Founders of ISES, Pushkar Mohan, Nalin Mohan and Siddhant Mohan are showing how empathy and technology can connect the gap between “Digital Health Cards” and “Actual Health Access” in the heart of rural Bihar.
Any good solution starts with a deep systemic problem. Bihar-born professional Pushkar Mohan, who honed his skills at global giants like Wipro, TOI and HDFC, didn’t have his “Aha!” moment in a corporate office. It was in the dusty lanes of 20+ districts of Bihar that it happened while implementing the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
After arranging Ayushman Cards for over 2 lakh beneficiaries, Pushkar said that it made him realise a heart-wrenching truth: Accessibility is not the same as Affordability. A digital card is useless if the nearest life-saving medicine is 50 kilometers away and the only “help” is hours too late.
That’s where ISES (Impetus Skill and Employment Services) comes in. ISES is a startup that isn’t just selling a service but is re-building the entire healthcare delivery infrastructure for rural India.
The Discovery: Dissecting “Midnight Crisis” in Bihar
From 2020 to 2024, the founders observed a stark split in the system. Now, 100,000 marginalized people had digital health coverage, but there was no local supply chain in the rural infrastructure. During critical hours, patients had to travel long distances, losing precious time and sometimes their lives, simply because there was no reliable and localized supply of medicines.
“This problem hasn’t been hypothesised in a boardroom,” says Pushkar Mohan. It was exposed, it was written, it was fought on the ground. “We saw that even with universal health coverage, there was a huge gap between the beneficiary and the system.
The Supply-Side Revolution: How to Empower Micro-Entrepreneurs
Bihar needed a decentralized network of pharmacies to address its accessibility crisis. But rural youth faced a “Paperwork Wall”—the complex regulatory environment and strict licensing discouraged them from opening Jan Aushadhi Kendras.
In 2025 ISES launched the Retail Pharma Entrepreneurship Program (RPEP). Instead of waiting for outside tech experts, the founders took a self-taught AI driven approach to build a proprietary Business Ecosystem Portal.
What’s the result?
• 20+ Women Entrepreneurs are successfully running Jan Aushadhi Kendras.
• The ISES ecosystem has 23 Operational Stores that are doing well.
• 24×7 Tech Help Center offers 100% end-to-end support from licensing to marketing.
Bihar’s Answer to Emergency Logistics: The “i relief” Vision
The stores were open, but there was one last bottleneck: the digital divide. Local vendors operated in offline silos and consumers still could not get medicines delivered in an emergency.
To fill this gap, ISES is building its crown jewel: the “i relief” mobile app. This app is a bootstrapped startup that was built entirely to solve at-home healthcare needs and allows:
- Instant Medicine Delivery. From the nearest store to the door step.
- Home Nursing Services: Professional Care for Rural & Semi Urban Homes.
- Hyper-Local Integration – Connecting 10,000+ localized sellers to a modern delivery network.
Bootstrapping: From 15 No’s to ₹50 Lakhs
By 2024, the process seemed stalled. More than 15 angel investors turned down the founders. The rural healthcare market in Bihar seemed an impossible nut to crack for many.
“Those rejections were fuel for a pivot,” the founders say. We decided to believe in ourselves.
This resilience paid off with a bootstrapped revenue of ₹50 Lakhs by 2026. They proved that social impact and financial sustainability could go hand-in-hand by focusing on a “Full-Stack” ecosystem instead of just a simple app.
Key features of the ISES & i relief Ecosystem
ISES is a social enterprise, not a startup, focused on cost-effective, technology-based interventions:
- Retail Pharma Entrepreneurship Program (RPEP): Removing the barriers of entry for rural youth to own pharmacies.
- Entrepreneurs Digital Upgradation Program (EDUP): Traditional vendors are being trained to use digital tools.
- The ‘i relief’ App: One bridge to connect 1 crore rural consumers to instant healthcare.
- AI-Enabled Handholding – An in-house tech platform (₹10-15 lakhs) to assist small entrepreneurs 24×7.
Moving Forward: A National Movement
The mission is straightforward. To bring 100,000 medical stores, Jan Aushadhi Kendras and nursing professionals from across India onto a single digital platform.
“Bihar has great potential,” Pushkar Mohan stresses. “As a startup, we should not just think about making the profit but also making others successful. When a woman in a small village successfully runs a Jan Aushadhi Kendra, that is our true ROI.”
The journey from 15 rejections to building a disruptive healthcare network proves one thing: ISES is just getting started. By solving the last-mile crisis, they aren’t just building a business, they are securing the health and economic empowerment of an entire state.
“Our journey is different because it is backed by years of on-the-ground validation. We built this from the ground up, starting with the people, for the people.”
