At 50, when most people start making retirement plans, Deepak Ambudkar left a well-paying job to start a new company, Energeiaa, that quantifies wellness, showing people a clear path towards healthy living.
Deepak Ambudkar, founder of Energeiaa. (HT)
Illness or disease is a well-defined category, identified by machines, gadgets, and highly trained doctors and super-specialty hospitals. But, what about wellness? Can it be measured, too?
Deepak, a mechanical engineer and material management specialist, with decades of experience as supply chain head at companies, had this constant thought disturbing him.
He said, “Post Covid, ‘wellness’ became a byword that was on everyone’s lips. But, how do we measure it? How do we measure the stress one feels at meeting deadlines, or the feeling of peace and happiness, etc.? We measure health but not wellness. So, how do we know if we are ‘well’?”
So, Deepak dived deep into the subject and read vast volumes on how to measure wellness? He realised how important it is to know that you are in good health, not just physically but emotionally and mentally as well.
Measuring wellness
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines wellness as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Even daily occurrences, situations, or events can affect our ability to be happy and healthy.
Deepak said, “I believe that wellness should be measurable before illness appears. If stress, emotional overload, and functional imbalances can be detected early, timely corrective actions can prevent long-term health issues.”
He wanted a system that could combine modern science with traditional wellness wisdom, supported by data and artificial intelligence. As it is in logistics, he felt that the organs in our body are the inventory and the blood (or the energy force) flows through them. So measuring the energy (as they do in traditional Chinese medicine) would give a true picture.
Setting up Energeiaa
With this thought running in his mind, in 2022, Deepak set up his start-up, Energeiaa, a company that would help people discover their state of wellness, before they got sick.
Deepak explained: “Energeiaa works on the principle that the human body emits subtle energy signals that reflect its internal state. We needed a device that could read these signals and translate those readings into a report. Here, my experience in supply chain came handy!”
Deepak started looking at the human body as a warehouse, where the different parts are different sections of inventory, the energy and vitality are stock levels, while stress is a supply disruption. When inventory levels fall or get blocked, problems appear. So, check-ups happen only after something malfunctions.
Deepak said, “I realised that we needed something that can provide an early warning. This led to the idea – what if we could scan the body the way we scan inventory?”
Armed with the new idea, Deepak worked extensively with students, professionals, leaders, and
industries, and repeatedly encountered high performers silently suffering from stress and imbalance. Over the years, the concept evolved through pilot studies, expert consultations, software development, and real-world testing.
Around this time, Deepak discovered a device built by a Russian company. It uses a specialised, non-invasive camera that captures fingertip energy patterns within a few minutes. Advanced software and AI algorithms analyse these patterns and translate them into easy-to-understand wellness indicators, covering physical, mental, and emotional health.
“In simple terms, Energeiaa functions like a wellness ECG – a quick scan that gives deep insights without pain, blood tests, or long procedures,” he said.
Capturing energy patterns
As of now, Energeiaa has conducted over 2,000 wellness assessments, generating meaningful data patterns and strong validation of the approach. But, how does the medical fraternity view it? Deepak said, “I want to clarify that it is not a diagnostic tool like the medical fraternity uses. It is a preventive measure, checking at the initial stages before the disease sets in. So, if you do a test with Energeiaa, you may get a positive or a negative reading.”
Out of the 2,000 people who got their readings done, 1,000 had the readings ratified by pathological tests. Of these, 400 reports matched our readings. As for the rest, whose tests reports showed no symptoms, they returned with symptoms matching Energeiaa’s readings after three or four months. Most people showed liver or kidney dysfunction followed by respiratory tract problems.
According to Deepak, every human body emits micro energy signals. “Our device uses a special camera to capture these energy patterns from the fingertips. These patterns will reflect: stress, emotional balance and organ-level functional status. Our AI software converts these images into easy-to-understand wellness scores,” he said.
Offering holistic service
The output is physical wellness, mental wellness and emotional wellness along with personalised improvement recommendations. “Our holistic service has shown clear pattern correlations between energy parameters and lifestyle stressors. Finally, we have something that is quantifiable and backed by science, traditional systems, and AI. Think of it as a ‘wellness ECG’ for the whole body,” he said.
Deepak narrated how a friend, who came visiting, went through the ‘Energeiaa’ experience: “During casual talks, I suggested, ‘Let’s do a quick wellness assessment’. The friend initially responded, ‘I am perfectly fit’, but out of curiosity, agreed to check his wellness score. The assessment indicated weakness on the right side of the jaw. When asked about it, he dismissed it. Exactly a week later, he called me to say his right tooth and the jaw around it was hurting.”
This incident, according to Deepak, strongly reflects the analysis and wellness capture at a subtle, pre-symptomatic level, much before discomfort becomes visible or painful. “Repeated experiences like this have demonstrated that wellness scores can be meaningful not only at at an individual level but also in companies, organisations and universities by offering a quantified measure of collective well-being to a happiness index of the complete entity,” he said.
Growing steadily
Till now, Energeiaa has been largely bootstrapped. Deepak has invested ₹14 lakh of his savings and is looking to raise ₹2 crore to develop a next-generation system that will enable remote wellness assessments. He elaborated: “Our current revenue is around ₹1.5 lakh per month. With timely fund infusion, we aim to make the solution scalable and extend our reach to many more people across multiple cities. “
The good thing is, Energeiaa is growing in a rapidly-expanding preventive and holistic wellness space. Globally,’wellness’ is a multi-trillion-dollar industry, with preventive and corporate wellness growing steadily.
Deepak said, “In India, the wellness market is expanding rapidly, especially post-pandemic, as individuals and organisations actively seek measurable and preventive health solutions. While international players focus largely on wearables and apps, and Indian players focus on yoga, nutrition, or content-based wellness, Energeiaa stands apart by offering quantified, holistic wellness intelligence that integrates physical, mental, and emotional dimensions.”
Competition for Energeiaa exists in the form of wearables, wellness apps, and diagnostic platforms. However, Deepak does not aim to replace them. Instead, he complements these solutions by adding a deeper, holistic layer of insight that, he thinks, they currently lack. “Our strength lies in being fast, non-invasive, data-backed, culturally relevant, and scalable,” he summed up.
Looking ahead
Energeiaa is currently developing a system that will enable remote wellness assessments as well. At present, people need to visit their office in Pimpri, Pune, for assessments. However, they provide home services for senior citizens and group services at offices of organisations.
“Our vision is to expand into multiple cities, strengthen our AI capabilities, scale deployments, build strong institutional partnerships, and enter corporate, educational, and healthcare ecosystems. The proposed funding will be utilised for technology enhancement, market expansion, validation studies, and brand building.”
Also, Deepak feels that to truly scale up the business, it is necessary for them to move online. “The journey may be long, but with passion and determination, it can certainly be navigated successfully,” he concluded.
