Mapping our Future: How Women Can Face Challenges in Entrepreneurship Statistics show that as late as 2017, women only got 2% of the overall funding
By Sanchita Dash •
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The future as we know is unpredictable. But what if, you could foresee the dangers that could come your way and prepare accordingly? Well, thanks to the advancements in technology, we can do so at least for our health. By decoding our genes, we can gather a fair knowledge of health scares that could confront us in the future.
Anuradha Acharya, founder of Mapmygenome, is empowering people to make better lifestyle and health choices by understanding their DNA. Entrepreneur India caught up with Acharya as she spoke about changing the world, one gene at a time and doled out tips for women entrepreneurs.
Know Yourself Better
Acharya believes that when you want to know yourself better, there are three main things in the equation of life - our DNA, the environment & history and our behaviour & attitude towards change. "We help people understand the DNA which they are born with, then correlate it with family history, environment and lifestyle and suggest actionable changes to improve their overall wellness," she said.
The actionable steps include diet and exercise, screening tests and doctor consultations. The idea is that the consumer must be empowered with knowledge and this can be shared with other stakeholders to improve our health outcomes.
Challenges of Being a Woman Entrepreneur
There are many discriminations women has to face at the workplace and in the world of entrepreneurship, it's no different. Acharya points out that statistics show that as late as 2017, women only got 2% of the overall funding and that is a big sign that shows something is not right. "When 50% of the population gets 2% of the funding, it is an indication that something is wrong," she said.
However, she believes there's nothing which can stop entrepreneurs from finding their path to success. Giving her own example, Acharya explained that she started her company to reduce another inequality and that was in the genomic data for the Indian population. We have .2% of the data for 20% of the population. There will be challenges but entrepreneurs have the DNA to tackle them," she said.
Face the Challenge
In every sphere of life and especially entrepreneurship, there will always be challenges. Acharya shares her two cents on how to tackle the same. "Just because it is difficult, don't give up. When you continue the path, we clear a little more of the path like our ancestors did for us making it easier to move a few more steps forward for the next generation," she said.
