Managed home haemodialysis on licensed machines, watched by a remote nurse desk
TL;DR Dialyhome runs haemodialysis in patients' homes on machines that already hold Indian licences. It installs water treatment, trains a family care partner and watches every session from a nurse desk. Families who now lose half a day three times a week pay for it, and you build a service rather than a new machine.
Home haemodialysis barely exists in India. About 1.75 lakh Indians were on dialysis in 2018 and fewer than 50 of them did haemodialysis at home[1]. Everyone else travels to a centre two or three times a week. India had roughly 2,600 nephrologists for the whole country[1], so the good centres cluster in cities.
The cost is time as well as money. Private sessions run about ₹1,800–3,500 each and a month of dialysis costs ₹24,000–50,000 before travel[3]. For an elderly or bedridden patient every trip needs a vehicle and a family member who misses work, which adds up fast.
And the centres aren't always great either. Many reuse dialysers up to 25 times and do not always test water quality to a mandatory standard[1].
First, the regulatory bit - this is treatment. Haemodialysis is prescribed and supervised by a nephrologist and delivered on CDSCO-licensed equipment that Dialyhome does not make. The monitoring software only shows machine readings to nurses and doesn't change therapy, so confirm that it stays outside device rules.
The seed pitched a new AI-powered portable machine. We reframed it. CDSCO puts the parts around a dialysis machine, from the dialyser to the reverse-osmosis water unit, in high-risk Class C[5], so expect the machine itself to need at least that much evidence. A large hospital chain and a global device maker announced a portable Indian machine in 2013 with a 2016 launch target[10] and we found no sign it reached patients. Don't repeat that bet.
So how does it work? Dialyhome buys or leases licensed machines, fits a home RO unit and trains one family member over several weeks until they can run sessions safely. A technician attends at first, then visits only as needed. Each session streams blood pressure and machine alarms to a nurse desk that can call the family or the nephrologist.
No commute also means patients can dialyse more often and for longer, if their nephrologist agrees.
The patient is usually over 50 and frail, and the family pays out of pocket. Centre dialysis already costs them ₹24,000–50,000 a month[3]. An Indian health technology assessment put home haemodialysis at about ₹18,000 a month in running costs[4], but that leaves out equipment and the support you have to provide.
My estimate is a price of ₹45,000–70,000 a month, which means only affluent families early on. Government employee schemes pay ₹2,900–3,335 per session[1] and don't cover home sessions yet.
Machines built for home use are finally arriving. One US system won clearance for home haemodialysis with a care partner in 2024[6]. In India, one domestic manufacturer put a domestically made haemodialysis machine into a hospital in May 2026 and says it holds a manufacturing licence[7], and in September 2026 it reported UK registration for home use[8]. A licensed Indian home-capable machine would cut both equipment cost and import risk.
The narrow number is tiny - fewer than 50 home haemodialysis patients in India[1]. The broader pool is about 1.75 lakh people on dialysis[1]. The government programme reports 33.16 lakh patients served across 1,925 centres[2], which shows how big centre-based care is.
Nobody has published how many families would pay a premium to dialyse at home. That's the number you need to find.
One large dialysis chain lists home haemodialysis among its services and advertises dialysis at home with remote monitoring, but publishes no prices or volumes[9]. Domestic machine makers are pairing their machine with a managed-centre model[7]. Abroad, a few US device makers sell home-capable machines through clinic networks[6].
The gap is an Indian operator built only around home patients, with care-partner training and night cover.
| Difficulty | Hard (65/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹6–11.5 Cr |
| Time to launch | 12–18 months |
The machines exist. The hard part is running a high-risk treatment inside people's homes, and that means safe water where supply is patchy, power backup and someone answering when a needle slips at 2 am. You also need nephrologists willing to sign off on home care. Equipment ties up capital in every home before the first month's fee arrives.
Yes. This is treatment at home, so you need licences before the first session.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't let AI change a prescription or decide a session is safe. The nephrologist and the trained nurse make those calls, and the software only flags.
Want to work out the AI layer for Dialyhome? Talk to Yash →
Here's what can go south -
I like this one, but only for the right founder. If you come from dialysis operations or nephrology nursing and have a nephrologist co-founder then it's a real fit. If you're a hardware founder itching to build a machine then it is not for you.
Before you raise, sign three nephrologists who will refer patients and get 10 families to pay a deposit at your planned price.
My estimate is ₹6–11.5 Cr, covering licensed machines, home RO units, nurses and family training before revenue settles. The kit breaks it down line by line.
Yes. Your base needs clinical establishment registration, every machine and dialyser needs a valid CDSCO licence from its supplier, and every patient needs a nephrologist's prescription.
Probably, because leased machines plus a trained family member works anywhere. Rules on home treatment and devices differ a lot though, so check with your local regulator first.
The free Dialyhome validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the device and clinical-establishment checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for families and nephrologists, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Dialyhome or something close to it? The make-or-break work is a home safety protocol nephrologists trust and an equipment model that doesn't sink your cash, and that's the kind of thing I help founders work out. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.