[100 Emerging Women Leaders] Shailja Mittal’s startup Qurex aims to tackle stigma around sexual health

In 2021, a close friend of Shailaja Mittal confessed that he was getting divorced because he was suffering from erectile dysfunction. He had been visiting several doctors for the past one-and-a-half years but there was no solution in sight and his wife had given up on him.

“I was shocked that it was 2021 and wondered why this problem was not getting solved. I started my research on sexual health, visited several doctors in metro cities, conducted a survey of people with sexual dysfunction and understood the gap in the industry,” Mittal tells HerStory.

 She understood that sexual health still remained a taboo subject, and even if people overcame the “shame” associated with seeking help, they were not able to find the right doctor or treatment. The third problem arose from quick-fix solutions recommended by several doctors.

“From numerous conversations with doctors I understood that sexual health involves two major components—medicines to boost confidence and address hormonal issues and sex therapy to tackle the underlying psychological issues. But a lot of doctors were not working on the root cause,” she says.

Mittal met Dr Anita Shyam and Dr Rupin Shah—eminent sexologists from Mumbai—to understand more about the problem.

“Dr Shah told me that along with medicines, therapy is very important in the process. Women can meet a gynecologist to understand their problems. Men don’t know where to go,” she adds.

A 45-day journey

This understanding led Mittal to start Qurex in 2023, a healthtech startup dedicated to sexual health solutions.

The process is simple. A person can book a 40-minute discovery call on Qurex where they are connected to an in-house certified sex therapist who understands the root cause of the problem whether it is completely biological, a combination of biology and psychology or relationship-based. Based on the root cause identified, a treatment journey is recommended to the user on the same call. Mittal believes the online interaction is favoured by most as they don’t want to be seen entering a sex clinic.

“During the 45-days long treatment, the person can consult the doctor twice and the therapist three times. As soon as the first consultation ends, the doctor prescribes medicines that Qurex sends the person. And, during the treatment, the sexologist and the therapist work in tandem to help the person,” Mittal explains.

Qurex has also created its own sexual health index (SHI) scales that are different for erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation, two major forms of sexual dysfunction they treat.

“The therapists record the scoring on the scale in the first consultation and in the last, so that they can track the improvement over 45 days,” she adds.

In a year, Qurex has collated data of close to 15,000 users with 5,500 taking the root cause analysis call and over 1,700 people have completed their treatment journeys. It charges Rs 6,000 for the treatment journey. The platform has so far seen 95% men and 5% women approach it for solutions.

Mittal admits she was initially sceptical that it would be difficult to hire people for the platform. But she says the advancement in thought processes regarding sexual health is slowly changing. But, on the other hand, it’s very difficult marketing such a platform because of different norms.

“When you use the word ‘sex’, the algorithm messes up the entire communication, and we are not able to approach people or they are not able to reach out to us. Our energy is spent in deciding what words to use, as if we are doing something illegal,” she says.  

Qurex has started working on a special SEO strategy and uses brand partnerships to communicate the message, using a mix of 80% on performance marketing and 20% on its social media channels.

Raising awareness

Understanding that awareness is key for sexual health, Qurex recently concluded a pilot under the supervision of Dr Sangeeta Saksena, a gynecologist and founder of Enfold Proactive Health Trust, Bengaluru to create animated courses on puberty for children. This was introduced in two schools in New Delhi and there are plans to introduce them in more schools across India.

Qurex’s other co-founder is Amit Singhi, who has more than a decade of experience in healthcare. The founders hope to be profit-positive in two months. They plan to raise a seed round of funding soon.

Mittal is no stranger to entrepreneurship.

In 2017, a personal experience with an errant cab driver led Mittal to start her entrepreneurial journey with Koala Cabs—a New Delhi-based cab service driven by a crew of women drivers, catering to women and children.

A software engineer, coding for different companies, Mittal decided to take a sabbatical when her two children were born. During this time, she taught robotics in schools in Delhi.

“My daughter used to take a regular cab to school driven by a male driver. In February 2019, the cab driver didn’t turn up and sent another person who I didn’t know at all. I didn’t feel comfortable sending her,” she tells HerStory.

With all the traffic chaos and the issue of safety in the city, she decided how best to approach the issue of trust and dependability when it came to cabs. After spending a few months in research, she launched Koala Cabs in July 2017 with two cars and two drivers, and before the pandemic hit had expanded the fleet to 18 cars, employing over 50 women drivers.

When the pandemic hit and she could no longer sustain the business, she had to shut down Koala Cabs. She worked in her family business for a while before working on Qurex.

As a two-time entrepreneur, Mittal believes that if you want to start something that’s unconventional and niche, it’s important to believe in your gut instinct.

“Also, don’t be bogged down by the guilt of managing your business and your family. It’s important to communicate with your family and let them know what you are doing. Also learn to manage your time,” she concludes.