StartupTalky presents Recap’23, a series of in-depth interviews where we engage with founders and industry leaders to explore their growth in 2023 and their predictions for the future.
The health and wellness industry prioritizes holistic well-being, encompassing physical, mental, and emotional health. From fitness and nutrition to mental wellness, it offers diverse solutions for a balanced lifestyle. Gyms, virtual platforms, and wellness retreats cater to individual health needs. With a growing emphasis on preventive healthcare and mindfulness, this industry plays a crucial role in fostering a healthier society.
In 2022, the worldwide health and wellness market reached a value of USD 5,243.3 billion. Projections indicate substantial growth, with expectations to surpass USD 8,945.3 billion by 2032, reflecting a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% from 2023 to 2032, according to Precedence Research. This expansion is driven by a heightened focus on preventive healthcare and an increasing awareness of holistic well-being.
In a recent Recap’23 interview, we at StartupTalky had the privilege of connecting with Mugdha Pradhan, Founder, and CEO of iThrive, to see how the brand operates in the health and wellness world. We looked at their plans and learned about iThrive’s special way of promoting well-being.
StartupTalky: What inspired the establishment of iThrive, and how has its vision evolved over time?
Mugdha Pradhan: After I healed and radically transformed my own health, other people began to consult me for their health problems. I realised I wanted to scale this further and wanted to create a system that could easily help people heal themselves without going through the struggle that I did. Luckily, One of my former clients at the time decided to fund this vision of mine, and that is how iThrive was born.
Over time, our capacity has increased, and now our vision is to eventually, through our various services and practices, make the whole world free of disease and suffering.
StartupTalky: Could you share insights into the range of health concerns iThrive addresses and any notable successes in managing chronic ailments within your clientele?
Mugdha Pradhan: Since our inception in 2019, we have helped over 3000 clients reverse over 174 different health conditions. We started out with mostly cases of weight loss and diabetes and eventually expanded to more and more areas as our knowledge and expertise grew. Our clientele ranges from as young as 2-year-olds right up to 75-year-olds.
We’ve healed many cases of IBS, IBD, hypertension, metabolic disorders, thyroid and hormonal issues, skin issues like psoriasis, etc.
StartupTalky: In the pursuit of creating healthier communities, what strategies does iThrive employ?
Mugdha Pradhan: We do everything in our power to realise our vision of creating healthier, happier, lifestyle-disease-free communities around the world every single day. We know we don’t have the resources to heal every single person on the planet ourselves. That is why we started the academy to train and certify functional nutritionists. Critics remark that it is detrimental to our business because we are creating our own competition- but it actually serves our vision.
We also do all that we can to make free educational content and media available to create awareness and get the right knowledge about health to the masses. Once you enroll in our program, you get life-long support by getting added to our “Thrive Tribe” community, where you receive regular updates and can get your queries answered.
Akash Kushwaha
StartupTalky: How does iThrive stay informed about the latest advancements and best practices in the health and wellness industry?
Mugdha Pradhan: The research department within iThrive Academy and Research Centre updates our treatment protocols and course curriculum on a regular basis. The team keeps itself informed through various resources like published papers, podcasts, and articles put out by leading functional medicine practitioners globally. We have a designated chief knowledge officer who keeps researching and contributing to our knowledge base and treatment protocols.
StartupTalky: What unique approaches or methodologies does iThrive use to promote overall well-being and address individual health needs?
Mugdha Pradhan: We have an extensive blood panel that is done as part of our “root cause analysis” procedure, covering a broad range of biomarkers and using specialised interpretation protocols that provide a thorough baseline understanding of the individual’s health. Apart from this, we may use further advanced diagnostics based on the individual’s case.
We use all the data and the client’s personal preferences to formulate a highly bio-individual treatment plan. Although our practice is based on functional medicine, we incorporate the best parts of multiple other modalities and therapies like circadian rhythm optimization, Ayurveda, sound healing, etc.
StartupTalky: Could you provide examples of success stories or testimonials from individuals who have experienced positive transformations through iThrive’s programs or services?
Mugdha Pradhan: As mentioned above, we’ve helped over 3000 individuals reverse their health conditions. You can find testimonials on our social media pages as well as on our website.
Here are three testimonials for example:
StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run iThrive smoothly?
Mugdha Pradhan: We use Google Workspace for most of our documentation and communication. Our projects and marketing teams make use of a wide variety of new and upcoming tools, and they’re always changing. These include well-known tools like Zoho for CRM, Tally and Jotforms for form automation, Pabbly for automation, Figma and Webflow for web development, and many more.
StartupTalky: How does iThrive personalize health programs to cater to the diverse needs and concerns of individuals?
Mugdha Pradhan: As mentioned above, our root cause analysis blood testing, along with further advanced tests, helps amass a large amount of data on each client. This, along with the personal preferences of the client, such as diet and lifestyle preferences, is used to craft a tailored program carefully for them.
StartupTalky: In what ways does iThrive plan to expand its impact and reach more communities globally in the future?
Mugdha Pradhan: We’ve rolled out targeted marketing campaigns for overseas audiences in some major countries like the USA, the Middle East, Australia, and Canada. We’ve tied up with labs in some of these countries so that clients can get their tests done easily. We have a major partnership with Rupa Health in the USA, the biggest platform for premium diagnostics in the country. We’re in the process of getting US FDA approval for our supplements as well. We’re working to become more active in biohacking and alternative healthcare communities throughout the world.
Sayantan Mondal
StartupTalky: What key lessons has your team learned in your journey, and how do these lessons inform your future strategies and initiatives?
Mugdha Pradhan: We have learned that, as a premium healthcare brand, we can’t compromise on quality in any way when it comes to our products and services. Our supplements use the highest quality ingredients available and are devoid of cheap fillers and harmful additives found in most other brands. We’ve constantly refined our services to make them better, and it’s an ongoing process that will probably always be on. We’ve learned to be open-minded when it comes to our approach and beliefs around healthcare because we’ve been wrong about certain things we were doing, and we’ve rectified them.
We’ve also learned to make better hiring decisions as we’ve realized shoddy and mediocre work at any step can hamper the quality of the final product.
StartupTalky: What growth and innovation opportunities does iThrive see in the health and wellness sector in the coming years?
Mugdha Pradhan: The wellness sector is one of the most booming industries in the world, estimated to be currently worth 4.2 Billion USD globally. With the constant increase in industrialization, our modern urban environment continues to become more and more unfavorable for health. The burden of chronic diseases continues to mount globally. Conventional medicine is corrupted and very inept at countering chronic disease, only offering pharma drugs to suppress symptoms. People are starting to become aware of this, and interest in wellness and preventive healthcare is rising. People are looking for good, evidence-based alternative healthcare options.
StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with individuals seeking to improve their health and well-being, drawing from iThrive’s expertise and experience?
Mugdha Pradhan: Always get your bloodwork done regularly. Get the data evaluated by a reputable functional medicine practitioner from time to time. Or just learn to do it yourself. And don’t ignore small symptoms like headaches, fatigue, and digestive issues until they become worse and need serious treatment. Don’t wait for your health to break down fully before you start making changes. Take care of it.
StartupTalky extends its gratitude to Ms. Mugdha Pradhan for dedicating her valuable time and generously sharing her insights with all of us.
