By Arbind Gupta. Assistant Editor, Business India

Led by its flagship brand Flamingo, Ascent Meditech Ltd is betting big on the rapidly-growing Rs6,000-crore Indian market, which has been growing at a CAGR of over 18 per cent in the last five years. Ascent is a leading player in orthopedic soft goods (OSG), mobility, wound-care and healthcare product categories, with over 350 SKUs and, as the market will continue to maintain its momentum, the Mumbai-based company has chalked out a comprehensive plan to explore the market with a much ramped-up capability and capacity. It had started its journey way back in 1991, with manufacturing products under OSG (pain management) and healthcare products categories.

The company is looking to take its revenue to over Rs600 crore in the next 3-4 years from the present Rs250 crore. While India is its major market, Ascent Meditech is also exporting to over 45 countries with around 20 per cent of its revenues coming from exports. The major markets include the Middle East, South East Asia and Africa. Though it has presence across four categories, OSG products account for over 65 per cent of its total revenues. 

Apart from ramping up its capacity, the pan India player, which competes with names like VISSCO, Dynamic Techno and Tynor in the organised market, is also gearing up on the sales and marketing front in a big way. Backed by the UK-based private equity player LeapFrog, which has made an investment of about Rs70 crore, Ascent has unveiled a new TV campaign, starring its band ambassador Hrithik Roshan, saying ‘What you do, ultimately matters’ in the new normal. The story in the campaign revolves around the central offering of pain management solutions to various lifestyle problems through its four top-of-the-line Flamingo products, namely heat belts, knee caps, lumbar sacro-belts and anklets. 

“As we look to explore the opportunities, we are also strengthening ourselves in a more holistic manner and that is where we have adopted a multi-pronged approach to strengthen our market presence in a significant manner,” says Rajiv Mistry, founder & managing director, Ascent Meditech Ltd. “As part of our strategy, we are looking to communicate to our consumers afresh through this new campaign, as we are seeing a distinct change in consumer behaviour and mindset. On the other hand, we are ramping up our product portfolio with support from a newly set-up manufacturing facility”.

The company, which started its journey with just four SKUs, has been proactively introducing new products across its categories. During this pandemic, it also entered the personal protection space, introducing FlamiMask, FlamiMask Plus and Flamitizer under its flagship brand Flamingo.