The global MRI industry is controlled by a few major corporations that often seek to acquire smaller innovators to maintain their position. India’s first MRI manufacturer, Bengaluru-based Voxelgrids, encountered such an approach during the pandemic. Founder Arjun Arunachalam declined an acquisition offer to protect his goal of creating an affordable scanner for wider use across India. Support from Tata Trusts and Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu provided crucial funding. The resulting machine is expected to cut scan costs by about 70 percent, weigh 50 percent less, and reduce installation expenses by 40 percent. Arunachalam, an electrical engineer with prior experience at GE Healthcare, aims to lower India’s annual MRI import bill of roughly 3,500 crore rupees. The project addresses the high price of imported systems, which currently limits access in many regions.
