Meet The SHEROES - Akansha Kapoor

1: What problem are you trying to solve? What opportunity are you taking up?

We are solving the problem of time and distance required to consult a good doctor. A doctor visit takes an average of 8-10kms travel and 2-4 hours of personal time spent waiting in traffic and at the clinic to see a doctor for just 5 mins. We are reducing this wait time to less than 2 mins with real time online consultations. We are first company in India to provide doctors their own digital real estate through their Personalized M-Clinic Apps branded to the doctor himself / herself.

The opportunity is to bring timely and cost effective help to millions of patients who only want to consult their trusted doctors for follow ups, second opinions and primary health care concerns, 70% of which can be resolved online.

For the doctor, we are optimizing their time, monetizing their consultations, and helping them with patient retention.

2. What do you do to solve this problem? Your business/role/goal or story for the solution.

We provide doctors with a digital m-clinic; that clones a physical clinic, in several aspects.

Each doctor is provided with a Personalized M-Clinic App that is available on the Google Playstore for his or her patients to download. The patient can share their reports, get e-prescriptions, consult the doctor via phone, video or chat and even make payments for these consultations through the app itself.

Our goal is to Simplify Healthcare!

3. What inspires you every day to do what you do?

Impact stories. It really motivates me when we are able to connect a worried patient with their doctor, without the logistical problems being an additional cause for worry. When patients and doctors call us to tell us what we’re doing well, and what more we could do to help make their lives simpler for them, it really gives me a lot of energy to do better and have a bigger impact.

(Also read - 11 Success stories of Women Entrepreneurs)

2: What was your childhood ambition, and how did you share it with family and friends?

I enjoyed sports. I always found myself repeatedly in roles of leadership, without ever being intentional. I was captain of the football, cricket and basketball teams through school and college. Representing the state for Football and Cricket. In my Delhi University College, I was the
Vice-president, and subsequently President of the college. I found that I enjoyed the dynamics of being in a team, and leading the team to success.  I believe in hindsight that is where my entrepreneurial ambitions were seeded. I continue to enjoy team sports till date.

3: Your schooling, college: was it targeted towards what you hoped to be... did you become what you 'studied' to be, or did you change course and chart a different path?

I completed my B Com Hons from JMC, Delhi University post which I was offered a job by Facebook. Despite the fantastic opportunity, I had to decline the offer in order to continue with my post graduation – MSc in Technopreneurship and Innovation from Nanyang Technological University and Stanford University. Immediately after post graduation, I started working for Mercatus Capital, an angel investment and business accelerator firm in Singapore where I had the opportunity to work with numerous startups in different sectors across South East Asia. Subsequently, I moved to Canada to work as an associate with Extreme Startups, another business accelerator, from where I was absorbed into one of the startups I was helping.

Being from an entrepreneurial family, dinner conversations were always about some deal or partnership. My mom had always inspired me in this regard and starting my own company was definitely something that was a part of the plan. Having gone through this journey with multiple co-founders during my work in Singapore and Canada, I finally found the courage to move base once  again from Canada to India and start off on a new journey of OyeHelp.

Also read the story of Monideepa Sahu

4: How and when did you chose your field?

I’ve always been intrigued by the amazing things that technology has enabled us to do. Once I started teaching myself how to code and build products while I was at Stanford, it became more of a passion.

5: What were the personal hurdles you had to cross - i.e the reaction of friends and family?

Several of my friends were skeptical about the kind of time and energy I would need to put into a start up, and if it was worth it, and why I did not go and join a large MNC. My family however was completely supportive of my decision.

6: How did your peers react to you? As a young educated woman, were you at an advantage, or disadvantage?

I think I am fortunate enough to work and be friends with individuals who are very well educated and aware of today’s social circumstances. There really hasn’t been any disadvantage as such. On the flip side, there have been many advantages with so many people and their good energies behind wanting a young educated women to succeed really helps push the purpose and propel the growth of the company.

7. What were challenges you faced and how did you overcome hurdles?

I think capital was our biggest challenge. It was limited and every decision required a careful through of its effect on the balance sheet. We bootstrapped very well, got a lot of interns, used an existing office space and made every minute count to get to a more stable place.

8: What do you see changing for women professionals in India? How would you encourage young women to consider entrepreneurship as a viable profession. Please share your top 5 tips.

I feel women have far more avenues open to them, than ever before. Thanks to technology they are not geographically limited in any way, and can work from anywhere, which is important particularly to women in a family situation.

Thanks to technology, there has never been a better time for women to enter entrepreneurship with limited capital.  Entrepreneurship gives them complete independence to take their talents and create something meaningful out of it. Women have tremendous capability to multitask and be tenacious, both qualities required to be an entrepreneur.

My five tips

1. Recognize your own strengths and talents

2. Start small, but think big

3. Do not let your personal circumstances ever deter you from fulfilling your goals

4. Find your passion and create something unique

5. Don’t underestimate your capabilities or doubt yourself

9: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In 10 years from now, I would like to be able to invest in other women led startups and mentor women entrepreneurs; as well as see Oyehelpplay a pivotal role in changing the way healthcare is available to both the rich as well as poor, across the country.

11. What do you do for fun?

I love to travel whenever I can, play football, sing and play the guitar for fun. Hanging out with friends