Mark Smith
Sanrai is an innovative medical device distribution company focused on the emerging markets. We have offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Our mission is to penetrate the underserved markets by making high quality, disruptive medical devices accessible to all.
Tell us about yourself?
I am passionate about making the world a more equitable place. We focus on markets that have historically been overlooked. Healthcare is a human right and one that I am proud to be working on every day!
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Taking the time to reflect and ensure company wide strategy is being followed is time well spent!
What problem does your business solve?
Right now, access to innovative medical devices is very unequal in the world. The latest technologies are geared and developed for the Global North. We aim remove the challenges in commercialization of disruptive medical devices in the emerging markets. This way we make it easy for doctors, hospitals, patients, etc to actually use medical devices that can significantly improve their lives.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Our story started in India when a family member could not get the care that she needed when the same types of medical devices were available in the US. Sanrai was born to make innovation available to everyone, no matter the country they live in.
What is your magic sauce?
Our focus is on education and awareness. People will use medical devices only when they understand how that product can help them. We focus on education as the first step is people need to know what’s available to them. Then, we solve the logistics, operational, service and support pieces as well to make it easy for our customers to use innovative medical devices.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
Even with a presence in more than 50 countries, we continue growing by adding new partners and by adding more innovative products. We have been a very respiratory focused company, but over the next 5 years, we are expanding our diagnostics and point of care solutions. Sanrai is focused on finding the newest technology and developing our markets to bring the best care available for those in need.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
In beginning, we were an unknown to both customers and our suppliers. We spent a lot of time and effort building trust both upstream and downstream. That trust is the most important part of our business. Our customers trust us to bring them the best available technology and our manufacturing partners trust us to successfully launch and commercialize their products. This took time to build!
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We are always looking for more innovative medical devices and partners in different emerging market countries! You can check out our website – www.sanrai.com to see the products we carry and contact us about becoming a partner!
