Dr. Velumani, the Billionaire founder of Thyrocare- Rags-to-riches story

     Dr. Arokiaswamy Velumani, the founder of Thyrocare Technologies Ltd., has a truly inspiring rags-to-riches story. Born to a landless farmer in the ordinary village of Appanaickenpatti Pudur near Coimbatore, Velumani's journey is a testament to the power of determination and hard work.

As a young boy, Velumani and his three siblings were supported by their mother, who managed to put together Rs. 50 a week from the milk fetched from the buffaloes she bought. Despite growing up in a village with minimal access to education, Velumani moved out in search of a better future. At the age of 19, Dr. Velumani graduated with a BSc. degree and found a job in a small pharmaceutical company, Gemini Capsules, in Coimbatore with a meager salary of Rs 150 per month. After the company collapsed, Velumani found himself jobless. With just Rs. 400 in his pocket, he embarked on a journey from abject poverty in his small village to wealth and prosperity in the city of Mumbai.

Velumani joined the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai. He encountered a boss who was blind and lost his vision due an infection. Velumani started his career as a science book reader to his boss who later helped him for his on job post-graduation and PhD.  His passion for reading and learning science changed his life.

During his time at BARC, he was posted at the Radiation Medicine Centre (RMC), a BARC department at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. It was during this time that he discovered low-cost solutions. He and his team achieved a breakthrough, reducing the cost of imported reagents from Rs 150 to a mere Rs 30.

With the help of his wife Sumathi, Dr. Velumani began his dream of Thyrocare with an initial investment of Rs. 1 lakh, from his Provident Fund (PF). They set up the first Thyrocare lab in Byculla, Mumbai, with an initial focus on thyroid testing considering the huge potential for it in India.

Under his leadership, Thyrocare became the world's largest thyroid testing laboratory, boasting of 1,122 outlets across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Middle East. His company is today worth a staggering Rs 7,000 crore. In 2021, he sold his company to PharmEasy for over Rs 4,500 crore. Today, Dr. Velumani, the son of a landless farmer, is a billionaire entrepreneur who disrupted the diagnostics industry and made thyroid testing affordable and available to millions of Indians.

This is the story of Dr. Arokiaswamy Velumani, a man who rose from humble beginnings to become a billionaire, proving that with passion for reading in thirst for knowledge, anything is possible.