Mesh Bio, based in Singapore and the first startup from Asia in our accelerator program, wants to transform health screening and chronic disease management by building a predictive analytics platform. We have talked to founder Andrew Wu, PhD on the underutilization of clinical data, the challenges of healthcare provision in Southeast Asia, and the experience of working with Roche.

Andrew, how did you happen to found Mesh Bio?
My co-founders, Arsen and Melvin, and I first met when we studied in London, almost 2 decades ago. All three of us have a background in healthcare delivery: I’ve spent many years managing clinical laboratories,where we had a cobas 6000 system, and developing new clinical diagnostics. Arsen has put his focus on bioinformatics and medical software and Melvin in hospital management. We all shared the view that there were tremendous opportunities to increase the utility of multidimensional clinical data, and that it should be used in a more holistic way. During a breakfast with our families, we came up with the concept of Mesh Bio’s DARA analytics solution that translates clinical data and numbers into actionable insights.

What do you want to achieve with your solution?
We want to help patients better manage their health, lifestyle and disease risks. Especially in Southeast Asia, health care is still developing, and we are far behind when it comes for example to diagnosing and managing chronic diseases. With our predictive analytics solution, we want to contribute to better health screening and disease management in our region, but in the long term also globally. Many people find it interesting that three healthcare people found a tech company. But I think this is even an advantage as we have a different approach to digital health than other startups: We are not just driven by the technical possibilities, but by what we want to achieve for patients outcomes, and the technology is the means for us to achieve this goal.

How would you rate Singapore as a startup hub?
In Singapore, we have so many people with different backgrounds in one space. It is a vibrant and dynamic city, and it offers a lot of inspiration and opportunities. And we do have a great startup ecosystem in Singapore, with startup incubators like the National University of Singapore’s BLOCK71 – a technology-focused program which catalyzes and aggregates the start-up community in Singapore to support startups in their growth in key local, regional and global markets – where we are an active member. Singapore is also a great base for developing our business in Southeast Asia, and to take it on a global level from here.

Startup Creasphere is your first accelerator program. What is your experience so far?

Working with a global player like Roche is a great opportunity for us to broaden our horizon and to learn from the global perspective on the healthcare market.