Exclusive | Harsh Mariwala starts second venture in wellness sector

Marico founder Harsh Mariwala has set up his second venture in the Indian wellness segment with a premium physiotherapy centre that offers treatment using water, land and air-based elements.

Mariwala has joined hands with Dr Amit Kohli, a well-known physiotherapist in Mumbai with a clientele that includes Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan.

"Dr Kohli came to me with this idea, and we traveled overseas to look at similar facilities and realised that there is nothing like this in India today," Mariwala told Moneycontrol.

Dr Amit Kohli

The venture is called AquaCentric Therapy and opened its first centre, in the Mumbai suburb of Andheri in May.

"We have also signed a lease for another centre in Worli. This will open in five to six months," added the entrepreneur who has founded the Kaya Limited chain of skin care clinics.

Each AquaCentric Therapy facility entails an investment of approximately Rs 5 crore. Mariwala plans to open two more centres one each in Thane and Powai, before moving to other cities.

Wellness is a growing segment within the Indian healthcare industry. While a recent Stanford Research Institute International study put the Indian wellness market at $9.8 billion, an earlier report by Fiche and E&Y said the segment was growing at an annual growth rate of 12 percent.

The AquaCentric Therapy first centre is spread over 7,000 sq feet with acqua therapy in four different verticals - orthopaedic, neurology, women's health care and paediatric.

The facility includes therapeutic indoor pools equipped with underwater treadmills and pool bike.

AquaCentric Therapy

Private venture

Mariwala is not new to initiatives in healthcare. His Mariwala Health Initiative, which he co-founded along with his daughter Rajvi  has committed massive funds to mental health related initiatives in India.

He and Dr Kohli have been working on AquaCentric for over a year-and-a-half. AquaCentric Private Limited was set up in early 2017, and apart from the two founders, also has Mariwala's son - Rishabh and wife Archana Mariwala. Daughter-in-law Priyanjali is heading the marketing.

AquaCentric Therapy is a personal venture funded by Mariwala family office, Sharrp Ventures.

"We went to facilities in Switzerland, Denmark, and Boston, New York and Philadelphia in the US. We are sure what we have here in Mumbai is better and more cutting edge than what we have seen," said the entrepreneur.

The first centre has seen business of up to Rs 9 lakh each in the first two month. "It needs to do a business of about Rs 25 lakh a month to start making money. The initial feedback from our client have been very good," Harsh Mariwala added.