Anu Acharya, CEO of Map my Genome tells us about her venture today

Anu Acharya of Mapmygenome tells us what inspired her to start her venture and how she hopes to reach out to more than a million lives by 2030. Mapmygenome is a molecular diagnostics company for people who are consistently proactive about their health. 

Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I grew up in a small campus town. My dad was a Professor of Physics and I wanted to study physics at IIT and become a nobel laureate in physics during my school days. I did join IIT Kharagpur Physics but soon changed my plan. I did some soul searching and knew that entrepreneurship was my calling. After researching and brainstorming on several ideas, we founded Ocimum Biosolutions in 2000 as a pure bioinformatics company. In a few years, we grew to become a global genomics outsourcing partner for discovery, development and diagnostics with three international acquisitions and two fund raises.

How did the idea of Mapmygenome come about?
By 2011, we had 11 years of expertise in genomics. It was time to start thinking about the next level. How can we use the knowledge gained to reach out to a large number of people? Can we impact people’s lives? Genomics in healthcare looked like the best way to go ahead. In addition to knowledge of genomics, we had a state-of-the-art laboratory, a team of bioinformatics experts, and  access to gold standard databases – the perfect mix of elements required for a genomics company. We started working on this, registering the company Mapmygenome in 2012 and offering the services to public beginning in April 2013.

What are the main service / product offerings and objectives of the venture?
Genomepatri, our flagship personal genomics product, is a once-in-a-lifetime, non-invasive test that gives your DNA-based health profile for 100 conditions, traits, and drug responses. One simple saliva swab can help you know yourself better, prevent or delay onset of disease, manage weight, lead a healthy lifestyle, and protect your family.

We have smaller panels for heart, brain, cancer prevention, women’s wellness, and lifestyle management. If you are looking for low-priced tests, we have Sugargene for diabetes prevention and management and Slimgene for weight management. In addition to a report, most of these tests have a genetic counselling session, where our experts correlate your genetic findings with health history and give you actionable steps towards better health.

Another important offering to labs is the Spoligo TB diagnostic kit, which can help technicians in detection and typing of Mycobacterium tuberculum. We also offer a range of brain wellness solutions and molecular diagnostic tests on rare and cardio and neuro conditions.

When initially setting up Mapmygenome, what were the major obstacles?
Being pioneers in the space of personal genomics, we knew we had an important and difficult task at hand. We were introducing a new product in the healthcare space. Confidence had to be built not only among individuals, but also in the medical community. Fortunately, many senior medical practitioners, who are thought leaders, showed active interest in this new technology and helped us build additional products and suggested changes.

Another challenge was to find the right markers that would work for people in India. We had to deal with issues like paucity of data. Having a brilliant bioinformatics team was the key reasons we could create the right algorithm and reports for the consumer and we continue to make it better.

Since the company's inception till now, how has the journey been?
The journey as an entrepreneur has been very exciting. I was keen on being able to make it a brand that people recognize and desire. Challenges in moving from B-to-B model to primarily B-to-C model took a lot of adjustments in the way we function as a team. We had to create the right team to counter those challenges and it has been a fun journey. This year, especially, we received several awards and made it to top lists – ET startup - Women Ahead, Nasscom- Leage of 10 , VCCircle innovation award, FICCI FLO - Innovation, SMart CEO....

What is a typical day at work like for you?
No day is typical and that’s the best part of my life. I wake up at around 6 30 am when not on an early flight. Get kids ready for school while being on the phone and answering emails. Exercise and get to work and then a range of different things to be done. Spend time with kids and occasionally experiment with cooking. Get back to work till about 1:30-2:00 am

What future goals do you have for yourself professionally and the venture?
Mapmygenome’s vision is to impact more than 100 million lives and save at least 1 million lives by 2030. We are currently focused on expansion – increasing sales volumes and scaling up the operations.

Can you leave our readers with a few thoughts?
Know yourself - Spend time to know yourself. You are unique and you must remember that you are like no other. Believe in what you do. Delegate well - You don’t have to do everything yourself.