Odisha-based BabyCue wins Rs 5 lakh challenge prize for DiaCue diarrhoea test

Odisha-based healthtech startup BabyCue Private Limited has won first prize at the Tribal Business Conclave Open Grand Challenge for DiaCue, a rapid diagnostic test for children under five. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.

The challenge was organised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs with Startup India and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Founder Manish Kumar Swain and Co-founder Saumyashree Swain received the award from President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

DiaCue is a point-of-care test designed to distinguish bacterial from non-bacterial diarrhoea. BabyCue began developing it in 2024.

According to the company’s website, the test delivers results in 15 to 20 minutes and is designed to work without complex laboratory equipment or cold-chain storage.

The company is incubated at KIIT Technology Business Incubator and has received support from the Technology Development Board under the Department of Science and Technology for its rapid diagnostic platform.

Conventional stool testing can take 24 to 48 hours, so doctors often decide on treatment before results arrive. Antibiotics may then be prescribed even when an infection is not bacterial.

According to the company, its founding team spent time at primary and community health centres in rural Odisha during a BIRAC SPARSH Fellowship in 2022. Healthcare workers there often had the clinical knowledge to treat patients but lacked tools to identify the cause of diarrhoeal infections quickly.

By helping clinicians tell whether an infection is bacterial, the test aims to support more targeted treatment and reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions. This is particularly relevant for rural and tribal communities, where access to timely diagnostic facilities can be limited.