Despite the many strides in diversity and inclusion efforts in different industries in India and the world, we remain at some distance from true and proportionate representation of women in the workforce – be it in leadership, entrepreneurship or otherwise.
This is a gap that we, at Google, are committed to closing through various efforts within Google and beyond, across all the communities we support. Our ongoing efforts to support women entrepreneurs are one of these.
2020 has brought back a sharp focus on health-tech and two founders selected from India for Women Founders Academy – Zealth-AI’s Monika Mehta and BrainSightAI’s Laina Emmanuel – are both tackling different challenges within healthcare.
The Women Founders Academy, which is a twelve week program, offers the founders training to sharpen their leadership skills, build strong teams and address their unique growth needs. They will take part in workshops, connect with a community of Google advisors, venture capitalists and business executives and receive mentoring from dedicated subject matter experts. This year’s Women Founders come from 5 countries in Asia Pacific – India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Singapore.
Getting to know the Indian women founders in the latest cohort:
In March 2019, Monika lost a close family member to an illness. The tragedy made her realize that our healthcare system relies heavily on patients being able to appreciate the severity of symptoms and taking swift action when necessary. Monika started Zealth-AI in July 2020 with the goal of creating a digital hospital-at-home solution that ensures timely interventions and better outcomes.
In another part of the country, Laina’s BrainSightAI is building a neuroinformatics platform that uses technology to help answer questions about neuro-oncological and neuro-psychiatric disorders.
Laina says she has always been driven by complicated problems, conceptual thinking and like Monika, the dream of making a real impact. The work on operating system development and international health issues such as reducing maternal mortality has been a great way to combine Laina’s passions. She’s committed to continuing her hard work to make BrainSightAI a sustainable vehicle for change for more people.
Along with Laina, Monika is inspired by the opportunity to connect with fellow women entrepreneurs and learning from a diverse pool of peers, mentors and experts through the Women Founders Academy program.
