Alumni Ventures: Vyuhaa Med Data – Dhritiman Mallick, PGP 2016

Dhritiman Mallick, an IIM Bangalore alumnus, returned to India after a global consulting career across the US, Japan, and China to build something deeply impactful. As Co-founder of Vyuhaa Med Data, he is using AI, engineering, and empathy to bring early cancer diagnostics to India’s last mile, focusing on women in underserved regions.

Under his leadership, Vyuhaa has earned recognitions including Top‑3 NVIDIA Inception Startup, Google for Startups partner, and Invest Karnataka’s VentuRise Awards winner, all while bootstrapping as a hard-tech startup—a rare, bold path in India’s healthtech landscape. Yet beyond accolades, what defines Dhritiman’s journey is his commitment to listening to women’s voices, ensuring accessibility, and solving problems that matter.

In this conversation, Dhritiman shares his journey, challenges, and vision for healthcare innovation in India.

What inspired you to start Vyuhaa Med Data?

The inspiration came from a deeply personal place. My grandfather’s late cancer diagnosis showed me how crucial early detection is, and working across life sciences for over a decade made me realize how inaccessible and expensive diagnostics often are in India, where culturally, we avoid check-ups until it’s too late.

With Vyuhaa, I wanted to use technology to lower costs and build scalable, homegrown solutions using imaging systems that are effective and accessible. Partnering with Madhu, we set out to build technology rooted in good science and empathy.

CerviAI™ is at the heart of your work. How is it transforming cervical cancer screening?

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among Indian women, yet screening remains costly, with low awareness due to social taboos and a shortage of pathologists. CerviAI™ leverages AI to handle repetitive cytopathology work, reducing screening costs by 70%—from ₹1500–2000 to ₹350–400 per test.

This affordability enables us to conduct screenings in rural areas, where over 10,000 women have been screened so far. I recall a woman from a rural camp who had no symptoms but agreed to screening after encouragement. The test detected early-stage cancer, allowing timely treatment. Stories like hers remind us why we do what we do and strengthen our belief in the power of early detection.

Vyuhaa’s AI is entirely homegrown. How does this strengthen your solution?

Our AI is trained on Indian datasets from hospitals across the country, making it robust for local populations and workflows. Unlike Western models, ours is adapted to India’s healthcare realities.

We are validating our AI as a medical device through clinical trials with AIIMS Jodhpur and SCB Bhubaneswar under ICMR, ensuring rigorous, government-backed credibility. The AI filters out 90% of clear cases, reducing pathologists’ workloads while retaining human oversight for complex diagnoses, ensuring scale without compromising quality.

Vyuhaa’s ‘AI in a Box’ has caught attention for its potential. What does it enable, and why is it significant?

At Vyuhaa, we believe technology should serve those who need it most, not just those with easy access. Our ‘AI in a Box’ embodies this mission. It’s a portable system that brings cervical cancer screenings to remote locations without internet connectivity, bridging healthcare gaps in rural India.

By combining robust hardware with our indigenous AI, it empowers local healthcare workers to deliver accurate screenings directly in the field, without waiting for lab facilities or connectivity. We often say technology isn’t impactful if it cannot reach the last mile—‘AI in a Box’ ensures early cancer detection is a right, not a privilege.

How do you see AI transforming healthcare in India over the next five years?

AI will democratize healthcare, enabling faster, more accurate diagnostics while reducing surgical recovery times and supporting precision medicine. Doctors will work with richer data, improving patient outcomes while retaining the human element of care.

AI will also transform drug development and treatment pathways, but ethical deployment and robust regulatory frameworks will be key to ensuring safe, effective integration into healthcare systems.

What challenges have you faced as a deep-tech healthtech entrepreneur in India?

Building credibility in India’s deep-tech ecosystem is challenging. Investors are cautious, and there’s limited R&D support. Importing specialized hardware is slow and expensive, while developing indigenous hard-tech requires significant time, capital, and perseverance.

Yet, India has exceptional talent. Our mission is to build for India, using the talent we have to develop impactful healthcare solutions while navigating these structural challenges.

How did your IIMB journey shape your leadership and this venture?

IIMB taught me the value of stakeholder management, cross-functional collaboration, and seeing the bigger picture. My experiences there and at Deloitte helped me realize that while India has world-class talent, exposure and enabling ecosystems are essential.

Entrepreneurship, especially in healthtech, requires balancing ambition with personal values, and IIMB’s teachings on resilience, leadership, and human-centered problem-solving have been vital in this journey.

What advice would you give IIMB alumni looking to enter healthtech?

Healthtech demands patience, ethical grounding, and a commitment to impact. India needs scalable, homegrown solutions tailored to its realities. Work with strong medical partners, prioritize good research, and build with empathy to reach the last mile.

For MBAs, your strength lies in connecting technologists, clinicians, and operational minds to build meaningful, scalable solutions that create real societal impact.

Any ask/ message for the IIMB alumni community?

We regularly conduct women’s health camps in rural areas, offering cervical cancer screenings and health education. We would be grateful for alumni support—whether by sponsoring these camps, organizing awareness sessions within your organizations, or partnering to amplify this mission.

If you’re interested in joining us in this journey, please reach out at admin@vyuhaadata.com or visit vyuhaadata.com. Together, we can transform healthcare access in India.

Dhritiman’s journey with Vyuhaa Med Data shows how technology rooted in empathy can transform lives. By making early cancer diagnostics accessible to women in underserved areas, he demonstrates that real impact comes from addressing challenges at the last mile. His story is a reminder that as an alumni community, we have the opportunity to support and amplify missions that create meaningful change for India. Connect with Dhritiman on LinkedIn to follow and support his work.