Today, we speak to Rajat Jadhav, Founder & CEO of Bold Care, to understand why men’s sexual healthcare is important and how Bold Care its clients to achieve more through its services.
TechGraph (TG): Before we start the conversation, could you let our readers know more about your role at Bold Care?
Rajat Jadhav: I am the founder and CEO of Bold Care – a men’s health and wellness startup. We started building Bold Care in mid of last year and since then, we have built a lean and fast-moving team here.
My role entails taking care of my team’s needs and helping them perform optimally. Apart from that, it is the awesome team at Bold Care that does the lion’s share of work!
TG: What is Bold Care, and how it all got started?
Rajat Jadhav: Bold Care is a health and wellness startup that was founded keeping in mind the Indian man, and our first step has been to address the silence around men’s sexual health issues. The first step we have taken in this direction is to provide free delivery of our natural and allopathic-based sexual health products. If needed, we also provide free consultations with expert sexologists.
We don’t stop at just delivering our products but also aim to support users throughout their journey at Bold Care. We would like to be there for them from the day the person gets their diagnosis, up until they find a permanent solution.
Hence, we provide a monthly subscription for our products, free consultations, and most importantly, a personal assistant to whom a client can open up to without any fear of judgment.
We started Bold Care because there is a serious lack of conversation surrounding men’s sexual health and we realized that every time we brought up the subject with friends and acquaintances. Most people are always confused or a little shocked when men’s sexual health is spoken of, this is precisely why we started Bold Care.
Over the past few years, the conversation around mental health has increased significantly. We want the same progress for conversations about men’s sexual health because it is just as important but always shrouded in shame and secrecy. Most men find it hard to talk to anyone about sexual health issues that they might be facing.
According to our data, sexual health issues are no more confined to older men, the average age for men facing sexual health issues is about 30 right now. So, the sheer lack of conversation surrounding these issues is what led us to build a brand that resonates with men in India.
TG: Why are sexual health treatments for men important?
Rajat Jadhav: Sex is a natural and integral part of everyone’s life. Very often for men, albeit not ideal, their sexual performance is tied to their self-worth. Hence, scores of men are affected by sexual health issues on multiple levels; their confidence, their relationships, their productivity at work, and mental wellbeing are all impacted simultaneously. Therefore, working on improving men’s sexual health has to be seen as something that is in need of the hour.
TG: What according to you is the scope of men’s healthcare service in the Indian market?
Rajat Jadhav: Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of statistical data available. However, what we do know for certain, is that India has the highest rate of impotency in the world and has earned the title of being the ‘Impotence Capital of the World’.
India has more than 90 million men who face some sort of sexual disorder at some point in their lives. Hence, it is a huge opportunity for companies to truly cater to all these men whose lives have been significantly impacted.
I also believe that there is greater potential for a company to thrive if they aim to connect with Indian men and not just focus on selling more pills. In terms of numbers, the global erectile dysfunction (ED) market is about to grow to USD 8.4 Billion by 2027. In fact, in India, Viagra is the highest-selling drug with conservative estimates pegging monthly sales at about Rs.400 Crores.
This figure might be staggering to some, but considering the increasing prevalence of ED due to modern-day sedentary and stressful lifestyles, it is only understandable that the market for this will grow exponentially in the years to come.
TG: The past few months have been challenging for the businesses, how did you deal with the pandemic?
Rajat Jadhav: The pandemic has been a unique experience for us. We are a small team, to begin with, so we have to step up our game and work as one unit. When we had to move to work-from-home, it was a significant learning curve for us, but we figured it out. What helped us is that we started thinking about the problem at hand along with a five-pillar plan –
● Understanding revised demand for the product
● What are the threats to core existence?
● Knowing the disruptions caused by in-house infrastructure and working practices & culture.
● Securing the goodwill of our business partners, vendors, and
manufacturers.
● Ways to raise capital
From a demand point of view, we have seen a surge as the lockdown has
progressed. We have also been able to close pre-seed funding round during all this economic turmoil.
TG: What, according to you, is the biggest pain point of men’s sexual healthcare that needs to be addressed?
Rajat Jadhav: After having spoken to over 1000 users and 60 sexologists, we figured that convenience & comfort are the two main concerns that need to be addressed. The lack of a convenient solution and a judgment-free space to talk about their issues are the biggest pain points. This is the reason why 90% of Indian men facing sexual health issues never even visit a doctor or try any truly effective solutions.
The ‘Bold Care Experience’ is made to provide just this, so that every man starts feeling confident about himself. We provide authentic products and access to the best sexologists for free.
Besides, we also provide each customer with their Bold Care assistant who will help them throughout their journey. This is a judgment-free zone where they can talk about any problem or question they have and we try our best to assist them with sound advice.
TG: Is there any plan to enter a new vertical in the near future?
Rajat Jadhav: Yes, we are planning on making a foray into the hair care industry. Along with sexual health issues, hair loss is another significant problem faced by men and we want to provide a solution to this. Hence, we are working on providing natural and allopathic solutions for better hair growth and healthy hair.
TG: What is the roadmap for Bold Care going forward?
Rajat Jadhav: We aim to become the best platform for men’s sexual health in India. We want to be a web and product platform that feels good to use rather than just a utility.
We want Bold Care to be the first thing a man in India, thinks of whenever they are faced with sexual health issues. We are very excited about how the next 5 years are going to pan out for us!
