Paving the road ahead for MedTech startups, the Technology Development Board has approved financial support to Visakhapatnam based startup Orange Koi for their project on “Metal Injection Molding of Implants, Robotic Surgical Instruments & Devices”. The company aims at implementing the Metal Injection Molding (MIM) process for the manufacturing of medical surgical instruments and device components like bone cutters, rongeurs, curettes, castroviejo callipers, haemostatic forceps, allis tissue forceps, crile, alligator surgical forceps, tweezers, scissors spring, metzenbaum wound closure clips, clamps, needles, staplers, surgical accessory spoons, spatulas, catheters, surgical kits dental etc.

MIM is a technology for manufacturing complex, precision, net shape components from either metal or ceramic powder. The potential of MIM lies in its ability to combine the design flexibility of plastic injection molding and the versatility of unlimited choice of material offered by powder metallurgy. The company is led by Dr. Ravi Bollina (an alumnus of IIT Bombay) along with Deepak Kukreti &  Sasant Nuthakki. The project was received under the Call for Proposal “Commercialization of Indigenous Technologies from Indian Startup Companies” by TDB.

Dr. Srivari Chandrashekhar, Secretary, DST & Chairperson, TDB stated that “Currently, surgical instruments are either imported or made with casting or forging technologies and are not suitable for robotic surgical instruments or for critical care surgical instruments applications. The global surgical instruments market currently comprises of only 2-3 global players namely Johnson & Johnsons, Strykar and Smith and Nephew. We are proud to fund this team of young entrepreneurs, leading the way towards global change.”

Rajesh Kumar Pathak, IP&TAFS, Secretary, TDB, said that “Technology Development Board, an invisible thread in development of the Indian Health Ecosystem, has funded most of the Indian Healthcare companies in their startup days. In fact, India’s 1st Liver Transplant Facility by Ravindranath GE Medical Associates and Ist CBCT Radiotherapy system for Cancer Treatment by Panacea Medical Technologies was partly funded by TDB. With such collaborations, we expect many Med Tech startups to come forward with more innovative technologies at affordable cost, available to the world and thus transforming India as the Major Exporter in MedTech Supply Chain”.