Fundraising is one of the defining milestones in a startup founder’s journey, more so for women founders who often face additional hurdles and still account for a smaller share of the capital allocation. Yet, for Dr. Rajani Battu, the founder of Eyestem, the process of raising capital was less about gender and more about credibility, persistence, and conviction in the science behind the venture.
“We had to make at least 50 presentations in the earlier stages before the venture took off,” she recalls, describing the long road from early pitches to securing investor confidence,” said Dr Rajani Battu, co-founder & Chief Medical Officer, Eyestem in an interview for DealStreetAsia’s recent report titled Women Founders in India: Funding Review 2025.
While conversations around gender bias in venture funding continue to gain prominence, her experience suggests that deep domain expertise and a clear long-term vision can help level the playing field. Reflecting on the broader ecosystem, she believes that confidence in one’s expertise and a willingness to learn are crucial for any founder navigating the funding landscape.
“A female founder, as long as she has the domain expertise, the confidence to take up the entrepreneurial journey, and a long-term vision will be no different from a male founder in this ecosystem.”
What sparked your decision to start this venture, and how did you identify the gap in the market?
Genetic eye diseases or rare diseases of the eye are a large problem in India. There are about 1.5 million people suffering from a condition called “Retinitis Pigmentosa”. Collectively, they are referred to as Inherited Retinal Diseases (IRDs). This mostly affects children and young adults, many of whom progressively lose vision. Similarly, dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), affects the elderly. Neither of these diseases have any treatment that we can offer.
I have been interested in this field since the early stages of my career, having done a fellowship and a Ph.D. in the same area. It is frustrating to see patients daily who are progressively losing vision and not being able to offer any meaningful solution to their incurable diseases. I first met Dr. Jogin Desai in 2013 and realised that both of us shared the same passion of trying to find a cure to these problems. In 2015, we decided to start Eyestem, with the idea of a venture that can offer solutions to such incurable diseases that will be both socially as well as economically productive.
In the early stages, what structural or personal challenges did you encounter, and how much of that do you attribute to gender versus general startup realities?
One of the most significant structural challenges that I encountered was a lack of funding for such an innovation in India. It was especially hard since such a startup had never been attempted in India before. Given that I am a retina surgeon, my expertise in the field probably overcame whatever gender-related challenges that a founder faces.
Can you walk us through your fundraising journey—from your first pitch to closing the round? What were the toughest moments, and what shifted the outcome in your favour?
We had to make at least 50 presentations in the earlier stages before the venture took off. Ultimately, we started the venture by putting in our own money, which gave it the credibility it needed for others to back us. Most pitches during that time were based on the science and the personal credibility we brought to the venture. We were fortunate that the angel investors in our company had a lot of experience in drug development, and the institutional investors who came in later also had the ambition that matched ours.
Do you think having male co-founders made a difference in your fundraising journey?
Definitely yes! Each of the co-founders brought in very different and highly essential skill sets. Dr. Desai brought in the ability to navigate a therapy through regulatory markets, Dr. Rajarshi Pal is an expert in cell biology whose team manufactures the product, and Dr. Dhruv Sareen’s expertise lay in manufacturing of the product as per GMP standards. I believe that the non-overlapping skill sets of the co-founders along with a total overlap of the vision of the company is one of the key factors that has contributed to our success thus far.
In today’s tighter funding environment, do you think female founders face distinct challenges?
All founders will face challenges in this tighter funding environment. A female founder, as long as she has the domain expertise, the confidence to take up the entrepreneurial journey, and a long-term vision will be no different from a male founder in this ecosystem.
Have you noticed differences in the types of questions or risk perceptions investors bring to female founders? How did you navigate those dynamics?
I have not noticed any differences in risk perception of investors when talking to female founders. It is quite possible that my background as a retina surgeon has helped me tremendously in this regard.
Can you share a moment where bias—subtle or overt—showed up in your journey. Have you ever felt you had to over-prepare compared to male peers?
Being an entrepreneur and the Chief Medical Officer of the company demands expertise in multiple skill sets, some of which I have found myself out of depth. For example, I have had to over-prepare in the area of regulatory drug development since that was completely out of my scope of understanding to begin with. It is hard to conclusively comment if that was based on gender, honestly.
From your perspective, how has the ecosystem evolved for women founders over the past five years? Where has real progress happened, and where does the gap remain?
The ecosystem has progressed significantly over the last decade, and female founders can now go through their entrepreneurial journeys with the same confidence (or lack thereof!) of male founders. We need to be completely confident in our domain expertise, acknowledge what we do not know, and be ready to learn along the process.
Looking back, what fundraising or strategic decisions would you approach differently today?
While there were several decisions that, in hindsight, we would make differently, the reality is that in a startup venture, you make the best decision with the best information available at any given point in time.
How would you describe your leadership style, and has your experience shaped it differently from traditional founder archetypes?
My leadership style is a collaborative one where I try to listen and understand the opposing points of view. A decision that is made with alignment has the best chance of success and so this allows us to create self-driven employees, which is critical to a startup.
Entrepreneurship can be all-consuming. How do you approach balancing the demands of building a company with your personal life?
Building a company, running a medical practice, as well as devoting time to personal life can be an obvious challenge. Preferring quality over quantity is an approach that has worked for me, and I hope it works for others.
How do you envision your company evolving over the next 5-10 years?
Over the next 5-10 years, I envision my company to be among the premier cell and gene therapy leaders globally with an aim to treat incurable, complex diseases affecting large patient populations.
Funding for women-led startups remains disproportionately low. What structural changes would actually move the needle?
Making more examples of successful women-led companies, providing support to other women founders through strong support networks, and finally, promoting the entrepreneurial thought among women at the time that they graduate college will be key changes that can help move the needle.
How can male allies in VC and entrepreneurship better support women founders?
Understanding the personal constraints that a woman founder would face and creating structural ways to work around those constraints would be a key ask from co-founders. Thankfully at Eyestem, we have had an excellent working relationship among all founders since there is complete alignment of the eventual purpose of the company.
How important are women-led angel networks and VC funds in closing the gap?
I think women-led angel networks or VC funds may be helpful if the solution that the startup is developing is a woman-centric one. Otherwise, it is best that any entrepreneurial venture, led by a woman or a man, is judged by its merits.
In many industries, women remain underrepresented in leadership roles. For women building in India today, what’s your advice?
Make sure that you are an expert in your domain, work incredibly hard to make your presence felt, and find a team of male or female founders who are aligned with your purpose and vision for the company.
