The startup has also hired two industry veterans — Dr Cliff Wright, formerly with Johnson & Johnson, Bausch + Lomb, as Executive Vice President-North America; and Armond T Dantino, formerly with Johnson & Johnson and Germanybased HeidelbergBSE -0.04 % Engineering, as Senior Director of Sales and Marketing for North American Operations — to head its efforts in the US. 

 

“We have sold in 25 countries, but that has been through distributors or customers directly. This is the first time we are opening a subsidiary and putting a significant amount of investment to grow this market said K Chandrasekhar, CEO, Forus Health. 

 

“We felt that when we enter the US market, we have to be in a position to have a range of products. The market should see us, not as a one product company. They should know that every three to six months, new products will keep coming.” Forus Health, which was founded in 2010, has deployed its flagship adult retinal imaging device, 3nethra classic, in close to 25 countries and is backed by Accel Partners, IDG Ventures and Asian Health Fund. 

 

“The 3nethra classic camera is a remarkable achievement. It is portable, durable, affordable and engineered to the highest level of quality. It is exciting to launch such a great product into the American market and we are confident that it will fulfil the Forus mission of helping to eradicate preventable blindness,” said Wright. 

 

The Bengaluru-based startup also received its FDA approval at the beginning of this year and recently launched its neonatal eye screening device 3nethra Neo. “Forus has established itself as a leading medical device company in the Opthalmology space in India.

 

They have very innovative products that are relevant for developed markets such as the US and Europe. They have the proper regulatory approvals,” said Anand Daniel, Partner at Accel Partners, who is a director on Forus Health’s board.