VISAKHAPATNAM: Ravi Teja Akondi, a young man from Yellamanchili, was inspired by his family’s five generations of Ayurveda legacy and his passion for entrepreneurship in the field of health. With a background in technology from Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi, he envisioned combining ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with the potential of technology.
One conversation with a friend, who spoke about the profound impact of Garbha Samskara during her pregnancy, ignited a transformative idea within Ravi Teja. Her experience deeply moved him, and he realised his purpose: to merge Ayurveda, yoga, nutrition and Garbha Samskara with technology to support expecting mothers.
After months of dedicated work, iMumz, a ground-breaking mobile app, was born in 2019. iMumz revolutionised pregnancy support by integrating Ayurvedic principles, yoga, personalised nutrition plans and Garbha Samskara practices. The app aims to guide and assist pregnant women throughout their journey to motherhood.
“There is so much valuable guidance and information in the ancient scripts and equal evidence in modern research. Everyone knows that the journey of pregnancy impacts the life of the baby after birth, but there is very little practical guidance for a millennial couple to follow during the pregnancy. iMumz’s aim is to recreate the experience of having wise elders in the family guide and nurture expectant mothers, ensuring they feel supported and empowered throughout their pregnancy,” he explained.
Ravi Teja, whose family boasts of a lineage of five generations of Ayurvedic physicians, credits his family’s significant impact and support for propelling him closer to his aspiration of launching iMumz. “Growing up, I witnessed my father using Ayurveda to treat women afflicted with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and infertility. This experience deeply instilled in me a profound respect for Ayurveda, yoga, meditation and more.”
Talking about struggles, Ravi Teja revealed that similar to many other entrepreneurs, he encountered numerous hurdles while striving to bring his dream to life. One of the challenges, he faced was convincing his family and proving to them that his idea was worth pursuing.
“The initial 6 to 7 months were tough, as nothing seemed to work in our favour. At each stage of developing iMumz, there was always a missing piece,” he stated. It is often the successful entrepreneurship stories that receive public attention, but Ravi Teja emphasised that every success story is built upon a foundation of multiple stories of failure as well. “Regardless of profits and achievements, it is the personal messages from parents sharing their stories of successful births that provide us with motivation and fulfil company’s true purpose,” he asserted.
iMumz, a content-based app, was founded by a team comprising Ravi Teja and Dr Jaideep Malhotra, a renowned gynaecologist and sonologist based in India. The team also includes Rajesh Jagasia, a former software professional, who is now director and international faculty of the Art of Living, and Mayur Dhurpate, a graduate from IIT BHU.
Since its inception, iMumz has garnered an impressive user base, surpassing 40,000 registered subscribers, making it a leading health content-based app in India. In a noteworthy development, Peyush Bansal, CEO of Lenskart, invested in the company during the second season of the popular reality show, Shark Tank.