From Tennis Courts to Gut Health
By Arunima Rajan
In an interview with Arunima Rajan, Tanveer Singh, Co-founder of Sova Health, talks about the growth of precision nutrition market in India.
Gut health was not exactly a mainstream conversation in India until recently. What made you bet on precision nutrition as a market, and how ready are Indian consumers for personalized probiotics?
This conversation is still relatively nascent in India. But for me, it started with my personal journey. As a former national-level tennis player, I was always optimizing for performance and recovery. The turning point came when I stopped playing at the competitive level, but I still wanted to stay fit without having to give up on all the good things in life. I love experimenting with food, have an active social life, and my personal need was to continue enjoying these things while staying healthy. The gut is deeply interconnected to the rest of the body, and solving for better gut health based on science and data was logical and, therefore, appealing to me as a customer. I am driven by first principles thinking, and I was quite convinced that there would be more people like me who wanted to solve everyday decision-making around health and food through a data-first approach, as compared to following the latest diet fad in town. That’s why I started Sova.
When we started Sova, we noticed a huge gap: Indians were buying supplements blindly off the shelf, often incorrectly dosed (both under- and over-dosage is harmful) and also with ingredients irrelevant to our Indian diets and microbiomes. But the science had moved ahead — personalization, strain-level precision, and gut testing were the new frontiers globally. We believed Indian consumers would leapfrog the generic supplement phase if given the right education, experience, and evidence. Today, we see that shift happening — especially among peak performers, urban health seekers, parents, and people managing chronic gut or metabolic issues.
Break it down for us simply: if someone signs up with Sova Health today, what exactly do they experience from testing to getting their personalized supplement?
Sova Health is building the future of personalized, precision wellness in India. Our portfolio includes both over-the-counter wellness solutions as well as SovaX, our flagship precision supplement platform for gut, metabolic, and immune health.
If you're signing up for SovaX, here's what the experience looks like: it's a four-step, deeply personalized journey designed around your unique biology
Testing
We send you a gut microbiome test kit - it's non-invasive and easy to use at home. Once the sample reaches our lab, we extract and genetically sequence your gut DNA. Within two weeks, you will receive a detailed health report.Insight
Your results are analyzed through SovaIQ, our proprietary health intelligence engine. It connects your gut data with your lifestyle, symptoms, and the latest global research to identify exactly which bacterial strains are missing, what’s triggering symptoms like fatigue or anxiety, and what interventions are needed.Consultation + Formulation
You speak with one of our trained gut experts, who breaks down the findings and connects them to your lived experience. Based on this, we formulate a personalized supplement - whether it’s a custom probiotic or a metabolic blend, using clinically studied strains, targeted dosages, and clean ingredients like MCT oil and monk fruit.Ongoing Support
Gut and metabolic health take time to rebalance. That’s why we stay with you through regular follow-ups, WhatsApp check-ins, and nudges, plus optional access to coaching programs for deeper lifestyle support.
So while Sova Health offers a range of wellness solutions, it’s through SovaX that we offer a full-stack, personalized health protocol built on testing, data, and continuous care.
With more than 25,000 users already on board, what insights have you gained about Indian dietary habits and gut health problems? Are there any surprises hospitals should know about?
One surprising insight: almost 70% of our users show signs of gut dysbiosis i.e imbalance in their gut flora, even if they appear “healthy” on the outside. The top triggers? Excess antibiotics, low fiber intake, chronic stress, and lack of fermented foods.
Hospitals should take note that gut issues are no longer fringe, they’re upstream of conditions like IBS, PCOS, diabetes, and even mental health. Testing and correcting gut health early can radically reduce patient load in chronic care.
You’ve raised $1.5 million from investors across the globe. What convinced them about the gut health market in India, and where do you see this market headed over the next five years?
There’s growing recognition both in India and globally that gut health is foundational, not fringe. What resonated with investors was the scale of the opportunity and the timing. We’re looking at a market where gut-related discomforts from acidity to constipation are part of everyday life across all age groups. Yet, most people are still relying on short-term fixes.
At the same time, the science has evolved dramatically. The gut microbiome is now being recognised as a second genome, deeply linked to immunity, metabolic function, mood, even chronic disease progression. So the question wasn’t whether this market would grow but who would be positioned to lead it responsibly.
What gave investors confidence in Sova was our approach. We weren’t building a single product; we were building a full-stack platform, from diagnostics to personalized supplements to data intelligence all designed specifically for Indian needs, diets, and healthcare gaps.
Looking ahead, I believe personalized probiotics will become as commonplace as multivitamins. But more importantly, we see this as the beginning of a much larger shift toward evidence-based, precision health in India. Gut is just the starting point. The same principles of test, personalise, support can extend to metabolic, immune, skin, and even mental health. That’s the direction we’re building toward at Sova.
Hospitals typically focus more on medical treatments rather than preventive nutrition. How do you see Sova Health partnering or fitting in with private hospitals’ existing healthcare models?
We see ourselves as complementary to hospitals, not competitive. Most private hospitals are excellent at acute care. But increasingly, they’re seeking partners who can handle prevention, chronic care, and lifestyle coaching. That’s where Sova fits in, we bring diagnostics, longitudinal data, and gut-focused protocols that hospitals can plug into their ecosystem.
We’re already in conversations to embed Sova’s microbiome testing and supplementation into GI, metabolic, fertility, and even pediatric departments. It’s a win-win: better patient outcomes, more revenue streams, and deeper patient engagement.
You previously built businesses in completely different sectors like hospitality procurement. What key lessons from your past ventures have helped you build Sova Health successfully?
Every entrepreneurial journey leaves you with a distinct toolkit. From scaling a hospitality procurement venture, I learned how to build operational muscle, managing complex supply chains, ensuring reliability at scale, and understanding how decisions are made in high-trust, high-stakes environments.
Helping scale a D2C brand from the ground up to ₹100 Cr taught me the importance of staying close to the consumer, building brand credibility early, and growing fast, but responsibly.
But if there’s one thread that ties it all together, it’s this: real, lasting businesses are built by solving real problems, not chasing trends. That insight has shaped how we’ve built Sova Health. Gut health isn’t a buzzword for us. It’s a deeply underserved space affecting millions of Indians daily.
We’re applying the same rigour operationally and scientifically to build a health platform that’s not only trusted, but also rooted in outcomes. And that mindset, I believe, is what differentiates sustainable ventures from seasonal ones.
Many doctors and healthcare leaders remain skeptical about supplements and personalized nutrition. What evidence or clinical backing does Sova Health offer to ease those doubts?
That skepticism is understandable and also necessary. The supplement and personalized nutrition space in India has historically lacked scientific transparency, leading to mistrust among both doctors and consumers.
At Sova, we’ve intentionally built our foundation to address this head-on. Our gut microbiome test is processed through a NABL-accredited clinical lab, ensuring clinical-grade data quality. The engine behind our recommendations - SovaIQ, is informed by published clinical studies, microbiome research from leading global journals, and growing Indian cohort data.
Each strain in our probiotic formulations is individually selected and clinically validated, avoiding the use of vague or generic blends. To further strengthen clinical confidence, we’re also running outcome-based studies with partner institutions focusing on gut conditions like IBS, as well as broader areas such as metabolic health.
We’re not positioning Sova as a quick-fix supplement company. We’re building a precision health platform rooted in evidence, data, and measurable outcomes, one that clinicians and consumers alike can trust.
Finally, what’s your big-picture vision for Sova Health? Are you planning to expand beyond India, or perhaps broaden your product range? What should healthcare executives watch out for from you next?
Sova’s mission is to make precision health mainstream, starting with the gut, but extending into every pillar of wellbeing.
Over the next year, we’re:
Launching SovaX, our precision supplement platform for metabolic and immune health.
Expanding our clinical integrations with hospitals and health systems.
Laying the groundwork to take Sova global, starting with diaspora populations in the UAE and Southeast Asia.
For healthcare leaders, watch out: the microbiome is becoming a new vital sign, and Sova intends to be the operating system that powers it.
Got a story that Healthcare Executive should dig into? Shoot it over to arunima.rajan@hosmac.com—no PR fluff, just solid leads.