Dr Shikha pioneered the concept of Nutrigenetics, which combines modern medicine techniques and the principles of Ayurveda. With the proven concept of Nutrigenetics, she decided to help the masses and shifted her focus from working single handedly to having a group of intellectuals. Thus, Nutri Health Systems was launched in the year 1998 which was rebranded in 2016 as Dr Shikha’s NutriHealth post their series A funding of Rs 12 crores from Singapore based OneHealth Ventures Pte Ltd.
With extensive investment on technology, services at Dr Shikha’s
NutriHealth are delivered through Voice, Video, and App. Their business model is built around Technology, domain knowledge, and human intervention for diagnosis, empathy, and motivation. Nutri Health has a tele-nutrition centre with over 175 people including doctors, nutritionists, and technologists.
NutriHealth’s vision is to help each person actualize his or her highest potential for well-being, effectively and with sensitiveness, by providing personalized nutrition advice.
In an interaction with Sujata Sangwan of BWDisrupt, Dr. Shikha Sharma, Founder, NutriHealth, shares journey of her venture.
Q. When and how was Dr. Shikha's NutriHealth initiated? Dr Shikha Sharma is the founder of Dr Shikha’s NutriHealth, a platform offering comprehensive health and diet management programmes. A medical doctor by training, Dr Shikha hails from Kashmir and it was while working as a Junior Doctor in Cardiology that she realised that most of the patients in the ICU had no idea about the root cause of their heart problem. They were also likely to relapse into unhealthy eating after treatment. This prompted her to set up NutriHealth Systems in the year 1998, a professional and scientific preventive healthcare system. The company was rebranded as Dr Shikha’s NutriHealth in 2016 post their series A funding of Rs 12 crores from Singapore-based OneHealth Ventures Pte Ltd.
Since its inception, the organisation has been actively working in the field of weight management and the prevention and treatment of lifestyle-related disorders. Dr Shikha’s NutriHealth brings together Modern Medicine techniques and Ayurvedic principles of different food types for different body constitution. This helps them in preparing personalised diet programmes. The services at NutriHealth are delivered through Voice, Video, and App.
NutriHealth has a tele-nutrition centre with over 175 people including doctors, nutritionists, and technologists. They believe in women empowerment and this is evident from the fact that their service team of nutritionists and doctors comprises all women.
NutriHealth has serviced a customer base of over 50,000 till date and manages 2,00,000+ calls every month. The organisation has an active base of over 3500 clients at any given point in time who subscribe to their 3,6 or 12 month services. Their mobile app, called YuWow, has an active customer usage of about 85% and the organisation gets over 40% new clients through their existing satisfied clients!
At NutriHealth, every client is assigned a personal doctor and nutritionist. Once proper counselling by the nutritionist is done, the client is given a customized diet plan based on their lifestyle and health conditions. The mobile app helps track the client’s progress and helps them choose recipes they like. The client can also reach out to their nutritionist and doctor through a phone call or Skype.
Q. How did the company re-brand itself post funding? What are the changes that have come over?Post its funding, NutriHealth has made an extensive investment on technology enabling them to deliver their services through Voice, Video, and App. Their business model has been remodelled to bring centralization by using Technology, domain knowledge, and human intervention for diagnosis, empathy, and motivation.
The customer base serviced by NutriHealth has grown by over 100% and a considerable number of international clients have come on board.
The employee strength of the organisation has also grown by almost 75%.
Unique key features, challenges and differentiation
Key Differentiator – Integration of Vedic Nutrition with modern Science to create the concept of Nutri-geneticsFollowing the concept of Nutri-genetics, NutriHealth analyses the blood test reports and Prakriti, the body type of any individual before designing and prescribing diets. Nutri-genetics is based on the observation that each person is different genetically and that the effect of food on each person varies according to his or her genetic structure. The ‘joy of healthy living’ and ‘Living Light’ inspired the formation of NutriHealth. Life is best experienced when one is healthy. Nutrition management is the most sustainable way to stay healthy in the long run. NutriHealth’s vision is to help each person actualize his or her highest potential for well-being, effectively and with sensitiveness, by providing personalised nutrition advice.
Tele-nutritionTele-nutrition via centralized contact centre and providing their services through Voice, Video, and App. This is a home based wellness model.
Compliance monitoring protocolSuccessfully built and executed compliance monitoring protocol which has helped us in delivering effective results over the period of time. They are able to integrate behavioural modifications with nutrition plans.
Key Services:Weight Loss Program- The weight loss program or “Holistic Weight Management Program” is designed to help individuals shed excess weight while following Ayurvedic principles (example, eating according to body type, avoiding wrong food combinations, etc.) and improving on other medical condition such as diabetes mellitus, high cholesterol, high BP etc.
Weight Gain Program- Weight gain, like weight loss also requires expert guidance. The team of doctors and nutritionists at NutriHealth look for any possible medical cause in individuals having low body weight and accordingly, advise suitable diet plan and herbs which help to increase the food intake and to digest and assimilate it appropriately. Their team of experienced Ayurveda doctors and nutritionists provides customers the right advice to enhance your body’s ability to digest and assimilate food.
Diabetes Management Program- Firstly the experts will understand the type of food the customer should be choosing according to their prakriti (bio-energy) and according to the effect of a particular food on their blood glucose levels (called glycemic index). Customised dietary changes and recommendation of herbs along with lifestyle modifications are then made under the guidance of Ayurveda doctors and Nutritionists.
Cholesterol Management Program- The team of Ayurveda Doctors at NutriHealth first analyse the individual’s Prakriti (body type) to understand the physiological and pathological reasons behind elevated levels and then recommend appropriate herbs along with the diet plan designed by the Nutritionist in order to remove toxin from body and manage the elevated levels of cholesterol.
Therapeutic Programs in Specific Disorder- Therapeutic programs are designed to manage disorders such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Lactose Intolerance, Gluten Enteropathy, Renal disorders and Liver disorders. The team of Ayurveda Doctors and Nutritionists guide on right foods choices according to the medical condition and the bioenergy (called prakriti in Ayurveda) of the individual and also prescribe appropriate herbs.
Program for Specific Needs- Specific dietary plans are also provided to take care of the specific needs during pregnancy, lactation, children and for sports persons. The doctors & nutritionists at NutriHealth provide food plans, which take care of extra demand of nutrition during pregnancy and lactation. For sports persons, the diet is designed based on intensity of physical activity and training, which help in enhancing their performance during events. The experts at Dr.Shikha’s NutriHealth strongly believe that the specific diet plans need to be devised according to your specific needs and requirements.
Hair and Skin Package- The plan includes dietary modifications, inclusion of herbs and lifestyle modifications, according to unique body type (prakriti analysis). Proteins and antioxidants rich fruits and vegetables too are included in the diet along with the herbs like Aloevera, Amla juice that nourish the skin and hair.
Detox Plan- Detox plan helps to eliminate toxins accumulated due to wrong food combinations, excessive intake of tea, coffee, sugary foods, refined flours and preservative, artificial flavour present in the foods, stress and environmental pollution. Detox plan helps in boosting liver, intestine, kidney and skin to function more efficiently to remove toxins from the body. Detox plans also helps cleanse, detoxify, recharge, rejuvenate, and renew the digestive system, relaxes nerves and muscles and helps you with radiant skin and lustrous hair. Detox plans are customised and include diet plan based on prakriti along with herbs and specific panchkarma therapy.
Challenges- Building and retaining the knowledge protocols and business insights
- Successful transitioning of the face to face model to a tele-nutrition model
- Changing the perception of Ayurveda from unscientific old remedies to scientific vedic nutrition solutions
- Standardising advisory despite a huge variation in experience, nutrition knowledge in amongst nutrition professionals
Details of the marketing plan, market size & opportunity NutriHealth will be focusing majorly on the digital medium to engage their customers. They have recently revamped their website and are now largely working towards creating a user friendly technology platform.
Digital healthcare market is growing at a rapid pace. As per Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India, with increased digital adoption the Indian healthcare market which is worth US$ 100 billion is likely to grow at a CAGR of 23 per cent to US$ 280 billion by 2020. Traditionally healthcare in India has not been patient-centric but thanks to new age online healthcare startups, users are now being provided with customised services. In the past few years, the Indian healthcare industry has witnessed a revolution and the future of the online industry looks bright and promising. The healthcare industry with its big innovations and use of technology is all set to be a major source of growth for the Indian economy.
Future plans of the companyUnder Dr Shikha's able leadership, the organisation has now tied up with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India for its next round of funding. In addition to their nutrition counselling services, they have expanded into the smart connected devices. They are also exploring different opportunities to reach out to the larger audience.
