While Naveen Kathuria built up his early corporate career as an attorney, management consultant, and investment banker, he caught the entrepreneurial bug a decade ago and has been busy building medical wellness clinics and telehealth startups ever since.
He’s hyper focused on “making healthcare more accessible to vulnerable populations” and building technology that “meets people where they’re at,” he told Hypepotamus.
That focus brought Kathuria to Nashville-based GoCheck Kids, where he was recently named the team’s new CEO.
GoCheck is a mobile software organization that for the last 10+ years has helped healthcare staff administer effective vision tests directly from a smartphone. This eliminates the need for bulky medical equipment, improves workflows, and decreases some of the testing burden put on overburdened healthcare staff members.
Hypepotamus has covered GoCheck frequently over the years. The team is backed by Southeast-based firms like FCA Venture Partners, Hatteras Venture Partners, Pisgah Fund, and Sovereign’s Capital. It has raised a total of $22.8 million in outside capital to date, according to Crunchbase.
Now with Kathuria at the helm, GoCheck Kids is ready to write its next chapter in the HealthTech space.
“Our mission is to impact as many kids as possible through what we’re doing,” Kathuria said. “We’re preventing complications down the road. If you don’t address vision impairments, that can also lead to a number of behavioral issues and social issues” in kids that ultimately impact their overall well-being in adulthood.
A Vision for GoCheck’s Future
Kathuria said he was first introduced to the team about six months ago. “I was really impressed with what they built to date,” he told Hypepotamus. “This isn’t some flash in the pan idea.”
The platform has helped over 4 million patients to date, according to Kathuria. Moving forward, he wants to increase the number of kids who have access to this technology, regardless of zip code. Kathuria plans to grow within Federally-Qualified Health Centers and Native American tribes, a move that could bring GoCheck to more overlooked populations.
Kathuria will remain in New York for now but will be in Nashville about a week every month.
This isn’t Kathuria’s first time as CEO of a growing HealthTech venture. He most recently was the Chief Executive Officer at New York-based eFamilyCare, a digital platform supporting family caregivers.
We asked Kathuria what big lessons he’s learned from his past experience as a CEO. He said his background moving across the corporate world and into the startup space gives him some unique perspective on leadership.
“A lot of my career journey was a process of elimination to figure out what I really liked,” he said. “I want to impart those learnings on the people that I’m working with. I want you to be inspired, and I want you to be able to be yourself….you’re most effective when you love what you’re doing.”
Kathuria will now be charged with leading GoCheck’s hybrid team, which has grown to be over 40 people.
“What I learned from my CEO seat before is that it’s really about finding people that are passionate, authentic, and are rowing in the same direction,” he added. “I don’t believe in this sort of hierarchical structure…It doesn’t matter what role you’re in. You might have ideas that impact the vision, the trajectory of that company, and how we can solve [business] problems.”
