When we think of healthtech in South and Southeast Asia, certain themes often spring to mind: SARS, COVID-19, and an ageing population driving a demand for effective eldercare. For those of us living here, these issues feel obvious and urgent. But what’s obvious to us in the region is not always obvious to decision-makers sitting in other parts of the world.

It’s a reminder that when it comes to innovation in healthcare, perspective matters.

A missed opportunity in telehealth

In a previous role at a late-stage video conferencing company, I saw firsthand how a lack of local context can mean missing the moment. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, a colleague from Hong Kong and I proposed that we should give away video conferencing licenses to healthcare institutions.

At the time, governments across South and Southeast Asia were already mobilising to prepare their healthcare systems. We believed that this was the perfect opportunity to not only seize market share but also build a reputation as a company that understood the urgency and wanted to help.

The idea was met with scepticism at our London sales headquarters and was ultimately rejected. We were a small team of four in Asia trying to signal the importance of moving quickly, but our urgency didn’t translate back to the company’s US headquarters.

Three months later, the world was in lockdown. The company eventually doubled down on telehealth, but the approach (to me at least) felt outdated. The market had already moved, and many of the most interesting innovations we were seeing were coming from startups within the region, not from Europe or the US.

Also Read: Decoding digital preferences: A glimpse into the future of health tech ecosystem in SEA

Learning from Sehat Kehani

Around that time, I met the founder of Sehat Kehani, a Pakistani healthtech company with a clear mission and a deep understanding of its local context. The company was addressing three critical issues:

• Increasing female doctors’ participation in Pakistan’s workforce
• Extending healthcare outreach to rural villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan
• Training local nurses to deliver telehealth services, connecting patients to remote female doctors

This approach was remarkable because it was designed from the ground up to work within the constraints and opportunities of the local healthcare ecosystem. It wasn’t about parachuting in technology or people from elsewhere; it was about building something that made sense for the realities on the ground.

If our HQ had been willing to listen and pivot, we could have adapted our platform to serve this massive, underserved market. Instead, after being acquired by a US telco, we exited customers from this region entirely.

Why local founders matter

Experiences like this have shaped the way I evaluate healthtech startups. I look at how “close” the founders are to the market they are serving. If they are too far removed from the region, they are often too far removed from the problem, and that distance makes it difficult to design truly effective solutions.

The strongest healthtech innovations in Asia often come from founders who have lived the problem, understand its nuances, and can navigate local systems to get solutions into the hands of those who need them most.

Standout examples in the region

Here are just a few companies that stand out for their impact and market insight:

• Sehat Kehani (Pakistan) – Rural telemedicine and enabling greater participation of female doctors in the workforce.
• SixtyPlus (India) – At-home eldercare for a rapidly aging population.
• HealthPro (Indonesia) – Home healthcare services tailored to urban and semi-urban populations.
• MedEasy (Bangladesh) – Combining B2C and B2B pharmaceutical services with telehealth delivery.
• PulseTech (Bangladesh) – B2B pharmaceutical distribution designed for emerging market supply chains.
• Relaxy (Bangladesh) – Mental health services in a context where mental wellbeing is often overlooked or stigmatised.
• Sova Health (India) – Supplements tailored for the Indian gut biome, recognising the need for locally relevant nutrition science.
• TB-AI (Pakistan) – Rapid diagnostics using mobile phone technology, scalable across rural Africa and Asia.
• Amar Lab (Bangladesh) – Bringing lab diagnostics directly to patients’ doors.

These aren’t just product stories; they are founder stories. Each one reflects a combination of lived experience, deep market understanding, and creative problem-solving.

Also Read: Empowering women in healthtech: The role of technology in driving inclusive workplaces

Healthtech’s frontline role in Asia

Healthtech is no longer a “nice to have” in South and Southeast Asia: it is an essential part of building resilient healthcare systems. The region faces a unique mix of challenges:

• Large rural populations with limited access to formal healthcare
• Uneven distribution of medical professionals, especially in specialised fields
• Rising demand for eldercare as life expectancy increases
• A growing awareness of mental health and preventive care needs

At the same time, there are powerful enablers:

• High mobile penetration, even in rural areas
• Increasing acceptance of telemedicine post-COVID-19
• A growing pool of local founders building solutions for local problems

The best solutions emerging here are not imported wholesale from Silicon Valley. They are tailored to local realities: from bandwidth limitations to cultural sensitivities, and are designed to be affordable and accessible.

The global relevance of local solutions

One of the most exciting aspects of Asia’s healthtech innovations is their potential for global application. Technologies built to work in low-resource settings such as mobile-based diagnostics, community health worker training platforms, and AI-powered remote consultations, are not just relevant for emerging markets. They can also address healthcare access issues in underserved communities worldwide.

This is why listening to and supporting local founders is so important. The problems they are solving are urgent today in Asia, but they may be the same problems others will face tomorrow elsewhere.

Looking ahead

The future of healthtech in South and Southeast Asia will be shaped by the intersection of technology, cultural understanding, and policy support. Startups that can blend these elements will not only transform healthcare access in their home markets but could also influence how care is delivered globally.

For investors, this is a space where impact and returns are not mutually exclusive. For policymakers, it’s a chance to integrate nimble, tech-enabled solutions into broader public health strategies.

As I’ve learned, being close to the problem is the only way to design the right solution. And in healthtech, the right solution can mean the difference between life and death.

—

The post Healthtech in South and Southeast Asia – Seeing beyond the “obvious” appeared first on e27.