BeatO, a digital care platform for controlling and reversing diabetes announced that they have more than two million people with diabetes on their platform. The platform has reportedly seen its user base grow by 17x in the past five years. 

The majority of BeatO’s current user base is from south India (36 per cent) followed by north India (25 per cent), west India (21 per cent) and other parts of the country.

Post-pandemic the company has reportedly witnessed an upsurge of 5x new user registration from tier IV and beyond. Most new user registrations have been from areas and districts around Ernakulam (8x), followed by Alappuzha (7x), Thanjavur(6x)  and Pathanamthitta(6x). 

BeatO’s user base in tier IV cities has seen an exponential growth curve, with about 38 per cent of their users currently belonging to such cities. 

Traditionally, Indians have lacked awareness around subjects like diabetes, which has obstructed people from getting proper diagnosis and care, well in time. With only 5 per cent of specialist doctors for people with diabetes residing in tier II cities and beyond, the population there is underserved and access to good quality healthcare is severely limited, said the company.

BeatO aims to bridge this gap with its digital app platform to ensure people across India can access good quality affordable diabetes care.

“Lack of medical infrastructure and access to quality healthcare has always been a concern in India, especially in tier III and IV cities. The pandemic only exposed the prevailing issues and made us all realise the importance of digital infrastructure and its role in creating a bridge to control the impact of chronic diseases like diabetes," said Gautam Chopra, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), BeatO.

“People are now more mindful of the various risk factors associated with diabetes, are able to recognise the typical early symptoms of diabetes and are seeking help to manage the condition with the right medication and care," he added.

According to a recent Lancet report, India is home to approximately 77 million people with diabetes, and these numbers are predicted to increase to 125 million by 2045. The report also concludes that approximately one in five adults is now estimated to have diabetes in India. 

Findings from a BeatO survey with a sample size of a million users on its smartphone-connected care ecosystem between October 2015 to April 2022 revealed that the majority of male users belonged to tier-IV (39 per cent), followed by metro (33 per cent), tier-II (21 per cent), and tier-I or tier-III (7 per cent). The majority of females belonged to the metro (40 per cent), followed by tier-IV (32 per cent), tier-II (21per cent), and tier-I or tier-III (7 per cent) respectively.