How Duly is shaking up the Indian sexual wellness market | Equity Podcast

This episode is sponsored by Morgan Stanley atw work visit morganstanley.com Assessment to get your free transaction Readiness assessment [Music] Today hello and welcome back to equity a Tech crunch podcast about the business Of startups where we unpack the numbers And the Nuance behind the headlines I'm Maryann aavo and this is our interview Show where we sit down with a guest Think about their work and unpack the Rest today we're bringing you a special Mini episode led by Tech crunch's very Own Morgan s during last year's disrupt Morgan caught up with shuti duetti the Co-founder and CEO of Health Tech Startup duly duly which is focused on Simplifying and personalizing Contraception for young women in India And Beyond was part of this year's Startup Battlefield 200 the pair talked About the stigma around contraception Cultural roadblocks duly faces that its Us and UK counterparts May not have to Consider and of course what's next for The startup Enjoy so do you want to introduce Yourself yeah so my name is shudi I'm The founder and CEO of DUI dly is a Digital Health platform that's Simplifying and personalizing Contraception for young women in India And Beyond so yeah that's kind of what I

Do and we've seen a lot of Women's Healthcare and reproductive healthare Startups in the market you know Fundraising but at the same time there's Still a real lack of them in this space What is the reception like downstairs to Dly and to I guess the idea of like Women's Healthcare becoming a startup Yeah so it's so rewarding or like Encouraging to be there because even Though we don't have as many people Coming up to us and saying we would fund You but we have so many of them coming Up and saying that what you're doing is Really important and it's great that You're doing this you know we are so Happy to see somebody addressing this Problem and so on so that's obviously Very encouraging but we would also love To see more people coming up and saying Hey you know we love what you're doing And we probably want to invest so yeah Right and then I was going through the Duly site and I saw you know stats that You had mentioned like the real lack of Access to sex education in India not Only that but also the stigma against Birth control in general in India can You tell me more about that yeah sure so We actually read studies that show that Just as a background I mean India now Has the largest population in the world We surpassed China quite recently not Just that we actually have the largest

Number of young people in the world so Half of our population is actually below 30 however the access to sex education Is less than 15% so most young people Cuz we spoke to a lot of college Students and so on and we ask them how Much do you know about contraception and So on so the awareness level is very High and that's what has shown in a lot Of surveys as well and of course there's A lot of you know information online and And so on but if you ask them what meth Method is right for them or what they Should be using they don't really know That because they don't really get the Information from the right sources or Consult a doctor or somebody who's an Expert and I think that's where the real Gap is so that's really what we are Trying to solve and not just create that Awareness but also provide them a Solution where they can get access to Everything they need to get started and Also to manage their contraception Through one app right and beyond that on The dly website it also said that Beyond Just aware Ness of contraception which Is pretty high use of it is still low I Remember seeing that condom use among Young men is very very low yeah that was Shocking for us as well because uh and This came from a national Family Health Survey that happens every 5 years or so If I'm not wrong and what we saw was the

Contraception usage amongst men was less Than 177% and that includes condoms as Well as vasectomies so that was really Interesting and which really kind of Also is indicative of how contraception Is really seen in society and that it's Really seen as more of a woman's Responsibility than a man's however Because of the stigma around sex and Contraception women are still judged for Getting contraception especially if they Young and unmarried so what we are Trying to do is really give them a Solution that's designed for them and so That they can you know get contraception Without the fear of that judgment and And with a lot of convenience right and On the dly app it features you know Resource is about contraception you know What answers questions but how do you Bridge the gap between awareness and Actual practice is your company planning To go public or conduct a shareholder Liquidity program within the next 18 to 24 months did you know that proactively Planning for your next private company Liquidity event or IPO can help you Maintain greater control over timelines And outcomes Morgan Stanley at work Believes that when you have the right Technology and systems in place working In harmony leading up to a transaction You can prepare and execute with more Accuracy and ease visit

Morganstanley.com Assessment to connect with their issuer Strategy and Excellence team for a free Assessment to find out if your company Is transaction ready again that's Morganstanley.com Assessment to get your free assessment Today that's a good question the way we Build the solution is to really look at The problem in a holistic way it's very Hard to say that you know when somebody Is aware of contraception first of all Like at what stage do they want to get That access it's very hard to cach them At really that stage so what we're Trying to do is really creating a Solution whereby they can not only just Learn about it but also when they need To use a solution or get you know use Some kind of contraception method that They know exactly where to go so they Can consult a doctor if they want to Find a method they can also if they Don't want to consult a doctor and they Just want to maybe use our trained model To find out what's the right method Method for them just to see if they're Doing the right thing they can actually Use our model as well but we still Encourage them of course to consult a Doctor to find the method that's right For them so they can do that and then They can also order their birth control Or contraception from us and get it

Delivered and it all happens very Discreetly and then they can also track Their usage and if they're experiencing Any symptoms or side effects and then There's of course the learning resources That we provide so it's really a Complete solution for a woman that needs To do everything around contraception We're hoping that that kind of bridges The Gap from awareness to utilization Because we are really trying to cater to Every need that a woman may have with Regards to contraception and we're Really hoping that that will help them Transition and not just get started but Also manage it in the right way yeah Definitely and you know in the states And the UK and Canada we've seen so many Startups centered around Healthcare and Access to contraception access to sex Education I was wondering I guess what Cultural nuances does dly have to Account for that these startups may not Have to think about so different Countries have gaps in sex education for Different reasons so in some places it's Because of cultural barriers and how They perceive sex and you know Contraception in other places it's about Religious religious barriers so it Really depends on what are the cultural Sort of environment or social cult Environment in that country what we are Trying to do so in countries like us and

UK the level of sex education is much Better than what we have in in India or In many other countries within Asia they Do have that awareness to just even get Started so what it kind of already puts Them in in a better position to use Contraception when they actually need to Whereas in India we actually even have To start at at very early you know Perhaps even at the sex education level Because still there's not much Conversation happening at home so when We speak to college students and ask Them okay how did you learn about sex or Contraception it's 99% of the times Through internet or friends so there's Really not much conversation happening At home and there's also not enough Being taught at school so it's really Just about how they find out from their Friends so when we communicate with our Audience we also have to make them aware That the friends and the internet may Not be the right sources of information All the time like it's good to learn About these things but if you really Want to know what's best for you it's Best to go to a an expert or you know a Trained professional to do that so I Think those are some of the nuances that May be slightly different across you Know countries that for sure and then I Have one more question and when we first Met you had mentioned that you'd

Eventually like to expand dulie to the Rest of Asia but that's obviously like Long-term big picture like way down the Line what do you see in the next steps For Julie's future like in the next few Weeks what's the next step in the Immediate future for Julie Yeah so we are actually just at the Final stages of completing our platform Cuz we when we were coming over here we Started to prioritize like having a demo Ready and you know things like that so Once we go back we actually just making Sure that we finalize the platform and Also setting up the necessary the Backend part of it to make sure that we Have the confirmations from all the Doctors for the consults making sure we Have set up the delivery mechanism for The products so All of that is kind of on the way but we Just need to sort of finalize all of That and then we should be ready to Launch we're also actually almost Getting into an accelerator so hopefully That will close soon and so we're also Preparing for that at the same time That's super exciting congrats thank you Thanks thanks again to Morgan and Street3 for taking the time to record With us Equity as always will be back Again on Friday but you can keep up with Us in the meantime at Equity pod on X And threads and at TechCrunch pods on

Tik Tac talk Bye Equity is hosted by myself editor And chief of Tech runch Plus Alex Wilhelm and Tech rench senior reporter Mary an aeto we are produced by Teresa Loans solo with editing by Kell Bryce Durban is our illustrator and a big Thank you to the audience development Team and Henry pabet who manages Tech Runch audio products thank you so much For listening and we'll talk to you next Time