Gaurav Kumar: VP Product, Berry Health

Previously

Senior Director of Product, Datavant
Director of Product, Mahana Therapeutics
Product Lead, Instacart

Company

Berry Health is the first full-stack D2C health platform built for the African market, offering digital consultations and prescription medication for conditions that are chronic, urgent and stigmatised. The goal is to provide affordable and convenient healthcare across the continent, while supporting historically underserved communities and digitalising a trillion-dollar industry that is currently (mostly) offline.

Background

While pre-Series A and still in stealth mode, Berry were looking to augment their impressive founding team with a VP of Product. This person would build and lead the product and design functions, reporting to the CEO and Founder.

Requirements

The successful candidate needed a strong track record of conceptualising and building successful consumer products, ideally in a blend of start-up and blue-chip scenarios. Previous HealthTech knowledge was ideal but not strictly required, while international experience, empathy with the end users, and the ability to deal with the pace and ambiguity of an early venture were crucial.

Result

Erevena conducted an international search, culminating in the introduction and placement of Gaurav Kumar who brings over a decade of HealthTech product experience from the US and India. He has launched new products with massive global reach for industry leaders including McKesson, built teams from the ground up in earlier venture environments, and experienced hyper-growth at Instacart where he conceptualised and launched a new prescription delivery service. His deep sector knowledge, unusual breadth of experience, and empathy with Berry’s end users make him uniquely positioned to lead the next chapter of growth from a product perspective. He is relocating to London from the US East Coast to be closer to the team.