 Even if you have never heard of medical doctor turned entrepreneur Nayana Somaratna, it would be hard not to be impressed by the fact that an iPhone application, or generally called an ‘app’, developed by a Sri Lankan startup founded by him, and his partners Parinda Jayasiri and Sandaruwan Gunathilake, has become the "#1 free medical app" download in the US over the last two weeks.
This is after the app, a clinical case study teaching tool for medical professionals called "Prognosis" was released by Colombo-based Medical Joyworks for the first time just over two months ago via Apple's AppStore. Further, it was also one of only three to win at this year's recently concluded Mini Seedcamp Mumbai. This was a one-day event from which finalists were selected for London-based Seedcamp Week, slated for January 2011; where they will be joined by others from a further nine regional Mini Seedcamp competitions already held across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The overriding goal being to promote entrepreneurship in Europe by selecting the five most feasible ideas and giving them each 50,000 Euros, a 3-month stay in London and necessary expertise, in return for a 10% stake in their startups, so that these five can effectively enter the market over there.
In truth, even without Seedcamp funding, Medical Joyworks' future success appears to be in the cards. "Prognosis" recently opened itself up to a much larger audience through a new Facebook release. There is also the impending arrival of the next app; "Ea to Beat", a release geared for a wider market than its predecessor since it is more laymen focused, selling itself as "helping people with Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol learn which foods are good for them." Further out, there are prospects for "Prognosis" on other mobile operating systems, including iPhone contender Google-based Android and mobile phone sales leader Nokia's Ovi, which together encompasses the overwhelming portion of world's smart devices. In Mr. Somaratna's own words; "We hope to focus on the Android and Nokia (Ovi Store) platforms as well - although the number of different phone models available makes development much more complex and tedious than for the iPhone. We also hope to release an iPad specific version in early 2011."
 Most interesting of all may be strategy that led to this app's creation: "Of the 1,000,000 doctors in the United States, 64% already own smart phones - and about half of those are iPhones. They are very popular among both medical students and nurses too. In addition, the iPad is rapidly gaining traction among the medical community - and applications developed for the iPhone run out of the box on iPads as well. Also, the iPhone/iPad application store allows easy distribution of applications as there is a 'medical' category for apps targeted at healthcare personnel," reveals Mr. Somaratna.
Focusing on this niche has led to success for "Prognosis" in the US, and even to some degree in Canada, the UK and Australia; an outcome which, according to Mr. Somaratna, has "validated" Medical Joyworks’ strategy for this app. It seems that, although its was targetted at a niche market, it may soon become known as one of few Sri Lankan "killer apps" by virtue of its number of downloads.
Meanwhile, asked for his advice for up-and-coming local entrepreneurs, he recommends "they participate in the online forums frequented by other entrepreneurs and investors like news.ycombinator.com and showcase their products and ideas - the feedback obtained is invaluable." In addition, he indicates they should also "apply to the various startup competitions like Seedcamp, Ycombinator and Techstars. Linkedin is also a very useful tool to get connected to like minded people." He further adds: "The lack of seed financing and a risk averse investor culture in Sri Lanka is daunting, but there are Sri Lankans who have made their fortunes in the West and who are now coming back as investors in their home country...
Most (small scale) foreign investors lack contacts in Sri Lanka and thus are reticent to invest in a country they are unfamiliar with - although if the product and team is good, most of them are likely to make an exception... [Try] and seek out other entrepreneurs who have got funded and ask them what can be done and whether they can help find funding - most of them have been in the same boat and will be more than willing to help out."
Of Sri Lanka, he opines; "At the moment the Sri Lankan technology sector is still relatively small - although it is growing rapidly. I would say that it is still too small to sustain a significant domestic targeted technology business. A serious startup would need to target international markets as well... [Lack] of contacts, especially international contacts is a significant problem, especially when attempting to penetrate international markets.
Lack of an entrepreneurship culture, poor tolerance of failures (as opposed to the United States, where failure is just considered as another step towards ultimate success) and an immature angel investor and venture capital investor segment are other significant problems. Most entrepreneurs end up asking for bank loans in lieu of investment - but given the lack of collateral and the inherent risk in creating a startup, these are rarely on favourable terms." |
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