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‘Lose weight’ or ‘get married’ to fix PCOS: How Veera Health sisters fought back
‘Lose weight’ or ‘get married' to fix PCOS: Sisters behind Veera Health share their journey
The global femtech industry, valued at $51 billion in 2023, is expected to reach $117 billion by 2029. India is considered the fastest growing regional market in Asia Pacific, driven by not just legacy brands, but also startup founders who decided to turn pain into purpose. Among them is Shobhita Narain who discovered at 22 that she had Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a condition that likely affects one in five Indian women.
“I went through years of confusion, frustration, and isolation. I jumped from one doctor to the next, not hearing any clear diagnosis. I tried multiple doctors and treatments, but nothing seemed to work. I experienced intense mood swings, facial hair, and weight gain, and yet, despite visiting several specialists, I couldn't get accurate advice. I had a new question every day, but didn't know who to ask,” Shobhita tells Health Shots in an interview.
Worse still, she was often met with dismissive responses.
“I was told to ‘just lose weight', or even that ‘getting married' would fix everything. Many people didn't believe PCOS was a real problem; they thought it was a figment of a woman's imagination. There was little empathy, and even less understanding," Shobhita shares.
It was these very conversations that she shared with her sister Shashwata over dinner table conversations. Watching Shobhita struggle became an awakening.
"We realized that if we're experiencing this, millions of other women must be too. That's when the switch flipped from venting to building. It was about fixing something we wished we had for ourselves," Shashwata says.
In 2021, that shared realization eventually shaped Veera Health, their platform for women's hormonal health. With a focus on science-backed supplements, the platform operates as a tech-enabled digital clinic that aims to democratise access to hormonal health solutions for women across India, including Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
Filling the gaps in the healthcare industry
The idea was to fill "systematic gaps" for women in healthcare, explains Shobhita, who studied biology and psychology at Tufts University and worked with leading healthcare organisations, before turning an entrepreneur."One of the biggest gaps I personally noticed was the lack of products and protocols actually designed for women. Most supplements in the market are based on data from male physiology and simply repackaged for women. What women truly need is a structured, science-backed system rooted in female physiology. That means personalized care plans, real-time clinical data, high-quality ingredients, and most importantly, long-term support from medical professionals who understand the complexity of women's hormonal health," she says.
Veera Health raised $3 million, said to be a significant seed funding in this category in India. But what were some of the early investor or market perceptions about building a femtech brand in India?
Shashwata Narain, who holds an MBA from Wharton and studied data science at Yale University, says that initially many investors either saw women's health as a niche or assumed it was just about fertility or pregnancy.
"The idea that hormonal health, PCOS, or even weight gain could be a serious, scalable opportunity wasn't obvious to everyone. We also heard things like, 'Will Indian women pay for this?' or 'Is this a real problem or just lifestyle-driven?' This was frustrating, because we were the target audience. We knew how broken the system was, how many women were silently suffering, and how few solutions were built with real empathy or science. The irony is that half the population is female, but femtech in India was still seen as a side category, not a core healthcare opportunity. It took time to change that perception," she says.
Challenges as women entrepreneurs
Furthermore, being women entrepreneurs came with its set of bias and challenges. Shobhita admits: "Building a startup in India is incredibly challenging. Building for women is even harder. And doing both as a woman often feels like an uphill battle!"In their pursuit to build a science-backed, stigma-free, women-centric wellness ecosystem focus on hormonal health, metabolic strength, and preventive care, their biggest barrier turned out to be priority.
Explaining this deep-rooted problem in women's healthcare, Shobhita says, "In India, most women aren't encouraged to prioritise their own health. While families are quick to spend on clothes, outings, or weddings, healthcare—especially for chronic conditions like PCOS—is often considered optional. Many women tell us they want to feel better, but making consistent, long-term investments in their well-being is difficult within the constraints of household decisions and social norms."
Still, their core user base is digitally-savvy women aged 22 to 40, primarily in urban and metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Pune. Most of them are working professionals, students, or new mothers who are navigating hectic routines, hormonal challenges, and a desire to take charge of their wellness early.
Femtech is here to stay
Femtech, Shashwata Narain notes, is still very much carving out its space."Addressing women's health means going beyond just reproductive or maternal care. It includes menopause, sexual wellness, emotional wellbeing, and hormonal conditions like PCOS and thyroid disorders. Yet, these areas continue to be underfunded, misunderstood, and often shrouded in stigma. Even today, less than 2% of healthcare R&D globally goes toward female-specific conditions. Many clinical trials still exclude women or don't account for hormonal differences, which leads to delayed diagnosis, ineffective treatments, and years of suffering," she adds.
What needs attention is the fact that this cost is not simply personal, but also economic.
"Poorly managed women's health leads to lost productivity, workforce dropouts, and billions in healthcare costs. In India, where female workforce participation is already low, ignoring issues like PCOS, hormonal weight gain, fertility struggles, and burnout becomes a systemic barrier. That's why femtech isn't just a trend — it's a correction. And until the broader system becomes truly gender-intelligent, brands like ours will keep building that space ourselves — with science, empathy, and scale," she adds.
Source: LiveMint
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