Due to rising demand, healthcare market presents a rare window for strategic expansion

From a modest beginning with an initial corpus of little over Re one lakh, it has reached where it is today--a Rs 36 crore focussed healthcare company to cater, service and bring about innovations in medical device industry. A force to reckon in its field, Kolkata-based Emsurg Healthcare (India) Pvt Ltd, has now lined up an ambitious plan of tapping the South-East Asian, African and European markets.

That's not all. The company is burning midnight oils in foraying into Industrial Microbiology and quite interestingly in a niche FMCG space. Speaking to Bizz Buzz, Kunal Mukherjee, MD & CEO, Emsurg Healthcare (India) Pvt Ltd narrates his fascinating entrepreneurial journey and the road ahead.

How did your entrepreneurial journey begin?

First, let me make the firm statement that I am not an accidental entrepreneur .I left my job from the position of a senior executive in the then third largest pharmaceutical & pioneer biotech company to start my journey as an entrepreneur in 2007 and it was a well thought-out plan, knowing fully well that the journey would not be easy.

And it needs lots of sacrifice. Infact, as an employee also, a person should be an entrepreneur to be successful but with limited space to explore newer innovations and here comes the word why? The answer would be: Space,- innovation and creation.

First, I started with biotech-based microbiology & genomics as a diagnostic tool and I learnt what is called business but unfortunately the venture couldn’t last long, reasons behind too many people too many thoughts and finally lack of leadership.

Then in February, 2010, Emsurg Healthcare India Pvt Ltd was incorporated and the journey began. I did not have to look back since then.

What was the trigger behind getting into this particular field?

We made Emsurg a focussed healthcare company to cater, service and bring about innovations in medical device.

After spending more than 18 years in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology fields, we have chosen medical device for five reasons:

1.New area and very few people had ideas how to run an organised medical device company as the dynamics of the business was completely different .Hence the entry with growth will be easy with our knowledge and understanding. In short, it’s not “me too” type business and completely knowledge-driven one.

2.. There was no formal regulation from drug control and we understood when the regulation will come into force we would be ahead of our competition.

3. The GP is much higher than regular healthcare business once we have innovative products to offer.

4. CAGR is much higher than regular pharma industry. Medical device is expected to touch upon around 19 per cent, while pharma business may have maximum 11 per cent CAGR as of today, which substantiatente & resonate our business idea.

5. Cost and time to move from concept to commercialisation of medical device is significantly lower than other healthcare speciality business like biotec etc.

With how much funds did you start this journey and how did you mobilise this initial fund?

Believe me we started with just Rs 1 lakh 37k as a seed fund and within couple of months we added Rs 20 lakh. We got the entire funding from the promoter directors as nobody even the bank had any idea about medical device business & the business dynamics then.

Your company operates in a very niche segment of the healthcare market. How did you see this market /industry grow and evolve over the years?

We see the business as one of best emerging business where the industry demands serious players. This business is dominated by MNCs and global big companies as I already mentioned that we didn't have proper understanding.

The expected CAGR is 19 per cent and valued at $5.2 billion. Despite its size, the market is heavily reliant on import, presenting a significant opportunity for domestic players to expand.

How has the company grown over the years since inception?

It has grown from Rs 1 crore to Rs 36 crore in this financial year. If we see last three years, we grew from Rs 19 crore to Rs 23 crore to Rs 28 crore to Rs 36 crore this year. I would say it’s phenomenal. Most interesting part is we could double up our PAT in three years despite huge expansion which is ongoing.

Did you have to tweak your strategies in between over the years?

The answer is yes. We tweaked our strategies several times to remain relevant and to evolve in a highly knowledge-driven business, where every day you see something new and challenging happening.

How many products do you deal with, currently and how do you propose to extend or expand the product line?

We have five SBUs: Biologics, Wound Care, Biopsy Devices, Arthroscopy and Nephrocare. We have a strong R&D team and bringing new products should be regular exercise considering the life cycle of the product .Further adding values to the existing products is also important.

Are you focusing on the Indian market only or do you have any plans to look beyond India (Some neighbouring countries and elsewhere)?

Before I answer your query, let me clarify that India is a big market with huge population and govt is planning to expand healthcare facilities every nook & corner of the country.

Therefore, we should grab the opportunity as far as possible beating the global players. But at the same time, we want to expand beyond India. We are looking at African market with South East Asia and also Europe. Already we are in touch with few European countries to open our office to explore Europe.

Any plans to diversify or foray in a new product line? If so what and when?

Yes of course. We are coming in a big way in areas of Industrial Microbiology with estimated market size of Rs 2k crore in India only .We have applied for process patent of citric acid and also the final product. Citric acid is being used widely in different industries and in India we don't have proper manufacturer.

Almost 99 per cent of the demand is met by China. We are in the final stages to scale up and once it’s done by next year we will set up our new manufacturing facility .We are in a process of acquiring land and in touch with different states.

Also we are keen to launch our FMCG division, which is highly competitive yet highly valued.

Do you have your own R&D set up? How strong is it? Do you have any plan to strengthen it further?

Yes of course, we have a strong team with a highly equipped lab. Under the leadership of our Director- Medical Affairs & Research, Dr Suman Saha, we are in the process of recruiting & training an excellent enterprising group of young scientists.

We are pretty confident that our R&D team will come up with new products, new process, value addition of existing products, complying all CDSCO recommendations.