1 in 4 Indians will suffer from diseases like diabetes, lung diseases, stroke or cancer before they cross the age of 70. Annually, 5.8 million Indians lose their lives to Non-communicable diseases or NCDs according to WHO’s report. NCDs are caused primarily due to unhealthy lifestyles and adverse physical and social environments.

With the outbreak of the pandemic, many are now taking strides in taking care of their own health. There is a great thirst to understand the principles and practice of Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Siddha and Unani or AYUSH in the general public. This is primarily due to the growing instances of Non-Communicable Diseases, Lifestyle disorders, long term chronic diseases, multidrug-resistant diseases and the outbreak of new diseases.

Preventive healthcare is now a $100 billion industry in our country. Coming from an army family, Avneet Bhatia is a true believer in natural healing. This IIT Bombay alumnus was actively engaged in fitness and sports. 

Her belief in preventive health and alternative medicine made her start Naturefit in 2020. Naturefit is on a mission to make quality healthcare and alternative therapies accessible to all the citizens of our country. This Navi Mumbai venture provides therapies from Ayurveda and Homeopathy to Physiotherapy and Psychology. It also offers to track critical vitals like sleep cycle, water intake and more.

Starting with an initial investment of Rs 90 lakh, the startup is now making Rs 15 lakhs in revenue in just 2 months. They also host 75 brands on its platform with which it can offer natural and herbal product offerings in the category of food, beauty and baby care. 

Currently, the startup is offering free video consultations with doctors and healthcare practitioners. The offer of free consultation lasts till April 1st. The startup eyes to gain 30,000 doctors in the next 2 years and scale its partnered brands to 300 by the end of this year.

Startups like Naturefit are adding more power to the Ministry of AYUSH’s plan of growing this sector to $23.3 million and beyond. The industry is already on the rise from its previous $18.1 million in the 2014-20 period. Despite the slump in economic activity due to the pandemic in 2020, the industry was projected to rise.