Oasis Centre for Reproductive Medicine
Kiran Gadela, Co-Founder and Managing Director
Oasis Centre for Reproductive Medicine: Helping couples fulfil their dream of parenthood.
Oasis Centre for Reproductive Medicine: Helping couples fulfil their dream of parenthood.
Oasis Centre for Reproductive Medicine was founded in 2009 and established itself as a leading, comprehensive healthcare provider in the field of reproductive medicine and advanced infertility treatments.
Oasis is a chain of 'one-stop' daycare IVF centers where consultation, investigation, and treatment are taken care of during the course of a single day.
An extensively qualified and experienced team of 30 + medical specialists, coupled with 20+ highly skilled scientists and embryologists supported by a strong management team provide these services for couples seeking the joy of parenthood.
Oasis is an ISO 2001 certified organization and diligently follows the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines. Oasis is also a member of The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, The Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India and The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE).
People at Oasis are young, open-minded and adaptable to the growing demands in the healthcare industry.
The environment is dynamic and forward thinking – and at the same time adhering to high quality, values and mutual respect between all the people involved, the doctors, management, paramedics and do their best in providing an efficient, comfortable and compassionate experience to the couples coming to Oasis for their infertility treatments.
A few of the key treatments include In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI), In-Vitro Maturation (IVM), Pre Genetic Screening and Diagnosis (PGD/PGS), Gamete Vitrification and all the aspects of male and female infertility consultations, investigations and treatments.
Oasis is a unit of the entity Sadguru Healthcare Services which aims to offer state-of-the-art services in the Indian healthcare industry by leveraging latest technologies coupled with proven, evidence-based international medical practices.
It is a well-recognized and respected chain of IVF clinics in south India with fully operational state-of-the-art centers in 9 locations across the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The company has five centers in Banjara Hills, Gachibowli, Secunderabad, Dilsukhnagar and Miyapur in the city of Hyderabad, and each center in Vijayawada, Warangal, Chennai, and Vizag.
Our editorial team spoke to Kiran Gadela, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Oasis. Here are the edited excerpts.
How and why did you decide to create it?
Changing lifestyles, stressful work, rising levels of obesity and several other factors are leading to a drastic rise in infertility cases across the country.
Besides lifestyle, medical conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometrial tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections too contribute to the problem of infertility.
Infertility is a condition of the reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular normal sexual intercourse.
At one point of time, statistics indicated that 1 in 9 couples faced problems in conceiving, in 2018, WHO published a report stating that 1 in 4 couples face some degree of infertility.
Initially, the fertility treatments were a fragmented service offered by doctor-run clinics and independent Obstetricians/Gynecologists extending their practice into basic infertility beyond the maternity and delivery services.
We saw a clear need for an institutionalized set-up offering all the advanced fertility treatments under one roof, and we were one of the first in the country to do so.
To institutionalize this space and offer better value to couples seeking fertility treatments, I alongside, internationally renowned infertility specialist Dr. Durga G. Rao got together to set-up a specialist center for reproductive medicine, Oasis, for assisted reproductive technologies (ART).
With Oasis, we have created a world-class infrastructure with latest technologies and infrastructure managed by a highly qualified team of Doctors and Embryologists to provide all the advanced fertility treatments available in the world currently.
What problem does your company solve and how are you different from others in the field?
Oasis offers couples the comfort and convenience of consultations, investigations and advanced treatments by highly experienced and trained fertility experts and embryologists under one roof.
We are proud of ourselves for maintaining the impeccable standards at our IVF lab. We have designed an error-free, accident-free and easily accessible lab which creates a perfect environment for the embryo to grow and aids in the overall success of the implantation.
The Oasis center provides state-of-the-art infrastructure with highly advanced 10,000 IVF lab facilities matching any of the global benchmarks from across the world.
Oasis adopts an approach that combines compassion and competence providing its patients the personalized treatment and care they deserve maintaining highest levels of confidentiality.
The young, dynamic and rapidly growing team of 300 + people at Oasis has always been at the forefront for research and publications of IVF with its full-time availability of Consultants for providing all fertility treatments ranging from conventional IUI to advanced Treatments like Freezing, Vitrification, IVM, PGS, and PGD.
Oasis' Advanced Fertility Treatments includes In vitro Fertilization (IVF), IUI, Oocyte Vitrification, GD, PGS and much more.
What are the challenges that your company currently faces?
The demand for care is increasing exponentially, but the supply of adequate skills, quality medical and scientific talent remains largely insufficient.
To solve this problem, we had established Oasis School for Human Embryology and Reproductive Medicine to train Clinicians and Embryologists in Human Embryology and Reproductive Medicine.
The institute offers a wide host of training programs and modules in the field of Reproductive Medicine.
We train more than 100 post-graduate doctors and embryologists every year and contribute to the talent pool in offering ethical, competent and specialized services in the field of Reproductive Medicine.
Who are your clients?
Our clients are predominantly couples, aged between 22 and 45 years, who are facing issues in naturally conceiving or need the support of Assisted Reproductive Technology.
With such a fast-growing team, how do you make sure everybody stays motivated and how do you support the corporate culture?
Oasis has always maintained an open-door policy to create an environment of collaboration, high performance, and mutual respect between the top management and employees. We focus on building trust within the entire team, which tends to improve and grow.
Our employees fully understand that they can approach the senior management and confide in them. We encourage open communication, feedback, and discussion about any matter of importance to an employee.
We have developed and implemented a new hiring orientation program which involves employees determining the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for their job.
Practical and problem-centered approaches are given based on the basic skill sets required by the employees to meet the competencies of their job profiles.
We have also taken tangible steps towards building a strong home-like culture within the organization. Celebrating the arrival of a child within the employee's family and other fun activities that build strong bonds.
Accolades
Oasis started its 1st center in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad in 2009, Vitrification and cryopreservation of gametes and embryos started in 2010, In-vitro maturation treatment initiated in 2012, Oasis opened its 4th center in Vijayawada and Fellowship in reproductive medicine – IMA accredited one year program in 2016, Post – Doc Fellowship in reproductive medicine – NBE accredited two year program in 2017, Oasis would be came up with its 6th center in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The year 2018 is significantly important to us as we have commissioned, two back to back facilities in Secunderabad and Vizag and the 9th Centre got commenced in October 2018.
The All India Fertility & IVF Survey 2017-18 conducted by The Times of India has ranked Oasis as No. 1 in Hyderabad, No. 2 in South India and No. 3 in India, The Economic Times – Best Asian Healthcare Brands 2017 recognized Oasis Centre for Reproductive Medicine for delivering excellence in healthcare.
The Financial Times and Statista recognized Sadguru Healthcare Services Pvt. Ltd. as one among FT1000 High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2018, Oasis Centre for Reproductive Medicine received Entry Level National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH).
Oasis is registered with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), ranked as Chain of Best Infertility Clinics in India by Brands Academy of India, National Award for Excellence in Healthcare by CMO Asia- Award for Best Fertility Chain and Award for Best Gynecologist and Infertility Specialist in India as well.
But our biggest achievement remains the fact that we have successfully treated over 8000 couples in the past 9 years.
What do you hope to accomplish within the next year?
The IVF market is estimated to grow at an unprecedented rate of 9 – 12 times more than the addressable demand in the key cities such as Hyderabad, Delhi, and Bangalore.
The IVF market remains highly fragmented with both domestic and a handful of foreign companies offering services. Among the 1000 centers offering IVF across the country, organized players account to 50% of them and contribute to three-fourths of the total number of IVF cycles.
This year, we aim to consolidate our position as a leader in the fertility space and to deepen our service offerings. We would be offering advanced and highly specialized treatments in the emerging field of genetics including Endometrial Receptive Array.
We are also launching male infertility and Andrology services under the brand Androlife. Our future plan is in the direction of being ready with best-in-class facilities/infrastructure with expert doctors to meet the rising demand.
What was your journey like to get where you are?
Starting off as a first-generation entrepreneur with a bootstrapped budget with no experience in healthcare was very challenging, yet exciting.
In the spirit of entrepreneurship, a lot of learning happened with many mistakes as well and not repeating the mistakes was a priority. I have always been open, agile and adapted quickly.
Key factors for the success of the organization have been the culture, and my team, who have worked with commitment and energy required for a growing organization.
I have just been an enabler providing the right atmosphere for them to progress in their careers, feel a sense of achievement and thrive intellectually as well.
Tell me how you've approached change?
"Change is the only thing that is constant." Geeta's quote is the motto we live by at Oasis. Year on year, we have made significant strides and have achieved key milestones consistently.
These milestones were not just in terms of horizontal growth – rolling out more centers, but also vertical growth – improving our service offerings. While we are true to our culture and values, the modus vivendi of the company has been evolving constantly.
In other words, if there is no change, good or for worse, we question ourselves and try to work on things we need to improve. The outcome of this has been an average YoY growth of 56% over the past eight years.
What was the most difficult lesson you have learned as an entrepreneur?
The key lessons I have learned as an entrepreneur are:
Not to try to do everything yourself
Hire smarter people than yourself to compliment skill sets
Emulate core leadership values of compassion, being empathetic and inclusive.
The Road Ahead
Oasis wants to extend its services pan-India and establish itself as one of the most trusted and respected healthcare brands in the country.
It plans to add 5 to 8 more centers in next two financial years and build a pool of IVF specialists and embryologist trained on standard protocols to meet the rising demand of world-class centers for reproductive medicine with the best quality service that is available in the world currently.
I foresee an emergence of more and more institutions investing in the fertility practice. The Oasis chain of clinics has spread its branches over big cities namely, Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, Dilsukhnagar, Gachibowli, Secunderabad and Miyapur, Vijayawada, Warangal and Chennai.
Plans are underway to open ten more centers in India. A leading healthcare-focused private equity firm, India Life Sciences Fund II invested 6.2 million $ in the company.
Since the inception in 2009, Oasis has established itself as a trusted healthcare service provider in the field of reproductive medicine and developed proven credentials as the best player in South India.
What advice can you give entrepreneurs who want to venture into the same domain in the future?
My advice to the entrepreneurs who want to venture into the same domain in the future would be that – Infertility is a fast-growing field, and the key for success is to foster right partnerships, build a well-qualified medical team, operate with a service-oriented mindset and above all, have patience.
Dynamic Leadership
Co-Founder and Managing Director
Kiran Gadela
A multi-lingual speaker, holds a civil engineering degree from CBIT, Hyderabad, and an alumnus of prestigious INSEAD Business School, France. Kiran also has a tech product company and investment interests in tech and hospitality sectors.
He is an early stage investor in health tech and other tech-enabled startups. Kiran has built the Oasis from scratch and has been instrumental in steering Oasis in the right direction to ensure professional, ethical and statistical success.
He was responsible for defining the Oasis' vision, values and leadership owing to which it has now gained the reputation of a qualified healthcare provider in India.
Kiran works on developing the appropriate strategy to build Oasis into an extensive, trustworthy and accessible healthcare service organization.
He successfully managed to raise funding from a leading life sciences private equity institution, making Oasis as the first and only single specialty player in the fertility space to raise growth capital.
Prior to his entrepreneurial journey, Kiran was an IT and Management Consultant with over 16 years of experience in diverse fields including information technology, banking, and financial services.
He spent most of his corporate career at London and has managed and delivered several large-scale projects & practices in top tier investment banks in London.
Kiran also created a unique and futuristic web-based IVF information management solution called ARTis, which streamlines an IVF center's processes and provided simple and effective management of fertility treatments for clinicians, embryologists and patients as well.
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