Ameera Shah, Promoter and Executive Chairperson, Metropolis Healthcare, said progress for women entrepreneurs is real but uneven, with better access to capital and wider acceptance still offset by bias and weaker social support. Speaking to NDTV Profit, as a part of Women's Day 2026 segment, Shah said the environment for women founders has improved since she started out, though some old barriers remain firmly in place.
"Some things have changed, and some things have not," she said.
She pointed first to funding. "In the ecosystem, I would say one thing that's changed is that there's a little bit more access to capital,” she said, adding that startup networks, venture capital firms and online learning now offer more support than before. She also said entrepreneurship has become more socially acceptable for women. "The families are not always supportive, but they are more supportive than they used to be in the past," Shah said.
At the same time, Shah said bias against women entrepreneurs continues, often in less visible ways. "There's still bias in the ecosystem against women, women entrepreneurs," she said. "A lot of it is subconscious bias. It's not conscious."
That, she said, can shape who gets funded and who gets overlooked. "Even though capital is available, it's not always easily accessible because of the subconscious bias that happens," Shah said. "Or sometimes you miss out on opportunities because of the gender lens applied too strongly."
She said the larger issue is that women still do not receive the same kind of support that men do when building businesses. "The society, the way it supports a man when he pursues a journey like this, is not the way a woman is supported at all," she said.
ALSO READ: Women's Day Special: Biopics Of Real Indian Women That Redefined The Box Office
Finding Voice In Male-Dominated Boardrooms
Asked about finding her voice in boardrooms that were historically male-dominated, Shah said she learned to contribute with confidence but without forcing her way in.
"The boardrooms that I've been part of, I have always been part of because somebody wanted me there," she said. In the early days, she said, she knew some invitations came because companies needed a woman director. Still, she chose to focus on what she could bring to the table. "Amongst the women that they know, they chose me because they felt that I had something to contribute. So let me contribute."
For Shah, authenticity grew with comfort and experience. "It's about us finding our comfort in a space, in a setting, and finding our own space," she said. She added that women may not always feel the same instant entitlement to belong that men often do. "I am here also to learn. I'm also here to contribute," she said. "And I certainly did both on every board."
If that respect was missing, she said, she walked away. “If I ever felt that my space wasn't respected, my voice wasn't respected, I just got off.”
Metropolis Healthcare's Strategy
On Metropolis Healthcare's strategy, Shah said the company has chosen value over volume because diagnostics is far more complex than many people assume. "People think pathology is a commoditised business, and that's actually very far from the truth. Even in routine tests, mistakes can happen at many points. We actually calculated in a simple thing like a blood sugar or cholesterol ... 150 things can go wrong along the way," Shah said.
Shah concluded, reiterating their unique business model where they own and operate a significant portion (around 700) of their collection centres, alongside their lab sets, Metropolis apart, as competitors largely rely on franchisees. By owning and operating their centres, she said, they can provide a superior experience, leveraging data and tech to make healthcare easier.
ALSO READ: When Is International Women's Day 2026? Check Date, Theme, History, Significance And More
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.