Startup founder reveals why he left Bengaluru in just 16 months: 'I felt excluded because...'

Dhruv Suyamprakasam also noted personal biases within the startup ecosystem.

Dhruv Suyamprakasam, the co-founder and CEO of telemedicine platform iCliniq, has shared candid insights into the hurdles he faced while navigating the startup ecosystem in Bengaluru. In an interview with Business Insider, Suyamprakasam detailed how biases against his non-IIT background and his limited proficiency in Hindi added to the challenges of scaling a healthcare-focused business.

Originally from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Suyamprakasam comes from an entrepreneurial family, with his father running a successful business in the region. In 2010, he relocated to Bengaluru, drawn by its reputation as India’s startup hub. “I had read about the city being the mainstream startup ecosystem. Moving to Bengaluru felt like the best decision for me as a founder,” he explained.

However, the experience quickly proved difficult. The fast-paced culture in Bengaluru, designed to encourage rapid scaling and iteration, conflicted with the demands of a healthcare startup. “Bengaluru is a place that encourages companies to grow fast and fail fast. That kind of pressure didn’t align with the needs of a healthcare business, which has no room for error and demands significant trust from people,” he said.

Investor expectations further complicated his journey. “We met investors who expected metrics like 100 paid consultations in a day,” he revealed, highlighting how such demands were unrealistic for a trust-intensive healthcare business.

Suyamprakasam also noted personal biases within the startup ecosystem. As a non-IIT graduate and someone unfamiliar with Hindi, he often felt excluded. “I felt excluded because I didn’t speak Hindi, India’s most widely spoken language, and I wasn’t an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, the country’s most prestigious engineering college. Being from a small town that many hadn’t heard of added to the judgment,” he stated.

After 16 months in Bengaluru, Suyamprakasam decided to move back to Coimbatore, where he could focus on growing his business at a sustainable pace. However, this shift introduced its own obstacles. “We faced issues like unreliable internet, which was never a problem in Bengaluru, and the lack of an established startup community,” he noted.

In 2016, Suyamprakasam returned to Bengaluru, hoping for a more inclusive environment and better opportunities for his healthcare business. However, after another 18 months, he realised the healthcare ecosystem in the city had not significantly evolved. The pressures of aligning with a system prioritising rapid growth over meticulous trust-building drove him back to Coimbatore.