An Inquisitive Entrepreneur on a Mission to Build a Disease Free World

A Revolution in Health: An Interview with Sushant Kumar, Founder & CEO of Genefitletics

We are pleased to introduce Mr. Sushant Kumar, Founder & CEO of Genefitletics. Sushant is a health-tech entrepreneur who is passionate about helping busy folks unlock their health potential. He has founded healthcare and executive career services businesses in the past and authored two health publications. He is on a mission to build a disease-free world. In this interview with Bio Patrika, Sushant talks in depth about his entrepreneurship journey.

Tell us about yourself and your company. What kind of Corporation is your business?

I’m a visionary entrepreneur, innovator, and inventor who believes that a curious and inquisitive mindset is what will drive a person to create value for others. Having held leadership positions for two decades across diverse sectors and built businesses in healthcare and financial services, coupled with my own transformation struggle from being an obese individual to a healthy soul, puts me in a unique position to embark on a journey to help people improve their health.

“Attitude, competence & execution are three core pillars to conquer this world & bring positive differences in the lives of people. If you have these three, the sky’s the limit for you.”

I’m on a mission to build a disease-free world by shaking hands with the invisible forces at work inside our body—genes and gut microbes.

My company, Genefitletics, is an evidence-based biotech solution that sequences human and gut microbiome DNA to decode health insights and biomarkers of more than 30 chronic diseases. It also analyzes the interaction between food and gut microbes through saliva and stool samples to provide a personalized nutrition solution.

What is the problem you are solving, and what is unique about your business?

Fifty-two percent of the global adult population is suffering from chronic diseases due to an imbalance in gut bacteria, leaky gut, and a disturbed circadian rhythm. Given the fact that 41 million people globally meet a premature death, our current disease-based model of medicine has been ineffective in dealing with chronic diseases.

The key stakeholders of the healthcare sector—doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies—do not make money until the patient remains sick and requires constant consulting and medication. Certain solutions, which place antibiotics and surgeries over curing the patients, do long-term collateral damage and have a cascading impact on overall health, thereby driving people toward life-threatening disorders.

Our business replaces this current model with a human biology-based model to understand how our body really works, how to run it optimally, and how to fix issues safely when something goes wrong.

Genefitletics offers unparalleled visibility into a human body to create a unique profile of biochemistry and microbial community and make personalized, adaptable, and actionable precision nutrition recommendations for improving the health of its customers.

Genefitletics is not just a genetic sequencing test, but the true health mascot for its customers. Our recommendations are adapted to your changing microbial profile and are examined regularly, so as to empower you to improve your healthspan and buoyancy.

This deep understanding of genes and gut living inside our body allows us to recommend to each individual why they should eat certain foods and why they should avoid certain foods based on their own individual biology, with the goal of preventing and reversing chronic disease.

How and why did you get started in this line of work?

I was born and brought up in a traditional and stereotypical environment, where you are tutored to play it safe throughout your life, secure a job, and lead a simple, blissful life. I used to be a typical finance professional in a secure job environment, so my life was all about traveling to and from my home to the office. I was never satisfied or happy with this mediocre job mindset and running after money in a rat race. Things took an upside turn when I went to pursue my MBA from IE Business School, Spain. After meeting folks from every corner of the world, I discovered that people are plagued with irrational and outdated healthcare practices, which were not helping them improve their healthspan. So I asked myself, “Can we envision a world that does not have any space for chronic ailments?”

I left with this thought when I came back from Spain. After witnessing a series of deaths of my loved ones in the family, and how others around them are impacted, I decided to build something that can help people become independent of any doctors and medicines and improve their healthspan. At the same time, I was diagnosed with fatty liver stage 3 and I was obese, weighing 105 Kgs. I had to transform myself first to make my vision a reality and help people.

While through a strong motivation and following a standard calorie deficit diet and regular workout I was able to transform myself from an obese man to a healthy soul, my overall health took a backseat and a huge toll on my gut. This made me realize the real problem in the healthcare delivery model—it is not focused on curing people.

Truly, the pharmacy companies are the biggest wealth makers, because whatever they’re manufacturing in their labs is not supposed to reverse the chronic diseases, it’s just helping people manage their disease symptoms. It is more like delaying the effects of a disease.

I was inclined to fix the current healthcare model with the objective of manifesting and building a disease-free world. I wanted to figure out what it takes to actually reverse these human diseases. Not having a typical healthcare background was never my concern. I researched a lot of medical journals and scientific papers, and all pointed out one common root cause of human diseases: the invisible army inside our gut—”the gut microbiome.” We humans have only 25,000 genes, so how is the human body such a complex system?

This led to a miraculous conclusion and belief that we humans have assigned the task of managing our health to trillions of microorganisms living in our gut, having the number of genes almost 10^4 times those of humans. This further led to the belief that it is these microbes who are the decision-makers in every aspect of human health. By optimizing these microbiomes, humans can actually take care of their health without depending too much on medications.

Genefitletics was born with the objective of building a disease-free world by sequencing human and gut microbiome DNA to decode health insights and biomarkers of more than 30 chronic diseases and analyze the interaction between food and gut microbes to provide personalized nutrition.

How do you deal with the stress of Covid-19?

To be frank, I never felt under stress during the pandemic! All I did was follow the precautions and guidelines issued by the government and maintained a healthy immunity. I made sure that I spent two hours every day on my workout, which boosted my energy level. Besides, speaking with various people daily and listening to and solving their health problems gave me enough motivation and a boost to keep going.

What is most important to you in a company?

Our business revolves around three pillars—customer, customer, and customer. Solving customers’ health problems and empowering them to improve their health span is the epicenter of our business.

What was the best part of business since the Covid-19 started?

COVID-19 has led us to rethink and pivot our business model and build in additional offerings that can help people alleviate their health issues. It has also driven people’s attention toward their health. As a result, they are now looking for something beyond medicines to cure them effectively.

How did Covid-19 affect the way of doing business?

Covid-19 made us location-independent and gave us access to a multitude of resources and the ability to recruit people from different parts of the world.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer/manufacture?

Genefitletics is currently offering two solutions:

1. Curegenic – This is a comprehensive bio-intelligence solution that analyzes customers’ genes and microbiomes through saliva and stool samples, covering Metabolic health, Disease risk estimation, Genetic predisposition to intolerances and allergies, Inflammatory activity, Predisposition to drug addiction, Digestive efficiency, Microbiome profile, and Circadian Rhythm to provide personalized dietary recommendations.

2. UP THE GUT – This product analyzes a customer’s microbiomes through stool samples, covering metabolic, digestive, and neurodegenerative pathways to provide personalized dietary recommendations.

How does an individual benefit from your services?

Using functional analysis of human and gut microbial DNA, Genefitletics recommends a personalized diet for an individual along with unique recommendations that will:

• Focus on plant-based nutrition with personalized serving recommendations of animal and plant proteins and fats.

• Identify foods that are most aligned with their microbiome.

• Recommend a diet that will increase their energy and well-being.

• Recommend a diet to help them achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

• Optimize their digestion and nutrient absorption.

• Optimize beneficial bacteria with probiotics.

End result: One can fine-tune the function of their gut microbiome to minimize the production of harmful metabolites and maximize the production of beneficial ones so that they can improve their energy levels, fine-tune their immunity, and prevent the occurrence of chronic inflammation.

Our business revolves around 3 pillars—customer, customer & customer.

How do you advertise your business?

We do not believe that the healthcare business needs any advertisement. What the healthcare sector requires is educating and providing information about the dynamic science associated with human biology and overall health. We have been following this approach and engaging our users through our content and community-building initiatives. One can find our blogs, articles, podcasts, and webinars on www.genefitletics.com and become a member for free. We also engage our community by organizing virtual events and challenges to help them with small tweaks in their lifestyle, which definitely leads to the development of healthy habits.

To what do you attribute your success?

My passion and innate responsibility to bring a positive impact on the lives of people.

What are your company’s goals?

To build a disease-free world.

Do you work locally or nationally?

We work internationally, currently serving in India, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In the next five years, I see myself as a healthcare entrepreneur who has brought a positive impact on the lives of at least 200,000 people by improving their health.

If you had one piece of advice for someone just starting out, what would it be?

Just focus on the customer’s problem and how you can make the customer’s life better.

Do you have any fond or interesting memories from your professional life you would like to share?

My first designated leadership experience, where I was asked to transform a demotivated team with pre-existing internal team conflicts into a rockstar team and convert a dwindling business into a profitable one, has been one of my most fascinating memories. This assignment helped me utilize my leadership to build strong teams, formulate innovative ideas, and implement advanced business models that have created new industry standards.

Who were your inspirations and mentors, both professionally and personally?

Professionally – The late John Deree, a pioneering social entrepreneur who not only established an empire of his own (Deere and Company) but also served the people of his soil, is my idol. He began his career as a blacksmith apprentice and realized that the reinvention of cast iron ploughs with highly polished steel could boost the productivity of prairie soil. Therefore, he started manufacturing these on a small scale and in no time transformed his enterprise into the world’s largest agriculture and construction equipment manufacturer. I strongly align my strategy and thoughts with him, since I firmly believe that economic benefits and social responsibility should coexist. With this ideology in mind, I am building Genefitletics to help people improve their health span.

Personally – Jeev Milkha Singh, a super athlete who took India to an altogether different level in the Olympics, is my role model. His never-give-up attitude motivated and inspired me to transform myself from an obese nerd to a healthy soul. My life’s philosophy aligns with these lines once quoted by him: “Hard Work, willpower & dedication—for a person with these qualities, the sky’s the limit.”

What would be your alternative career choice if not Genefitletics?

My career has always been focused around solving problems that can bring a positive impact on the lives of people. If it had not been Genefitletics, I would be building something unique for the agriculture sector, given the fact that the Indian agriculture sector needs a technology and supply chain revolution to improve the realization of crop proceeds that accrue to farmers.

What is something your friends and colleagues don’t know about you?

A lot of my friends and colleagues do not know that I am a table tennis player and at one time wanted to pursue my career in sports.

What’s something unique you keep on or around your workspace?

I live and work from the Himalayas. The best part is we are close to nature and are surrounded by snow-covered mountains for at least six months in a year. Imagine what your motivation and energy level would be if your workspace were surrounded by lush green trees, orchards, and mountains.

What were your greatest professional challenges along the way, and how did you get past them?

In one of my most challenging leadership assignments way back in 2010, I was asked to set up an organizational transformation in an existing business unit, which was plagued by differences in team members that were jeopardizing business interests and impacting our top line. Until I managed to create an environment of trust and motivation for the team, the division was doomed to fail.

Using my previous expertise in team-building and conflict resolution, I clubbed incompatible members into smaller teams within the larger group and created a system of incentives that forced them to cooperate and function together as a unit. This strategy worked wonderfully, and we could perceive a striking difference in revenues in a span of six months. Over the next three years, we not only grew revenue by 25% month on month, but also optimized operational cost by automating the entire workflow.

Could you comment on how promising precision medicine would be in the future? And what would be the most important challenges that we may face with precision medicine?

Over the decades, a traditional model of medicine has been used to set an agenda for medical research! This disease-based model of health believed that as long as the affected body part(s) could be fixed, the problem would be solvable, and hence no need was felt to address the root cause of the disease. Medicine never acknowledges the malfunctioning of the gut, which could be the root cause of all these problems. Not to mention the high price tag and long-term damage this outdated model has produced.

Since 1970, we have been witnessing new challenges to our health, including a rise in metabolic disorders, autoimmune diseases, an impact on our immune health, and diseases of aging and the brain such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Autism.

In India alone, 9% of the total adult population suffers from Type 2 diabetes and 25% from cardiovascular diseases. If we talk about digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, Acid Reflux, and GERD, 10% of the Indian population is affected.

Clearly, the current disease-based model of medicine has failed to effectively deal with chronic diseases and has placed doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies above patient cures, since they do not make money until patients are sick and require constant care and medication. Pharmaceutical companies make billions from sick subscribers by providing symptom management through medication rather than a cure.

The current healthcare system in India needs a revolution. The current outdated model needs to be replaced with a human biology-based model to understand how our body works, how to run it optimally, and how to fix issues sustainably without any collateral damage.

The answer lies in decoding gut microbial DNA. The gut microbiome is linked to every chronic disease, be it diabetes, depression, obesity, heart diseases, cancer, digestive issues such as IBS, or even mental health issues such as Parkinson’s.

India holds a promising future when it comes to the application of the gut microbiome.

We need to move away from managing the symptoms of chronic diseases and focus on unmasking their root causes. The best way forward is to leverage huge datasets that can help us predict the advent of diseases and use Artificial Intelligence to provide dietary interventions.

In the next five to seven years, we could envisage more gut microbiome research-based businesses being set up to provide data-driven solutions, which can help us move from subscribing to drugs and surgeries to gut microbiome-based personalized dietary intervention unique for every individual.

With an increase in the adoption rate, the cost of getting a gut microbiome testing would decrease and make it more accessible for the general public.

Tell us about the events Genefitletics organizes and what you are hoping to achieve?

Genefitletics works on a gamification model where we motivate and incentivize people to improve their gut, physical, and mental health. Over the past 18 months, we have conducted workout challenges, nutrition competitions, and circadian rhythm challenges to improve the health of people.

Besides, to enhance the knowledge base of people about gut microbiome and genomics, we have also conducted webinars, question and answer sessions, and gut health-focused podcasts.