine research and services was formed in Kunming, Yunnan, China¹. The JV is called Sunpa Sobha Software (China) Ltd (3S) and is formed by Sobha Renaissance Information Technology (SRIT) from India and Yunnan Sunpa Image Tel Tech Co. Ltd (Sunpa) from China². With a registered capital of $1 million and more than 200 employees, 3S will be based in Kunming and have offices in four Chinese cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen². 60% of the capital investment was from Sunpa and 40% from SRIT². However, SRIT is planning to invest $20 million in the Chinese telemedicine field in the years to come².

This JV will combine the SRIT's flagship Software Products, “Renaissance Care Magnum” and “Renaissance rChive” and Sunpa’s telemedicine peripherals and devices to benefit patients and hospitals in both India and China³. In the future, Chinese hospitals will gain access to SRIT’s expertise in Clinical, Radiological, Diagnostic and Medical Imaging software³. At the same time Sunpa’s signature tele-vital sign monitoring, tele-dermatology, tele-pathology devices will bring advancement in telemedicine to India³.

The two parties are both very optimistic about the future of 3S with projected revenue of $100 million by 2010². I believe this is a realistic goal given the population in both India and China. Also as internationally recognized software, SRIT, and hardware provider, Sunpa, in telemedicine, both companies already established extensive network both domestically in India and China and internationally in regions like South Africa and Southeast Asia⁴, this JV could also play an important role to explore international markets.

The following video provides more details about 3S and the two joinging parties.

Reference:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_0V5mZmXoc
2. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-09/21/content_6125374.htm
3. http://www.renaissance-it.com/srit2/corporate/site/en/Sunpa_Sobha_Postevent_media.html