At 50, when most people start making retirement plans, Deepak Ambudkar left a well-paying job to start a new company, Energia, which measures well-being, showing people a clear path to a healthier life.
Illness or disease is a well-defined category, recognized by machines, gadgets and highly trained doctors and super-specialty hospitals. But, what about welfare? Can this even be measured?
For Deepak, a mechanical engineer and material management expert with decades of experience as a supply chain head in companies, this idea kept troubling him.
He said, “After Covid, ‘well-being’ became a word that was on everyone’s lips. But, how do we measure it? How do we measure the stress we feel on meeting deadlines, or the feeling of peace and happiness, etc.? We measure health but not well-being. So, how do we know if we are ‘fine’?”
So, Deepak delved into this topic and read extensively about how to measure well-being? He realized how important it is to know that you are in good health not only physically but also emotionally and mentally.
measuring well-being
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines well-being as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Even daily events, circumstances or incidents can affect our ability to be happy and healthy.
Deepak said, “I believe that well-being should be measured before disease appears. If stress, emotional overload and functional imbalances can be detected early, timely corrective action can prevent long-term health problems.”
He wanted a system that could combine modern science with traditional wellness knowledge supported by data and artificial intelligence. As in logistics, he realized that the organs in our body are organs and blood (or energy force) flows through them. Therefore measuring energy (as they do in Traditional Chinese Medicine) will give a true picture.
Establishment of Energeiaa
With this idea running in his mind, in 2022, Deepak founded his start-up, Energia, a company that will help people find out their wellness status before they get sick.
Deepak explained: “Energia works on the principle that the human body emits subtle energy signals that reflect its internal state. We needed a tool that could read these signals and translate those readings into a report. Here, my experience in supply chain came in handy!”
Deepak began to view the human body as a warehouse, where different parts are different volumes of inventory, energy and vitality are stock levels, while stress is a supply disruption. When inventory levels drop or become blocked, problems arise. Therefore, check-up takes place only when something goes wrong.
Deepak said, “I realized we needed something that could give early warning. That led to this idea – what if we could scan the body the same way we scan inventory?”
Armed with fresh ideas, Deepak worked extensively with students, professionals, leaders and
Industries, and time and again faced high performers who were silently suffering from stress and imbalance. Over the years, the concept evolved through pilot studies, expert consultation, software development, and real-world testing.
Around this time, Deepak discovered a device manufactured by a Russian company. It uses a special, non-invasive camera that captures the energy patterns of the fingers in just a few minutes. Advanced software and AI algorithms analyze these patterns and translate them into easy-to-understand wellness indicators covering physical, mental and emotional health.
“In simple terms, Energia works like a wellness ECG – a quick scan that gives deep insight without pain, blood tests or lengthy procedures,” he said.
capturing energy patterns
To date, Energeiaa has conducted over 2,000 well-being assessments, generating meaningful data patterns and strong validation of the approach. But, how does the medical world view it? Deepak said, “I want to clarify that this is not a diagnostic tool as the medical fraternity uses. It is a preventive measure, screening is done in the early stages before the disease starts. So, if you test with Energia, you may get positive or negative readings.”
Of the 2,000 people who had their readings done, 1,000 had their readings certified by pathological tests. Of these, 400 reports matched our readings. For the rest, whose test reports showed no symptoms, they returned after three or four months with symptoms matching Energia’s readings. Respiratory system problems were seen in most people followed by liver or kidney dysfunction.
According to Deepak, every human body emits subtle energy signals. “Our device uses a special camera to capture these energy patterns from the fingers. These patterns will reflect: stress, emotional balance and organ-level functional status. Our AI software converts these images into easy-to-understand wellness scores,” he said.
providing holistic service
The output is physical well-being, mental well-being and emotional well-being along with personal improvement recommendations. “Our holistic service has shown clear pattern correlations between energy parameters and lifestyle stressors. Finally, we have something that is quantifiable and backed by science, traditional systems and AI. Think of it as a ‘wellness ECG’ for the entire body,” he said.
Deepak recounted how a friend, who was visiting, went through the ‘Energia’ experience: “During casual conversation, I suggested, ‘Let’s do a quick health assessment’. The friend first replied, ‘I’m completely fit’, but out of curiosity, agreed to check his wellness score. The assessment indicated weakness in the right side of the jaw. When asked about it, he dismissed it. Exactly a week later, he called me and said that His right tooth and the jaw around it are hurting.”
According to Deepak, this phenomenon strongly reflects analysis and wellness capture at a subtle, pre-symptom level, long before discomfort becomes visible or painful. He said, “Such repeated experiences have shown that well-being scores can be meaningful not only at the individual level, but also in companies, organizations and universities by providing a quantitative measure of collective well-being for the happiness index of the entire entity.”
continuously increasing
So far, Energeiaa has been largely bootstrapped. Deepak has invested He wants to raise Rs 14 lakh from his savings Rs 2 crore to develop a next generation system that will enable remote welfare assessment. He elaborated: “Our current revenue is approx 1.5 lakh per month. With the timely fund infusion, we aim to make the solution scalable and expand its reach to more people across multiple cities. ,
The good thing is that Energia is moving into the rapidly growing preventive and holistic wellness sector. Globally, ‘wellness’ is a multi-trillion dollar industry, with preventive and corporate wellness growing steadily.
Deepak said, “In India, the wellness market is growing rapidly, especially post-pandemic, as individuals and organizations are actively looking for measurable and preventive health solutions. While international players largely focus on wearables and apps, and Indian players focus on yoga, nutrition, or content-based wellness, Energia stands apart by offering quantitative, holistic wellness intelligence that integrates physical, mental, and emotional dimensions.”
Competition for Energia exists in the form of wearables, wellness apps, and diagnostic platforms. However, Deepak does not aim to replace them. Instead, he complements these solutions by adding a deep, holistic layer of insight that, he thinks, they are currently lacking. “Our strengths lie in being fast, non-invasive, data-supported, culturally relevant and scalable,” he summarized.
looking ahead
Energeiaa is currently developing a system that will also enable remote welfare assessment. Currently, people have to visit their office in Pimpri, Pune for assessment. However, they provide home services for senior citizens and group services in the offices of the organizations.
“Our vision is to expand to multiple cities, strengthen our AI capabilities, deploy at scale, build strong institutional partnerships, and penetrate corporate, educational and healthcare ecosystems. The proposed funding will be used for technology enhancement, market expansion, validation studies and brand building.”
Furthermore, Deepak feels that to really scale up the business, it is necessary for them to go online. He concluded, “The journey may be long, but with passion and determination it can definitely be completed successfully.”
