Get to know our Venture Partner Aahuti Rai
Aahuti is a Venture Partner at Conduit Connect and our resident expert in health. Discover the journey of Aahuti as she shares the three significant chapters of her career. From starting at GE as tech grad to founding Four Points Consulting Ltd and advising early-stage healthcare ventures, Aahuti’s path is one of continuous innovation and impact. In this interview, she discusses her passion for the impact space, her views on the evolving health tech sector, and practical advice for both the public and startups. Read on to gain insights from Aahuti's experiences and learn about her role in driving positive change through innovation.
Tell us a little bit about your background?
I like to describe my career to date in terms of chapters with the current one being Chapter 3! My first chapter was working with GE (various business divisions across the globe). I started there straight out of uni (tech grad) and was fortunate to secure a place on their renowned 2-year Information Management leadership programme. I had a very exciting and varied 9 years with GE, travelling to lots of places and holding a number of operational leadership roles. My last role with GE was particularly significant where I consolidated the work of 3 customer-facing divisions across 18 countries into a tech enabled Customer ‘Web’ Centre in a green field site in Budapest. This was back in 1999 and we were considered very leading edge with this transformation in our operating model.
Chapter 2 was setting up and scaling Four Points Consulting Ltd - a strategic innovation and change management consultancy. Over 18 years we worked across 14 industry sectors and over 90 companies helping them to define, deliver and sustain large scale transformation.
Chapter 3 was born out of the previous chapters recognising that I wanted to deliver impact & transformation in an area that I have felt very passionate about for over 20 years - healthcare. I took a year out to work pro bono in different pockets of healthcare, emerging at the end of that period very clear that I wanted to be where true innovation was happening - with early-stage ventures who were looking to scale and spread their innovation. Therefore, I repurposed Four Points into my vehicle to work in an advisory capacity to early and growth stage companies to help them figure out how to succeed and scale in their markets.
What led you to work in the impact space?
A combination of factors: Growing awareness of big societal issues, a level of personal maturity and confidence in knowing what is important to me and recognising that I had a choice to do so. It was an opportunity to ‘re-invent’ my professional self and have it weave into my life in a way that I could sustain and make it feel like it was part and parcel of my every day thought processes - not something that I clocked in and clocked out of.
What are you most excited about in the impact space currently?
There is no hiding place anymore, as society (particularly in a professional context) we have a heightened level of being ‘woke’ and we are holding ourselves and each other to account on this. There are policies, structures, governance, frameworks, accreditations, all sorts of enablers that are coming into place. Importantly we have more conversations about impact and what that means now in a way that we have never had before and being an impact business is accessible to every business founder.
Could you give us a short overview on what health tech is? What is your overall view of current state of the health sector?
Health tech is a broad categorisation of a range of applications developed to improve various aspects of the healthcare system. It is a dynamic and rapidly evolving field, accelerated by Covid-19 whereby we could experience first-hand how healthcare could be accessed and delivered differently. The various technologies and their use cases intend to help with efficiency, enhanced patient care, improved equity/accessibility and cost reduction. The sector has experienced significant growth driven by an increase in investment, awareness and advancements in technology. However, we are still struggling and figuring out how to scale these innovations and how to secure sustainable reimbursement routes. It is a new sector and we have no playbook yet. These innovations are massively challenging the status quo and ultimately this is about change management - it will be an evolution not a revolution and in some regards rightly so as we cannot take short cuts when it comes to safety, privacy and security - we need to demonstrate improved outcomes and we need to build trust. There are no shortcuts to doing this.
What are some of the most pressing problems currently that you’d like to see being addressed?
We need more funding routes, sandboxes and venture building programmes as the health-tech startup sector is different to other sectors in that there is a significant upfront investment needed - it is not so easy to commercialise a product even though you can still build an MVP (minimum viable product). There are multiple stakeholders, a lot of legacy in established models of healthcare delivery and mindsets and practices have become institutionalised. All of this adds to the burden of a small startup who may not have the funds or skills to fulfil all requirements around education, awareness, compliance, evidence generation … all upfront. We need to join up regulation and reimbursement also. And finally, we need to figure out how we regulate AI. I appreciate that is a big statement but it is a pressing issue.
What would your advice be to the general public in positively contributing to bettering the health sector?
I would say ‘own your health, don’t expect the NHS or any private provider to own it for you’.
What are the key things you look for when carrying out diligence on a health tech company?
Depends on the stage. I tend to focus on companies that have some traction already and therefore I look for their business acumen, the depth of their thinking in how their innovation delivers to multiple stakeholder needs and what level of education and adoption support they will need to provide (i.e. that they are already thinking about the implementation not just the product development). I’m obviously looking for how they intend to chart their growth and deliver upon it and whether they have understood the choices they are making and why they are making them. I also want to support solutions that are inclusive - we are shaping the future of healthcare with every innovation and therefore I ask questions around whether we are increasing the divide or whether the solution is somehow bridging the divides we currently have in healthcare and research. I’m energised by solutions that are addressing gaps as well as those that are improving the effectiveness and efficiency of existing care models - particularly if they are helping the patients to better manage and own their health.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?
Believe in instinct … not every rationale decision is the right one, unless it is powered by your instinct.
What’s the worst piece of advice you havereceived throughout during your career?
To have a 5 year / 10 year plan
When you were a child what did you want to be?
Headteacher!!!
As our resident expert in Health, how has your experience been as a VP of the Conduit Connect?
As a Venture Partner at Conduit Connect, my experience has been incredibly fulfilling and enriching. One of the most rewarding aspects of this role is the opportunity to contribute to important decisions around funding and impact. Being able to support innovative healthtech startups and help them secure the necessary resources to scale their solutions has been both challenging and gratifying. It is an honour to work with a team that is so mission-driven, dedicated to making a tangible difference in the world, and to be part of a larger ecosystem of impact-driven initiatives.
I truly love being a cog in this wheel, playing a part in a collective effort to drive positive change. The collaborative environment at Conduit Connect fosters a sense of purpose and community, which is incredibly motivating. Additionally, the role has been highly educational. I have had the privilege of learning about and engaging with impact startups across various sectors, including financial inclusion, education, and climate. It is particularly fascinating to see how these sectors overlap with healthtech, creating synergies that amplify our impact.
Moreover, I feel privileged to be amongst such high-calibre and authentic individuals. The team at Conduit Connect is composed of passionate and knowledgeable professionals who are committed to making a difference. Their dedication and expertise have been a constant source of inspiration and learning for me. Overall, my journey as a Venture Partner at Conduit Connect has been a remarkable experience, filled with growth, learning, and the satisfaction of contributing to meaningful and impactful work.