Hospitals are the only profitable healthcare businesses in India. Top 5 hospitals made 47000 crore in revenue last year. Startup founders building in health can learn more from studying a hospital business than downloading health apps of their competitors. Hospitals win because: Hospitals win because they control the full stack: diagnosis, treatment, follow-up. They have built-in distribution via doctors & insurance. And they’re anchored in trust. Preventive health in India still sells vitamins, not outcomes. There is high churn & zero trust.

There’s a massive untapped opportunity to build a healthy quick service restaurant (QSR) business in India. But most have failed to scale. We’ve evaluated several for investment. Here’s a breakdown of why the model hasn’t worked yet & and what it’ll take to make it work. Indians are becoming more health conscious, cities are growing, incomes are rising. Yet every “healthy” QSR has failed to scale. Why? Because health is a feature, not a category. QSRs thrive on habit, indulgence, and price. Three things health food companies struggles with.

India has 150millon+ people above the age of 60. Huge opportunity to keep them healthy & fit. But everyone’s focusing on GenZ & no one’s building for their parents. It’s a hard business and we’ve invested in two companies. Here’s why it’s tough & how one should crack it. First understand the reality.
1) Elders don’t see "health" as proactive. They're conditioned to think that “When something breaks, I’ll go to the doctor.” Prevention sounds like a luxury to them. You’re selling a solution to a problem they don’t know they have yet.

2) The buyer and the user are not the same person. The 65yo needs it. But their 35yo kid pays for it.
The truth is, you’re not really selling to the elder. You’re selling to their son or daughter who lives in Gurgaon and feels guilty. Who do you design for? Who do you market to? Who do you retain? - This is a real confusion

In the last decade, over 50+ telemedicine startups in India raised more than $2 billion and most have shut down. The pitch was- India has too few doctors, too many patients, and a broken healthcare system. Technology would fix it. But it didn’t.
Here’s a breakdown. Startups and investors saw telemedicine as a Silicon Valley playbook that can be forced onto India’s complex healthcare reality. It was always an overrated idea because it fundamentally misunderstood how healthcare actually works in India. Let me explain.

India’s protein market is booming but not in the way brands expect. As investors who’ve backed 10 different protein companies across various form factors, we’ve had front-row seats to what’s scaling well and setting cash on fire. Sharing some observations here #1 There is some adoption to protein chocolates, wafers, and RTD (ready-to-drink) beverages because they align with Indian eating habits. Indians snack, they don’t ‘supplement.’ You’ve to continuously prioritise taste over macros. Companies that market protein as an everyday indulgence rather than a rigid health choice gets customer attention.

We've evaluated 50+ mental health apps for investments and personally used 20+ products. None of them delivered meaningful results. The problem isn’t technology but the assumption that therapy is just pattern recognition & that AI can replace human presence. Here's a breakdown. The future of mental health isn’t AI alone-it’s AI augmenting the irreplaceable elements of human interaction. Some observations-

#1 There is lack of emotional intelligence in the current AI models that are only designed to simulate conversation. But therapy is more than words. It’s about trust, micro-expressions, and intuitive emotional calibration—things AI still struggles with. Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and others can generate empathetic responses, but they don’t “feel” anything. They simulate and patients know the difference.

There are over 500+ brands competing in India's healthy food market across quick commerce, online marketplaces & offline. Having engaged with over 80+ brands and investing in 10, there are some patterns & hard truths about scaling in this crowded space. This is a breakdown. First, here’s what you need to know about Indian consumers.

- Indians buy food based on trust, not just marketing – If a celebrity promotes it but their neighbour or friend doesn’t recommend it, they won’t buy it. Word of mouth is king.

- There is low willingness to pay premium, but high spend on indulgence. People will hesitate on a ₹200 protein bar but will happily buy a ₹500 artisanal mithai box. You need to frame health as indulgence, not sacrifice.

-They snack, they don’t diet. Instead of selling "healthy diets", sell better snacking alternatives. That’s why makhanas, chikkis, and seed mixes work.

- Unlike the west, 70% of discretionary food spend happens during festivals. Brands that nails Diwali, Rakhi, Ramzan and weddings will win.

-Instead of mimicking the US health food market, make Indian-first products. Local trumps global. India is not one country, it’s 20 mini-countries. What works in North won’t work in South. Regional customization is key.

- Indians love flavor and indulgence. If your product doesn’t taste good first, it won’t sell. Aim to be a weekly purchase, not a one-time trend.

If you’re an entrepreneur building for healthcare in India, don’t replicate U.S. or China models. It won’t work. I don’t know why many folks continue chasing templates that don’t fit India’s healthcare landscape. This is a breakdown for you. Thread 🧵 To set context, there are three forces that shape Indian Healthcare:

#1 Out-of-pocket expenditure: 54% of healthcare spending comes directly from patients (vs. 10% in the U.S., 35% in China).

#2 70% of outpatient care is in private hospitals, while 60% of hospital beds are in government facilities. 80% of care is delivered by single-doctor clinics.

#3 Urban India has 3.9 doctors per 1,000 people, rural India just 0.7. That’s the doctor density disparity.

We've invested in 35+ health companies in India and these are some observations on what works (and doesn't). If you're a founder building in health and planning to raise funds, these notes are for you.
1/5 1) Trust is the only moat in preventive health. In healthcare, people don’t buy products. They buy trust. Preventive health is not an impulse purchase. Unlike sick-care, preventive health requires behavior change, which Indians resist unless they deeply trust the source.

So, before you raise money, ask yourself:
-Do people trust you enough to pay upfront, or do you need constant marketing?
-Is there real evidence that your intervention works—or is it just another diet plan, gadget, or wellness promise?
If you don’t have a strong, organic trust loop, raising VC money won’t help. Money can buy ads, but it can’t buy credibility.

15 months back, I finished a marathon in 2hr 55mins. That’s an avg 4min 10sec/km pace for 42km. Today running a 5k at that pace is crazy tough for me. I did few experiments in between. Here’s what happened and what I learnt. First, I took a conscious break from running to focus more on strength.

Muscle gain was the goal.
Spent 3-4 months on it.

Which means running was not priority and training was focused on hypertrophy.

I almost stopped running.

I gained muscles. But……

Okay, about the recent post by Nithin and all the crazy theories being spread around – there are a few things people should know.

First, I work with Nithin closely. We have done workouts and races together. I know him a little more than others making opinions and commentary on social media.

So, what should be the takeaway from his post? -> Being fit is not equal to being healthy. Most people believe being healthy and being fit are one and the same. It’s not. They are not synonymous and are distinct states of physical well-being.

-> Being fit means your ability to perform physical activities such as endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power & speed. These are a set of attributes that people have or develop to perform a physical activity.

-> Being healthy is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. Your physiological and internal biological systems should be working in harmony.