Emerging Prairie’s mission is to celebrate startups and entrepreneurial spirit in the Red River Valley, and this is accomplished through many means, including connecting community members through events, publishing startup news, and interviewing entrepreneurs who are creating unique businesses in the area. We recently reconnected with Saurabh Tyagi, founder of Medytex, to learn what the company has been up to since it was last featured on our website.
As Saurabh explains, Medytex was a spawn of Startup Weekend Fargo 2013 with the mission to provide survey feedback applications for medical groups to analyze the effectiveness of their services. The Medytex team is currently continuing its development as a part of the NDSU Technology Incubator program.
EP: Tell us a little bit about Medytex – what is it, who’s a part of it, and who is your market?
Medytex is a smart feedback solution. Unlike the traditional methods such as paper and phone-based surveys, Medytex takes an entirely different approach. Patients take a short survey at checkout over a mobile device by selecting icons for each question and an optional comment at the end. We support multiple languages and audio assistance for the visually disabled. Healthcare providers are able to view the results in real-time in terms of charts and graphs. Our current target market is small- to medium-sized healthcare providers who are looking for an affordable and quality product to securely collect patient feedback.
EP: Can you explain the creation process for Medytex in relation to Startup Weekend Fargo 2013?
The idea behind Medytex started during Startup Weekend Fargo 2013 as Eathos project which was meant to be a restaurant survey app. Upon market research, we decided to bring the same system over to healthcare because we feel there is a greater need for a system that helps patients voice their concerns and make healthcare better.
EP: It’s been almost a year since Startup Weekend 2013, what is currently happening with Medytex and the NDSU incubator?
It has been an exciting year for us so far filled with ups and downs. We have learned a lot and matured as a business during this time. We have completed our product and business plan development. We got incorporated in June and just recently got accepted into NDSU’s Technology Incubator program, which is very exciting for us.
EP: How do you think the fact that you’re based in North Dakota has impacted your startup (either positively or negatively)?
Fargo is a really supportive community for upcoming startups. We have all the resources here that a startup business needs in order to take off. Since the Startup Weekend 2013, we have received a lot of positive response and help from people here. Being a midsize and growing community, everyone we met has been ready to help and listen.
EP: What is the biggest struggle that Medytex currently faces?
So far our biggest challenge has been securing funds in order to grow. With our acceptance into the incubator program we hope to connect with more people to help guide us through this process and move in the right direction.
EP: What can people in the Fargo community do to be a part of your entity and help it grow?
We are always looking to expand our network and get in touch with people with entrepreneurial spirit and experience. We will also be happy to talk to healthcare providers who might want to try our product.
