The Bengaluru Scientist Who Solved What America Couldn't | Dr. Geetha Manjunath, Niramai | Ep 22

She left a top AI lab job to build the world's first AI-powered, radiation-free breast cancer screening — and 4 lakh women later, Dr. Geetha Manjunath is on a mission to bring breast cancer deaths to zero.

In this episode of Munde Banni Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Geetha Manjunath, Founder, CEO & CTO of Niramai Health Analytix the IISc PhD and ex-Xerox AI Research Lab Director who turned a personal loss into a global healthtech breakthrough. From losing her cousin sister to late-stage breast cancer, to building Thermalytix a non-invasive, AI-powered screening solution now deployed across 22 countries and 300+ hospitals in India this is the kind of founder story India doesn't celebrate nearly enough.

We unpack the science, the struggle, the system, and the spirit it took to build a deep-tech, Made-in-Bengaluru product from scratch including how she raised her first $1M term sheet within a month, filed 39 patents around a single product, and ended up sharing a podium with the Secretary of the UN.If you're a founder, scientist, woman entrepreneur, healthcare professional, or simply someone fascinated by India's deep-tech and AI story this conversation will move you.Support Mundhe Banni: https://mundhebanni.org/en/patronFollow Mundhe Banni on Social Media:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mundhebanni?igsh=MWMwOXQyenNjaWIwaA==https://linktr.ee/mundhebanniMundhe Banni Website: www.mundhebanni.orgFor Monthly Update on Startups & Entreprenuership in Kannada Subscribe to Mundhe Banni Newsletter:https://mundhebanni.org/newsletterJoin Mundhe Banni WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/J4Pwge8FIG13zO2S3cHsAq?mode=gi_t------------------------------------------------------------------------------------🎯 What you'll learn in this episode:✅ Why mammography misses up to 50% of cancers in Indian women and what actually works✅ The exact moment Dr. Geetha decided to quit a top corporate job in mid-life and start over✅ How to file patents in India (and why most founders get this completely wrong)✅ The unspoken "anti-India bias" in global research and how to break through it✅ How a woman founder raised crores in funding without an engineering co-founder✅ The biggest myths around breast cancer Indian families still believe✅ What every man should be doing for the women in his family starting today👩‍🔬 About the GuestDr. Geetha Manjunath holds a PhD from IISc Bangalore and an executive management degree from Booth School of Business, Chicago. Before founding Niramai, she served as Lab Director of AI Research at Xerox and Principal Scientist at HP Labs, with over 1700 citations on Google Scholar. She holds 50+ personal patents and has been recognized as one of the Top 20 Technology Pioneers by the World Economic Forum and a Top 10 FemTech founder by the UK NHS. Her work has been published in Lancet Oncology, Nature Digital Medicine, and presented at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.Niramai's Thermalytix is the world's first AI + thermal imaging-based breast cancer screening tool — non-invasive, radiation-free, and works on women of all ages, including under 45 where mammography fails.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geetha-manjunath-82b8058/Checkout Niramai Health Analytix: https://niramai.com/Chapters:00:00:00-Trailer00:01:31-Mundhe Banni Intro00:02:20-Meet Dr. Geetha — Scientist Turned Founder00:05:00-The Loss That Changed Everything00:11:00-The Cancer Lie We've All Been Told00:18:30-Why Mammography Fails 50% of Women00:25:00-How AI Sees What Doctors Can't00:32:00-Even 17-Year-Olds Are Getting It00:38:30-The $1 Million Bet on a New Idea00:45:00-The Anti-India Bias in Science00:52:00-39 Patents And Why It Matters00:56:00-Going Where No Hospital Reaches01:04:00-"Forget You're a Woman"01:08:30-The Breast Selfie Is Coming01:11:00-The Mission: Zero Cancer Deaths01:13:30-Rapid Fire — The Personal Side01:15:30-Closing Thoughts