Forbes India 30 Under 30 2025: Devika Gholap is on a mission to replace microscopes

In a fight against cancer, the co-founder and chief product officer of OptraScan wants to democratise the treatment and make options affordable with the help of digital pathology scanners

By Manu Balachandran Forbes India Staff

Published: Feb 21, 2025 01:47:14 PM IST

Updated: Feb 21, 2025 01:54:38 PM IST

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Devika Gholap, Co-founder and chief product officer, OptraScan Image: Christopher C Lee; Imaging By: Kapil Kashyap; Background Image: Shutterstock

For Devika Gholap, the mission is clear.

Her father, Abhi Gholap, who runs Pune-based OptraScan, and she want to eliminate all microscopes in the world and replace them with digital pathology scanners in the fight against cancer.

These devices, which Devika says cost a fraction of the devices that are currently featured in the global market, could help in democratising treatment and making treatment options affordable for the public. They help scan slides from biopsy or other sources in addition to adding features such as storing, archiving, real-time sharing and reporting, features that are often missing while using microscopes, to help pathologists come to a quicker conclusion.

The technology-enabled service also quickens the review process and makes for faster decision-making, especially while seeking multiple opinions in the line of treatment. The company’s current focus is on cancers such as breast, prostate, lung and cervical, and it is busy adding newer areas of focus. “This is just the beginning and so many more cancers to work upon,” says Devika, co-founder and chief product officer of OptraScan.

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Last year, the company raised $30 million from Molbio Diagnostics, taking the total funding to $40 million since being set up in 2016. “Our scanners have a small footprint and are designed to be lightweight, making them ideal for fitting into small workspaces without compromising on the performance,” adds Devika. “We prioritise accessibility and affordability, making digital pathology accessible to a wider range of users.”

The idea to start a company that focuses on digital pathology for the Gholaps came about after Devika’s grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, before passing away. “The diagnosis process was cumbersome, and it took a long time, which affected treatment,” Devika says. “Different doctors and pathologists had differing opinions. So, there was always the itch to do something around cancer diagnosis.”

That prompted Devika, who studied biomedical engineering, to foray into building a technology aimed at reducing time in the process, removing contaminations of samples while transporting and making the entire process seamless while improving efficiencies. “We are the only Indian company doing this, and we can do it at a fraction of the cost of those developed by global medical equipment makers,” she adds. “This assumes significance in underserved regions where labs struggle with high costs and limited access to advanced tools.”

“Devika has balanced offerings of leadership, problem-solving and organisational skills,” says Dr Nitin Salunke, president and CEO of California-based Supira Medical. “She is dedicated and committed to making health care accessible to the masses which she is realising through her contribution at OptraScan.”

Devika Gholap (27)

Co-founder and chief product officer, OptraScan

Health Care