Two Quiet Innovations

In March 2025, a small medtech company in Pune launched a diagnostic tool called Sep-Scan. It is designed to detect sepsis in newborns, a serious and often life-threatening infection, using just one drop of blood. The results come in 20 minutes, and the device is made for smaller hospitals and clinics, where access to advanced testing can be difficult.

This kind of technology has the potential to improve neonatal care, especially in under-resourced areas. But apart from a single story in a local newspaper, the public barely heard about it. There was no press release, no explainer article, and the company’s website had not been updated.

Meanwhile, in Bengaluru, Aindra Systems has developed CervAstra, an AI-powered cervical cancer screening tool designed for use in mobile health vans and low-resource settings. It uses visual data and machine learning to help screen women who might otherwise have no access to preventive care. But here too, the details were mostly shared within industry and investor circles.

These are not rare cases. Across the biotech and healthtech sectors, important work is being done quietly. Science moves forward, but the public story often doesn’t. That means patients, doctors, investors, and even policy makers may never fully understand what a new technology does, or why it matters.

This gap isn’t about failure. It’s about focus. Founders are rightly concentrating on building reliable solutions, meeting regulations, and running clinical tests. Still, in a world where public trust, funding, and adoption depend on understanding, communicating the science clearly and early may help more than we realise.

When the Public Doesn’t Understand the Science

In recent years, we’ve seen how quickly health-related misinformation can spread. From vaccines to gene editing, topics that require careful explanation are often simplified or misunderstood in online spaces.

When accurate, easy-to-understand information is not available, people tend to rely on what they hear on social media, even if it isn’t correct.

This can be especially challenging in areas like:

• Diagnostics and genomics, where the science can seem technical or confusing

• Climate and environmental science, where facts are sometimes lost in opinion

• Digital health tools and therapeutics, where public trust is essential

If the right information isn’t accessible, gaps form. And once those gaps are filled by speculation or fear, it becomes harder to build trust later on.

Why Founders Should Be Part of the Conversation

It’s understandable that startups may delay communication until a product is fully ready, or until they have a bigger team to handle outreach. But sharing the journey, even in small ways, builds trust early on.

Founders, in particular, play an important role. When they speak directly, in interviews, blog posts, or even short updates, they help humanise the work. They show that science is not just about machines or molecules, but about people trying to solve real problems.

Well-known biotech leaders like Anne Wojcicki (23andMe) or Jason Kelly (Ginkgo Bioworks) have helped make their science more understandable simply by showing up and speaking plainly. In India, many scientists and entrepreneurs are doing excellent work, but their stories often remain inside labs and conference rooms.

Why Science Communication Helps the Business, Too

Talking about science doesn’t just help the public, it also supports the company’s long-term goals. Clear, consistent communication can:

• Build trust with patients, clinicians, and the broader public

• Attract talent, especially scientists and engineers who want to work for a mission they understand

• Strengthen investor confidence, by showing transparency and direction

• Support policy and regulatory discussions, where public opinion plays a role

In short, telling your story clearly can open doors that pure data cannot.

What Good Public Science Content Looks Like

Communicating science doesn’t mean simplifying it to the point of inaccuracy, or trying to go viral. It just means making it easier for more people to understand.

Here are a few formats that work:

• LinkedIn posts from the founder or team, explaining a breakthrough or milestone

• Short blogs that explain what the technology does and who it helps

• Simple videos or visuals to break down complex ideas

• Collaborations with science writers or communicators who can help translate technical material into clear language

Some companies do this well. For example, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Moderna had already been explaining mRNA science through public channels. That early effort helped build trust when their vaccine entered the spotlight.

Common Concerns, And Why They’re Solvable

Many teams worry that communication takes too much time, or that it’s not their area of strength. That’s fair. But starting small is often enough.

• Don’t have a big team? One clear update every month can make a difference.

• Not sure how to write for the public? You can hire communicators, or simply speak as you would to a friend outside your field.

• Worried about being ‘too early’? Communicating your purpose doesn’t require a final product. It just requires clarity.

A Small Step Toward a Bigger Impact

Biotech, medtech, and healthtech are building the tools that will shape how we live, treat illness, and care for the planet. But for these solutions to make an impact, people need to understand them.

That understanding begins not in a lab or boardroom, but in the way the science is shared.

Every founder doesn’t need to be a storyteller. But every breakthrough deserves to be understood. Investing in public-facing science content is one small, simple way to make that happen.