Tushar Vashisht
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Short description|Indian entrepreneur}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Tushar Vashisht
| image = Tushar BnW.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1985|4|3|df=y}}
| birth_place = Karnal, Haryana, India
| nationality = Indian
| known_for = Founder of HealthifyMe
| alma_mater = University of Pennsylvania
| residence = Bangalore, Karnataka, India
}}
Tushar Vashisht (born 3 April 1985) is an Indian entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of consumer health app HealthifyMe. He is a former investment banker, was an early employee at Aadhaar and is a University of Pennsylvania graduate.
Early life
Vashisht was born in Karnal, Haryana, to SN Vashisht, former Director General of Police of Haryana, and Dr. Suneeta Madan, daughter of veterinary scientist ML Madan.{{cite news |last1=Vashisht |first1=Tushar |title=Note to my dad |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/note-to-my-dad-167102 |accessdate=5 January 2020|work=Tribune India}}
Vashisht did his K-12 in different schools in Haryana before graduating from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in New Delhi in 2003. He spent his first two college years between Delhi College of Engineering and Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology,{{cite news |title=DCE Alumni who also went to Sardar Patel vidyalaya |url=https://dce.almaconnect.com/alumni/college/sardar-patel-vidyalaya |work=DCE Alumni}} before transferring to and graduating with a BAS in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007.
Career
Vashisht began his career from Wall Street as an intern for BlackRock. He joined Deutsche Bank full-time as corporate finance analyst in San Francisco before shifting to Singapore.{{cite news |title=TEDxGolfLinksPark |url=https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/8251 |accessdate=5 January 2020|work=TED}}{{cite news |title=Barefoot - The other side of life |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/Harsh_Mander/barefoot-the-other-side-of-life/article2882340.ece |accessdate=12 February 2020 |work=The Hindu}} In 2009, he joined the Aadhaar project headed by Nandan Nilekani in Bangalore, where many of the future board members and early investors of HealthifyMe were his colleagues.{{cite news |last1=Sharma |first1=Supriya |title=Redrawing the line: Tushar Vashisht, Mathew Cherian made a difference by contributing in Nandan Nilekani's Unique Identification Authority project |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20121224-tushar-vashisht-mathew-cherian-work-in-nandan-nilekanis-unique-identification-authority-project-in-2009-761054-1999-11-30 |accessdate=5 January 2020 |work=India Today}}
Inspired by his own weight gain within a year of returning to India,{{cite news |last1=Dhillon |first1=Amrit |title=HealthifyMe app tracks nutrition in thousands of Indian dishes |url=https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/food/healthifyme-app-tracks-nutrition-in-thousands-of-indian-dishes-1.657487 |accessdate=22 February 2020 |work=The National}}{{cite news |title=The way to greener pastures |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/features/the-way-to-greener-pastures-240186 |accessdate=22 February 2020 |work=Tribune India}} Vashisht started HealthifyMe in 2012, with Mathew Cherian and Sachin Shenoy as co-founders with "a vision to help Indians be healthier and fitter using online tools". According to him, it is India's "first comprehensive calorie tracker".{{cite news |last1=Rai |first1=Saritha |title=Fighting Fat at India Inc., One Dosa at a Time |url=https://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/fighting-fat-at-india-inc-one-dosa-at-a-time/ |accessdate=5 January 2020 |work=New York Times|date=29 January 2013 }} The company would later add digital nutritionists and trainers as subscription service.{{cite news |last1=Bagchi |first1=Shrabonti |title=Staying fit has never been easier |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/staying-fit-has-never-been-easier/articleshow/47413960.cms |accessdate=5 January 2020 |work=Economic Times}} In 2019, it launched AI-powered "Smart Plans" recommended by its digital nutritionist "Ria", based on customer habits and medical conditions.{{cite news |title=Healthifyme wants to improve your diet with its Ria2.0 AI assistant |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/healthifyme-wants-to-improve-your-diet-with-its-ria2-0-ai-assistant-here-is-how-5544698/ |accessdate=5 January 2020 |work=Indian Express}} The company went on to raise four rounds of funding including a series B funding of {{USD}} 18 million in 2018.{{cite news |last1=Salve |first1=Priyanka |title=The HealthifyMe puzzle: AI makes fitness cheaper and easier, but can it chisel a healthy business model? |url=https://prime.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/70016661/technology-and-startups/the-healthifyme-puzzle-ai-makes-fitness-cheaper-and-easier-but-can-it-chisel-a-healthy-business-model |accessdate=5 January 2020 |work=Economic Times}} In 2019, HealthifyMe was reported to be the top rated Indian startup on Google Play Store.{{cite news |last1=Dash |first1=Sanchita |title=This startup helping 9 million Indians lose weight may soon turn profitable |url=https://www.businessinsider.in/healthifyme-indias-top-rated-healthapp-on-playstore-is-set-to-turn-profitable-this-year/articleshow/68900244.cms |accessdate=5 January 2020 |work=Business Insider}}
While at HealthifyMe and during their poverty line experiment, Vashisht advocated for better nutrition policies for Indians.{{cite news |last1=Rai |first1=Saritha |title=Living Like the Other Half |url=https://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/living-like-the-other-half/ |accessdate=5 January 2020 |work=New York Times|date=20 October 2011 }} He advocated for better protein subsidy for the masses in 2011–12 in front of the Planning Commission and National Advisory Council, as well as on other forums.{{cite news |title=Is India's poverty line of 65 US cents a day fair? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15542957 |accessdate=5 January 2020 |work=BBC}} In 2018, he gave a presentation during the India-Russia Business Summit, in front of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.{{fact|date=January 2023}}
Poverty experiment
In 2011, Vashisht lived on {{INR}}100 a day and {{INR}}32 a day for a month, alongside Mathew Cherian. The duo documented their experience on a blog and went on to advocate for the improvement of the average and poor Indian, especially in the field of nutrition, travel, employment and addiction. They concluded that {{INR}} 32 was insufficient to survive on, while {{INR}} 120 a day was the income level required to exit poverty.{{cite news| last1=Khan|first1=Atir|title=US-based Indians find it 'dangerous' to live on Rs 32 a day |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/living-at-ra-32-a-day-is-dangerous-us-based-indians-145132-2011-11-07 |accessdate=22 February 2020 |work=India Today}}{{cite news |last1=Rai |first1=Saritha |title=Two entrepreneurs in Bangalore try living on $2 a day |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/two-entrepreneurs-in-bangalore-try-living-on-2-a-day-573403 |accessdate=22 February 2020 |work=NDTV}}
Music
Vashisht is a trained Hindustani classical singer and was a member of Penn Masala between 2005 and 2007. His composition "Pehchaan" was the title song of the album released in 2007. The song was featured on America's Best of College A Capella in 2008.{{cite news |title=BEST OF COLLEGE A CAPPELLA 2008 |url=https://varsityvocals.com/project/boca-2008/ |accessdate=5 January 2020 |work=Varsity Vocals}}
References
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Category:Indian business executives
Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni