We are seeing rapid growth in entrepreneurship in the past decades and the last few years; many women have entered the club. Women entrepreneurs are the women or a group of women who initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise. Till now women had restricted themselves to petty household business & cottage industries but things are changing remarkably. A favorable socio-economic environment is helping to unbox the hidden entrepreneurial talents among women. 

There is a well-known saying "If we educate a boy, we educate an individual but if we educate a girl, we are educating a whole generation. Same way increasing number of women entrepreneurs will not only provide economic opportunities for other women but also improve the social, educational, and health status of women, their families, communities thereby providing economic growth in the country. We have lot many examples of women who are the proud owners of giant business chains which they are managing extremely well moving abreast with their male counterparts and, undoubtedly outshining them. We at Medicircle are conducting the 'Top Women Entrepreneurs of Healthcare’, Series to showcase such inspirational female role models on a revolutionary journey.

Dr. Aparna Das is the co-founder and CEO of Jatayu Healthcare Technologies, Mumbai. She has over 10 years of experience in Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Research and Management. She has worked in various technical and business roles at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Reliance Industries, and L.E.K Consulting.

She has published research papers in International journals with more than 100 citations and was also Nominated for the Harold Weintraub graduate student award for her Ph.D. work. She has advised many Fortune 500 healthcare and pharmaceutical companies on their growth and expansion strategy as part of her Management Consulting stint.

Journey of an entrepreneur

Dr. Aparna says, "I have spent a lot of time in the healthcare and pharma space. I completed my Ph.D. and started working as a scientist, then I worked as a consultant with pharma companies for strategies. I always think of doing something on my own, as an entrepreneur but due to time constraints, it could not happen at that time. Post my MBA degree, I joined Glenmark. And then came the pandemic, it sorts of accelerated my thoughts. So, I and a few others came together and formed Jatayu Healthcare Technologies last year. 

Our main target is the medical record generation space. We want to make it seamless, easy, and accessible to everybody. Not only for patients but healthcare professionals also. At Jatayu, we believe that just as the whole world is becoming digitalized, even this should be digital. Other solutions are also there but it has not reached the level where digital payment has reached. We thought typing is a skill, so why not make it speech-based. We have got speech-based tools by which medical professionals can prepare patient's medical records. In India, medical professionals are overburdened as the patient-to-doctor ratio in itself is very high. So, this will improve the entire healthcare ecosystem and patient outcomes. We have just launched our first product in the market and are doing well.” 

Challenges and motivation

Dr. Aparna expresses, “Entrepreneurship is a hard journey. My biggest motivation is that I want to make a difference in the in-patient and healthcare ecosystem. I want to see the vision fulfilled which I had in my mind at large. Seeing the impact of my hardships has always been my driving force. Support from family and external sources has made this possible. People believe, in our vision, and this inspires us. We have got some funding and we are in the process of raising some more.” 

Dr. Aparna emphasizes, “Whenever you try to make changes in some existing process, you will get resistance initially. We have clearly said to doctors that if they are comfortable with it if it is helping them by reducing their work, then only adopt it. We want to reduce the workload of doctors along with properly producing records. After calculating everything, learning and adopting a new system versus the time and effort saved, the doctor takes their decision.”

Message to all aspiring women entrepreneurs 

Dr. Aparna concludes, “You will face challenges everywhere. From managing a house to managing the whole company as CEO, you will find challenges. But believe in yourself, and most of the women are lacking in it. Women are a little underconfident. When you will start believing in yourself, then you will achieve your goal. Women are born multitaskers which is an advantage. They are more organized. So, just believe in yourself and go for your goal." 

(Edited by Renu Gupta)