He wants to build the “herbal Pfizer”... and he’s betting Kapiva’s future on proof, not blind faith. I sat down with Ameve Sharma, founder of Kapiva, to understand how his personal connection to Ayurveda became a mission to bring 5,000 years of Indian medicine into modern healthcare. We unpacked his journey of scaling Kapiva, investing heavily in clinical trials, challenging traditional thinking, and convincing manufacturers to meet standards nobody else was asking for. Ameve explains why Ayurveda must work alongside modern medicine, how Kapiva uses R&D, doctors, technology and AI-powered healthcare journeys, and why building trust matters more than selling another wellness product. We also spoke about taking Indian herbal medicine global, competing with pharmaceutical companies, and his ambition to make Kapiva a respected global healthcare brand built on measurable results. Timestamps 00:00 | Why Kapiva Is Rebuilding Ayurveda 02:17 | What Makes Ayurvedic Products Safe? 02:41 | Why Ayurveda Treats More Than Symptoms 03:36 | How Ayurvedic Medicines Actually Work 05:27 | Can Clinical Trials Prove Ayurveda Works? 07:51 | How Kapiva Personalises Your Treatment 09:51 | Why Big Ayurveda Brands Missed Healthcare 10:47 | How Kapiva Tests Products Like Pharma 13:15 | Why Kapiva Bet Big on Research 15:22 | What Doctors Need to Trust Ayurveda 16:26 | How Kapiva Tests Every Product Batch 17:15 | Are Heavy Metals in Ayurveda Dangerous? 18:04 | How Kapiva Builds Customer Trust 21:49 | What Ayurvedic Customers Really Want 23:43 | Can Ayurveda Work With Modern Medicine? 25:22 | The Hardest Parts of Scaling Kapiva 28:03 | Can Indian Ayurveda Become Global? 30:48 | What India Can Learn From China 33:49 | What Could Unlock Ayurveda’s Growth? 35:04 | Why Prevention Isn’t the Biggest Market Yet 37:18 | Kapiva’s Goal: Become the Herbal Pfizer About Ameve Sharma Ameve Sharma is the founder of Kapiva, an evidence-based Ayurveda brand based in India. He started his entrepreneurial career with a cold-pressed juice company before pivoting to Ayurveda, where he saw an opportunity to apply scientific rigor to one of the world's oldest wellness traditions. Under his leadership, Kapiva has conducted 28 clinical studies, raised over $60M, and grown from a D2C-first startup into an omnichannel brand with 250 field sales staff across Tier 2 and Tier 3 India. Kapiva is an official health partner of the IPL. Ameve on LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/amevesharma Kapiva website: https://kapiva.in/ Rahul Thayyalamkandy Director of Comms & Community, Vertex Ventures SEA & India Rahul Thayyalamkandy joined the SEA/India team as the Director of Communication & Community in 2024 and is based in Singapore. Before joining Vertex, Rahul served as a Product Manager at BLOCK71, an incubator and joint venture of NUS Enterprise and Singtel Innov8, where he developed scalable services for portfolio startups and designed mentorship programs. He also gained experience as a Summer Associate at Cocoon Capital, working with the Managing Partner on investment deals. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/ — Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India is a pioneer in investing in tech start-ups in this region and has helped to build a number of unicorns. In this podcast, we seek to share and uncover the Hard Truth - raw, unfiltered insights and venture capital knowledge from across Southeast Asia and India. Tune in to learn from leading founders, innovators, venture capitalists, and industry experts in the region and gain industry insights from those in the know. If you like what you hear, please follow or subscribe to the show so you don’t miss out on any of our upcoming discussions. _ Follow us to get notified whenever new episodes are shared. _ For more information, please visit: https://www.vertexventures.sg #Kapiva, #Ayurveda, #D2C #IPLsponsor, #FiresideVentures, #FMCG, #foundermistakes, #quickcommerce, #Blinkit, #Zepto, #startupculture
