The Pro Life

Over a career spanning three decades, Meena Ganesh has seemingly done it all. Now, the 53-year-old has an eye on the bourses for her four-year-old health care startup, Portea Medical

- Anshul Dhamija

Meena Ganesh, a recent addition to the board of governors of her alma mater, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C), has been cutting down on travel in February-March. As much as possible. Her son, Atishay, the younger of her two children—daughter Akshita is 26—has his Class XII board exams coming up. Like any concerned parent, Meena’s focus is on ensuring Atishay gets what he wants: Admission into one of the top science or engineering colleges in India.

“I take constant updates from him—from morning till night. I discuss which topics he studied, how much he got in his preparatory tests, why his marks were low in certain subjects, and what’s the plan to improve his grades,” says Meena.

So much so that, in January, when Atishay’s school hosted an event in which the students were asked to write a letter to their parents, “My letter read: ‘I know Ma, you are really trying hard and pushing me hard to score well in my exams. And for that I might be angry with you sometimes, but I understand why you are doing it’,” says a visibly happy Meena.

Her joy is understandable. Ask any parent, and they’ll term this— appreciation from the child—a serious achievement. And for Meena, the 53-year-old co-founder and CEO of health care startup Portea Medical, which has raised close to $50 million in venture capital funding, it comes hand-in-hand with managing a storied career that has spanned over three decades.

Meena is the proverbial ‘does-itall’ professional. A successful serial entrepreneur, “she is the co-founder of a top early-stage venture firm, and a former CEO of a top MNC [British retailer Tesco] in India. Quite a rare background among her peer group,” points out KP Balaraj, co-founder and managing director, WestBridge Capital India, a venture investment firm.