Durban — Two young KwaZulu-Natal entrepreneurs earned themselves a spot in the latest Forbes 30 under-30 list.
Brothers Ricardo and Nicolas Lognath run Omninela Medical, an emerging health tech start-up.
They admitted to being pleasantly surprised and thrilled to have made the list, adding that it was exciting to be recognised by Forbes.
The brothers started the business in 2017 with R10000 and set out to address the pressing healthcare challenges faced in South Africa.
Omninela Medical, with its online platform, was conceived as a solution to provide affordable smart health devices and healthcare solutions to individuals and communities in South Africa. The company's mission was to bridge the gap in healthcare accessibility and affordability.
Nicolas, 27, a civil engineer and Ricardo, 30, a mechanical engineer, from Ballito, said when people ask how two engineers got into the healthcare space, they say it is by solving problems.
They have been nominated anonymously for the last three years and made the list by showing growth this year and impact last year.
“Ours is a story of resilience. To be considered for the list it is by the amount of social impact we have made. A business can make money, but it doesn’t mean you are impacting a lot of people. The big driver for us was that we incorporated a model into our business where we started tending to more critical care patients, like cancer patients and other illnesses and started assisting them through their medical aids and benefits they may not have known they have access to.
“We get critical care patients closer to the products that they need through their medical aids," said Nicolas.
He added that you also need to be a business that is eager to pivot and change and evolve in a climate of what South African consumers need.
Ricardo said they were looking at strategic partnerships to help them grow.
They said their business idea came after a visit to a hospital where they saw patients queuing in long lines for their monthly check-ups.
They researched on e-commerce that there were devices overseas that could be plugged into your phone where you could read your data and send the reading to your doctor.
“Those were blood pressure and cholesterol monitors, and glucose meters. They were available but slow in SA. We realised that most people don’t know that these exist, and so we used our platform to educate the customer about the product so they could make an informed decision.”
They said from just one item on their e-commerce platform in 2020, they now have over 10 000 items.
“People in outlying areas who are unable to reach a pharmacy are able to access our product online and we can deliver to them,” said Ricardo.
Nicolas said they are able to bridge the link between distributors and customers.
“We try to hear the problems of the consumers and solve them,” said Nicolas.
The duo also won The Entrepreneur by the Ilembe Chamber of Commerce in 2022.
They were both born and raised in Merebank and said their achievements were a culmination of their parents’ work and sacrifice.
“It’s a combination of both their personalities. We got the caring and nurturing side from our mum, Lynette, and the analytical and perseverance side from our dad, Pravesh, who is a mechanical director for a multinational company.”
They said during their studies they were tunnel-focused on becoming the best engineers and following in their dad’s footsteps.
“The main points we were taught in engineering were designing solutions and hearing customer problems," said Ricardo.
Other South Africans on the 2024 list include entrepreneurs Ann-Kathrin Joos, Luke Mostert and Daniel Novitzkas, social media content creator Chad Jones, singer Tyla Laura Seethal, actress Ama Qamata and rugby player Damian Willemse.
Sunday Tribune