Frugal innovation Practices in Startups: The Case of a Frugal Medical Device in BOP and Middle Markets in Indonesia

This chapter explores how an Indonesian start-up, CTech Group, has developed a frugal cancer therapy for the base-of-pyramid and middle markets in Indonesia despite the local constrained environment. It aims to contribute the frugal innovation literature, and in particular, towards addressing the paucity of studies in healthcare. At CTech, the opportunity for a new cancer therapy device was discovered through the inventor’s identification of the inadequate and high-cost cancer therapies available in Indonesia. The main reasons are cost, complexity of usage, and poor integration into the local electrical grid. The prototype testing stage refers to the validation of the product design, benefits, and performance by testing an advanced physical version. The market testing of new products enables innovators to assess and refine the product performance and the related marketing plan in real settings with a larger group. Frugal innovators adjust the promotion and distribution strategies to include locally established channels and trustworthy networks.