Healthifyme Founder, Tushar Vashisht on Funding, Growth, Healthcare in India

The Neon Show

According to WHO, obesity has doubled since the turn of the century, and almost 40% of all adults globally, i.e. 2 billion people - are overweight or obese, resulting in 4 million deaths per year.

HealthifyMe an AI driven health and fitness app startup, took up this problem statement 10 years back and has been building and solving for individuals to curate and track a healthier diet.

The company crossed 25 million downloads recently and is on track to hit $50 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) in the next six months.

In today’s episode we’ve brought Tushar Vashisht, CEO and Co-founder of HealthifyMe, to talk about the journey of creating a monetizable healthcare & fitness platform in India.

They’ve recently raised $75M in Series C round led by LeapFrog and Khosla Ventures, with which it plans to further expand into India and South East Asia markets besides making inroads into North America. Currently, it generates around 25 percent of its revenues from overseas markets.

During the episode, Tushar talks about the casual and unexpected moments when he got several breakthrough ideas, why they consider minor consistent pivots essential for thriving in the long-term and much more.

Notes -

02:29 - Roller coaster moments in HealthifyMe’s journey

06:02 - Strengths as a founder

08:21 - Essence of assembling a team for experienced mentors as board members

13:11 - Experiencing living like an average Indian

15:17 - Early concerns with HealthifyMe’s model during initial funding

20:52 - Advice for entrepreneurs: When to pivot vs when to be persistent?

26:19 - Myth: Indians don’t pay for digital healthcare services

28:05 - Growth hacks like VaccinateMe

29:25 - Getting the first 1000 customers