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How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I grew up in a small rural town in India where issues related to mental health were not only highly prevalent, but also something I witnessed up-close in my family. Recognizing the lack of awareness surrounding mental health, not only within my family, but also across millions of people in rural India, I entered college with a passion to combine psychology and business to create a scalable service that could solve the issues surrounding mental health.
When I joined the UT Social Entrepreneurship Learning Lab (SELL) as an ideator fellow, I participated in activities that urged me to find problems within the healthcare vertical that I felt passionate about and could solve to make a positive difference in the society. That’s when I was able to pinpoint the obvious yet neglected problem faced by family caregivers of mentally-ill patients.
At the age of 9, my grandmother was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. From then on, I watched my mother become the primary caregiver for my grandmother without any knowledge on how to care for a mentally-ill patient. I saw my mother’s mental and physical health decline as she has continued this emotionally draining process of caregiving for 10 years. It is easy to pick up on the help the patients and healthcare providers need because we view them as the 2 most important components of the healthcare system. However, the caregiver is equally important since they are the ones who take critical medical and lifestyle decisions for the patient’s recovery on a daily basis. If the caregivers are not healthy, they will provide poor quality of care, which can result in the patient being twice more likely to get hospitalized. Therefore, it becomes essential to look after our caregivers and provide them aid with caregiving, since excessive burden of providing care is what causes problems to the caregivers in the first place. Cura’s mission is to care for our caregivers and provide them help wherever and whenever they need it.
What does the average day look like for you now as an entrepreneur (especially compared to past jobs/days)?
Everyday looks different based on what aspect of the business I am working on. Some days it’s as simple as sending out cold emails to get customers to help with testing or find professionals to provide feedback. When it comes to interviewing or talking to those customers or professionals, my day is packed with classes and meetings.
What are some of the top things you have learned so far?
One of my top learnings has been learning not to get attached to an idea related to your business - whether it's a business model or certain aspects of my service. It is important to always be ready to pivot. As you talk to customers at different stages of developing your business, there will be some things they like and some things they dislike. It is important to take that feedback and implement it, instead of being fixated on the initial idea or plan you came up with. Your business will only work if the customer gives you a thumbs up... then it won’t matter what the stakeholders or you have to say.
My second learning is that reminding yourself of ‘why you started’ will do wonders. It is of the utmost importance to me that caregivers get tangible benefits out of my services. months into my business, I had to completely pivot because I felt I wasn’t doing justice to the needs and wants of my customers. The pivot was really hard but at times like that, I thought of all actual human beings I had talked to and how their lives would be positively different if I made something that yielded actual benefits. And it worked! After the pivot, my new solution was received really well by my customers.
Who or what inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
My inspiration was my strong desire to make a positive impact in the space of healthcare. Entrepreneurship ended up being the route I found most suitable to make that impact. Additionally, I also grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. My grandfather chose entrepreneurship to put food on the table after he had been relocated to a new place due to the India-Pakistan partition. My father chose entrepreneurship to make a living and provide a better life for his children. I am privileged enough to be in a position where I can choose entrepreneurship to make a social impact in the world.
What have been 1-2 of your proudest moments in creating your business?
My proudest moment was when I had the opportunity to share the first version of my MVP with one of the caregivers I had been talking to since the beginning of starting my venture. She had talked to me about her daily struggles, her needs, and the issues she faces as a caregiver. I would go back to her at regular intervals as I moved to different stages of my business. When I finally showed her the MVP, her stamp of approval meant everything. She said that this would be something that would significantly change her life for the better. Those words from her meant so much because one year of my hard work had yielded something meaningful and beneficial for my customers.
What’s the best advice you have received along your journey?
The best advice I have received along my journey is taking things one step at a time. It is human nature to keep thinking about the future steps. That not only makes everything seem more daunting, but also takes away focus from what you are currently doing. If you take things one step at a time, it ensures that each aspect of your business receives thorough attention, but also makes it easier on the founder to solve problems as they arise.
What’s a fun fact about you?
I can speak 3 languages and 1 dialect!
About The Author:
Aakriti Kamal '25
Founder of Cura
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