Issue #121- The Future of India’s E-Com: From $120B Today to $325B by 2030 🎙️

Founder Friends! ☕️

This February, I’m giving away 2 slots per week for a quick coffee chat with founders worldwide who want to understand the Indian market! 

But it’s more than just coffee—you’ll get access to an exclusive community, market insights, and even a feature on our platform! 

📅 Book your slot here Virtual coffee

This was on my vision board last year – and it happened. From being one of the top women’s health podcasts in India to going global last year, making it to the Top 40 podcast to Follow in 2025 ! 

I wish I could say it was easy, but the truth is – it wasn’t. We’ve invested so much money, time, resources, tears and fears into bringing you a show that is so needed for women right now. A space that’s not just educational but raw, real, and personal. 

Women’s health is a niche category, and it’s tough to get people to listen. But we knew this was a conversation that women need. 

For every girl and woman out there navigating health & entrepreneurship  – you’re why we do this. 

We did this together 🫶

Subscribe and share to help bring women’s health conversations to the forefront 😊

• Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs are booming. 
• India second largest market for OpenAI; users have tripled: Sam Altman
• Shein India will store user data locally and sell products made by Reliance Retail’s manufacturing arm.

•  AI Tool ‘DeepMerkel’ is improving treatment predictions for aggressive skin cancers
• Pharma giant Novartis and Danish digital health firm Dawn Health have teamed up to develop a new app to support breast cancer patients.
• AI helps to identify new links between the pill and lower ovarian cancer risk

• Nua, a Mumbai-based women’s wellness and hygiene brand has raised Rs 35 crore in a pre-series C round led by Mirabilis Investment Trust. The round also saw participation from Samir Singh, EVP – Asia, Colgate Palmolive & Former Chair of Unilever SE Asia, Shuchi Kothari, Head of DSP Family Office and SRF Limited.
• Dialysis service provider Apex Kidney Care (AKC) secured a $9 million investment in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Blue Earth Capital AG for an undisclosed equity stake.
• HairOriginals, a hair brand, has raised $5 million in a Series A round, bringing its total funding to $7.2 million. The round was co-led by 12 Flags Consumer Holdings, Anicut Growth Fund, and Peyush Bansal.

• HelloHero, a NYC-based provider of technology-powered mental health and behavioral care, raised an undisclosed amount in Growth funding from Decathlon Capital Partners.
• AUSTRALIA, Ovum secures $1.7 million in funding for AI-powered women’s health assistant.
• Digital Harmonic, a Columbia, MD-based company which specializes in advanced video, signal, and image processing technologies, received an investment from Caladan Capital.
• Berry Street, a NYC-based provider of a nutrition counseling platform, raised $50M in funding.
• SimpliFed, a NYC-based company which specializes in virtual maternal healthcare, raised $4M in funding.
• Akribion Therapeutics, a Zwingenberg, Germany-based early-stage biotech company developing a RNA-guided, nuclease-based technology for programmable cell depletion, raised €8M in Seed funding.

• It’s tough for a man to know what to do following a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Now, a new genetics-driven urine test can help clear up that confusion by helping identify aggressive prostate cancers that are more likely to lead to a man’s early death, a new study says.
• A person’s lifetime risk of cancer might be partly established before they are even born, a new mouse study says.Researchers identified two distinct genetic states that arise during fetal development and are linked to cancer risk, according to a report published recently in Nature Cancer.
• The Pill prevents pregnancy — and maybe ovarian cancer, too, a new study suggests. Women who’ve ever used the contraceptive pill have a 26% lower risk of ovarian cancer, researchers say.  Women who used the pill after age 45 benefit even more, with a 43% lower risk of ovarian cancer.
• According to a US study published in the European Heart Journal, people who drink coffee in the morning have a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a lower overall mortality risk compared with those who drink coffee throughout the day.
• Many seniors suffer long-term health issues after a hip fracture, even after hip replacement surgeries.  Now, research shows that a patient’s mental health could be crucial to how well they bounce back in the years after these injuries.
• Many women may opt for a breast reduction if they encounter issues such as recurrent neck, back and shoulder pain. However, a new study suggests a link between these procedures in teens and young adult women and later weight gain.
• Getting enough vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin,” during early pregnancy could be important for infant health, new research suggests.Researchers at Penn State found that infants born to women deficient in the nutrient were more likely to be delivered prematurely. 
• A small, early trial of a vaccine that mobilizes the immune system to battle advanced kidney cancers appears successful, researchers report. The “personalized cancer vaccines” (PCVs) used by the nine patients in the trial were targeted to genes specific to their tumors, explained a team led by Dr. David Braun of the Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Conn.
• A new spinal cord implant may help people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) regain some muscle function, giving them stronger movement and improved walking ability, researchers report. In a small, month-long pilot study, three adults with SMA — a genetic disease that weakens muscles over time — experienced unexpected improvements after getting an implanted device that stimulates the spinal cord with low-level electricity.
• Hopes that GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy could help slow Parkinson’s disease have taken a hit.A new study found that a drug in the same class called exenatide, marketed as Byetta, had no effect on slowing the disease or easing its symptoms. The trial, published Feb. 4 in The Lancet, followed 194 people with Parkinson’s disease for 96 weeks. 
• “Yo-yo” dieting — repeatedly losing and gaining weight — can significantly increase risk of kidney disease among people with type 1 diabetes, a new study warns.Diabetics with greater weight fluctuations experienced a 40% decline in their kidneys’ ability to filter toxins from the blood, researchers reported Feb. 4 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
• The cholesterol that’s good for your heart health might be bad for your eye health, and vice versa, a new study says.“Good” HDL cholesterol appears to increase risk of glaucoma in people older than 55, researchers reported Feb. 4 in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
• Tiny microplastics are making their way into the human brain, and new research suggests the problem is getting worse.The new study, published Feb. 3 in the journal Nature, found that brain samples collected in 2024 contained significantly more microplastics than those taken eight years earlier.
• Adults hospitalized for a severe infection are more than twice as likely to develop heart failure years later, according to findings published Jan. 30 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

• Dr Reddy’s Laboratories entered into a license agreement with Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc related to the development and commercialization of HLX15, Henlius’s investigational daratumumab biosimilar candidate to Darzalex & Darzalex Faspro.
• Indegene, a digital-first life sciences commercialization company, has set up a new entity in Spain. This move marks a key step in the company’s ongoing strategic expansion in Europe and aligns with Indegene’s commitment to helping life sciences companies accelerate AI-driven innovation and make their operations future-ready.
• Swing Therapeutics, a company dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with chronic pain by offering innovative, evidence-based treatments, announced that Stanza, its digital therapeutic for treatment of fibromyalgia symptoms, has received a positive coverage decision from Highmark Health.
• Akura Medical announced the first patient enrollment in the QUADRA-PE study (NCT06672510) evaluating the Katana Thrombectomy System in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). The initial procedure was successfully performed by Samuel Horr, MD, director of cardiovascular research at TriStar Centennial Medical Center.
• Berlin-based Vyld has introduced the world’s first tampon made from seaweed, called the Kelpon, following successful certification. The profit-for-purpose company is now rolling out the product across German restrooms through partnerships with employers, coworking spaces, gyms, and major event organizers.
• Dandi, a consumer brand focused on improving fertility care experiences, has announced the expansion of its at-home injection support service. The company is now deploying specialized fertility nurses across 20+ major U.S. cities, with a network of 32 nurses covering metropolitan areas including Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Miami, Boston, and Dallas.
• A new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research has validated Oura Ring’s ovulation detection capabilities, showing particular promise for people with irregular cycles who are often underserved by traditional tracking methods.

• The Union Budget 2025-26 proposes to allocate around Rs. 3,993 crore for the Ministry of Ayush, around 7.6 per cent higher than the Rs. 3,712.5 crore Budget Estimates (BE) for the fiscal 2024-25. The allocation is almost 14.2 per cent more compared to the Revised Estimates (RE) of Rs. 3,497.6 crore for the fiscal year 2024-25.
• The amount demanded by the drug price regulator from pharmaceutical companies against alleged overcharging during the first six months of the current fiscal year has seen a significant decline compared to the amount demanded during the same period of last year. The number of cases booked by the authority for alleged overcharging, however, has gone up over 50 per cent during the comparable period.
• In a significant move to protect the domestic chemical industry, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into imports of Monoisopropylamine (MIPA) from China. The probe follows a complaint by Alkyl Amines Chemicals Limited, alleging that dumped imports are causing material injury to Indian manufacturers.

📳 – Quick Reads: 

• Everyone’s Happiest In The Morning, Study Says: People generally wake in their best frame of mind, enjoying peak mental health and wellbeing in the morning, researchers reported in a new study published Feb. 4 in BMJ Mental Health.
• Breast, ovary removal improves survival for patients with breast cancer genes: A global study revealed that young breast cancer patients with high risk BRCA mutations can have their risk of cancer recurrence reduced significantly by undergoing mastectomy and/or ovary removal, offering new and better insights for cancer-risk management strategies.
• 9 cancer myths busted: Sugar, sunlight, microwaves and more: Myths and misinformation can often lead to panic, delay in diagnosis, or inappropriate treatment decisions. Surgical oncologist clears common misconceptions.

See you next Friday, friends 👋
Navneet

[Sign up here to never miss on the latest updates.]