THE NEXT HEALTHCARE DIAGNOSTIC BATTLE MAY NOT BE IN THE HOSPITAL

Why moving screening closer to the patient could become the bigger GTM opportunity

Healthcare innovation often focuses on one question:

Can we build a better diagnostic?

But as healthcare delivery evolves, another question is becoming increasingly important:

Can we get the diagnostic to the patient early enough?

That distinction is creating an interesting opportunity in medical devices, particularly around diabetic-foot and vascular screening.

And the recent funding activity around this space offers a useful case study in how healthcare GTM may be changing.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗔𝗟

In August 2026, Indian MedTech company Ayati Devices raised ₹15 crore in a Pre-Series A round led by Inflexor Ventures.

The company develops portable diagnostic technologies for diabetic-foot complications and peripheral vascular disease.

The funding is being directed toward manufacturing expansion, international market entry, hiring and further R&D in AI-enabled diagnostics.

What makes the story particularly interesting is not only the funding.

It is the deployment model behind the product.

Ayati says its devices have been deployed across more than 30 countries, with 10,000+ devices deployed, and its customers include clinics, hospitals and healthcare professionals such as physicians, diabetologists, endocrinologists and podiatrists.

The company is also positioning its technology to enable screening at primary-care centres and diabetes clinics rather than relying exclusively on tertiary hospitals.

That creates a much bigger GTM question.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗠 𝗜𝗦𝗡’𝗧 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗚𝗡𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗦

Diabetes management is often centred around blood-glucose control.

But diabetic-foot complications can develop alongside the disease and may require specialist intervention once they become advanced.

The commercial and clinical opportunity, therefore, is not simply:

“Build a better diagnostic.”

It is:

“Make earlier screening part of the patient's existing care pathway.”

That changes everything.

The product is no longer competing only against another device.

It is competing against:

• Low awareness
• Existing clinical workflows
• Specialist dependence
• Limited screening frequency
• Patient follow-up gaps
• Cost and accessibility barriers
• The inertia of established care pathways

This is where GTM becomes a healthcare strategy problem, not simply a sales problem.

𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚

Traditional pathway:

Patient → Diabetes Management → Complication → Specialist → Advanced Intervention

The opportunity is to move toward:

Patient → Routine Screening → Risk Identification → Referral → Early Intervention

That is a very different healthcare journey.

And it creates a very different GTM model.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗙𝗧

01 | 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗥?

The end beneficiary may be the patient.

But the buyer and influencer can be very different.

The ecosystem can include:

Diabetes clinics | Hospitals | Physicians | Diabetologists | Endocrinologists | Podiatrists

This means the product cannot rely on a single consumer proposition.

It needs an ecosystem proposition.

02 | 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡?

For the patient:

Earlier visibility into risk.

For the clinician:

Additional information to support clinical decision-making.

For the healthcare provider:

A screening capability that can potentially be integrated earlier into the care pathway.

The same technology therefore needs different value stories for different stakeholders.

03 | 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧 𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥?

This is where the GTM gets interesting.

Instead of positioning the device only inside tertiary hospitals, the opportunity can extend toward:

Primary-care centres → Diabetes clinics → Specialty clinics → Hospitals

The closer screening moves to the point where diabetes is already being managed, the easier it can become to integrate screening into an existing patient journey.

04 | 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗔 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗖 𝗔𝗗𝗢𝗣𝗧 𝗜𝗧?

Technology alone is rarely enough.

Healthcare adoption requires a combination of:

Clinical credibility+Workflow fit+Regulatory confidence+Economic rationale+Physician trust+Patient relevance

This is why healthcare GTM cannot simply copy the playbook used for consumer technology.

𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗜

AI adds another layer to the opportunity.

Ayati says it is developing AI capabilities across its diagnostic portfolio to provide clinicians with additional insights and eventually connect multiple diagnostic modalities into a common intelligence layer.

That could shift the product proposition from:

“Here is a diagnostic device.”

toward:

“Here is an integrated clinical decision-support ecosystem.”

That is a fundamentally different value proposition.

But it also creates new questions:

Will clinicians trust the output?

Does the AI improve workflow or add another layer of complexity?

How will clinical validation influence adoption?

How will regulators view evolving AI capabilities?

Who owns the decision when AI identifies elevated risk?

The technology may be sophisticated.

The GTM still has to be simple.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕IGGER MEDTECH SIGNAL

Ayati is one company.

But the broader market is also moving.

India's medical-device sector was valued at around$12 billion in FY24 and is projected to reach $50 billion by FY30, according to a Department of Pharmaceuticals study reported in August 2026.

Domestic medical-device manufacturing has also grown, while the government has been discussing greater domestic value addition and additional support for the sector.

In September 2026, the government also announced full funding for advanced medical-equipment testing infrastructure, with the stated aim of strengthening quality, innovation and global benchmarking.

So the opportunity is larger than one diagnostic category.

The ecosystem around medical devices, diagnostics, AI and decentralised healthcare delivery is becoming increasingly important.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗘𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗦

For healthcare product companies, the next GTM question may not be:

“Which hospital should we sell to?”

It may be:

“Where in the patient journey can our product create value earliest?”

That distinction can influence:

Target segment Channel strategy Physician engagement Patient education Pricing model Partnership strategy Adoption pathway Scale strategy

A diagnostic that is clinically valuable but difficult to integrate may struggle.

A product that fits naturally into the existing care journey can create a very different adoption opportunity.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗣𝟳𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗔 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘

Healthcare product growth does not begin when the product reaches the market.

It begins much earlier:

Who needs it?

Who influences the decision?

Where does the patient encounter the problem?

Where can the product enter the care pathway?

What evidence changes physician behaviour?

What makes adoption economically viable?

And what happens after the first use?

The strongest healthcare GTM strategies connect these questions before commercial scale begins.

Because sometimes the biggest opportunity is not building a better product.

It is changing where, when and why the product gets used.

𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦

If your product is clinically strong but adoption is slower than expected, ask:

Is the problem really the product?

Or is it:

The target segment? The care pathway? The value proposition? The channel? The physician adoption journey? The patient journey?

That is where GTM strategy meets healthcare intelligence.

CAP7TARA

Healthcare Intelligence | Patient Journey | GTM Strategy & Execution | Growth Advisory

Building Brands. Creating Opportunities.