With Pan-India Initiative, Shailja Mittal Normalises Prioritisation Of Sexual Health

Sex need not be a hushed subject and Shailja Mittal is enabling this thought process across India. Shailja Mittal, who is the co-founder of RxMen, bagged SheThePeople's Digital Women Award 2024. RxMen is a pan-India digital clinic that treats sexual dysfunctions with science-backed, templatised treatment journeys. Backed by top sexologists in the country, such as Dr Anita Shyam and Dr Rupin Shah, RxMen is the first digital platform to successfully treat more than 10,000 users facing issues like erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, painful sex, and more.

RxMen has also developed the Sexual Health Index (similar to BMI) to quantify improvement in treatments. With some of the best clinical experts across India, RxMen proudly stands as the authentic, quantifiable, and effective treatment provider in India.

Here are some excerpts from the interview

What are your roles at RxMen, and how did you come up with this idea?

I am a DCE graduate and a second-time founder. My first startup was a women-driven cab service for school-going kids, which uplifted the lives of 50 underprivileged women drivers and provided safe travel options for close to 1,000 students.

Now, with RxMen, I aim to disrupt the sexual health space and bring hope to 200 million people in India suffering from sexual dysfunctions. My goal is to enable them to live an uncompromised sexual life by treating their issues while building a sustainable business.

How did you use digital platforms and tools in building your business?

One major reason people in India avoid seeking treatment for sexual health issues is the taboo surrounding the topic. There’s also the fear of being judged—whether it’s by someone seeing them enter a sexologist’s clinic or by a chemist while purchasing prescribed medicines.

Technology allowed us to overcome these barriers. We ensured 100% confidentiality for our users by encrypting their data so that only doctors could access it. This same technology enabled us to take RxMen’s digital clinic to people in the remotest corners of India, reaching those who need it most.

How do you envision your future with RxMen?

There are over 20 crore people in India and 140 crore worldwide who need this solution. The best part is that 90% of cases can be solved online, and with logistics support for delivering medicines and products like penile pumps, RxMen can easily expand into countries like Dubai, the USA, and others, where healthcare costs are much higher.

To expand internationally, all we would need are partnerships with local doctors and pharmacies, which is a feasible goal.

What does your business model look like?

When a user connects with RxMen, we conduct a 40-minute paid consultation (₹190/-). This call will soon transition to a combination of tech and human interaction. During the call, we identify the root cause of the dysfunction and offer the appropriate treatment.

We charge upfront for the complete treatment journey, which costs ₹7,450/- and includes five consultations with doctors and therapists, along with one month of medicines. For users who require a pump (a clinical OTC device for ED), the journey costs ₹12,450/-. Currently, about 40% of our users require a pump, and we expect this percentage to increase over time.

Can you mention the funding you started with?

We began with an angel fund of ₹2.05 crore to build this brand, focusing on treating sexual dysfunctions with science-backed treatment.

What are the key challenges you faced in this journey?

Apart from entering an uncharted industry with a completely new solution, one of the major challenges I faced was marketing RxMen on online platforms due to their guidelines.

Another challenge was recruiting people—it was initially difficult to convince them that this was not an uncultured business. However, once we met with potential recruits and explained the business and its vision, they understood our goal and aligned with it. From then on, there was no looking back.