Mr. Bijjala Arun Kumar – Founder, Converge Biotech Pvt Ltd.
This Hyderabadi is utilizing all his corporate experience to build a biotech company for the betterment of the society.
With the noble thought of providing benefits to both healthcare providers and patients to experience the use of quality generics with innovative dosage and packaging options, Converge Biotech focuses to deliver best affordable medicines in chronic segments and help the patients to reduce huge financial burden. And its founder, Bijjala Arun Kumar, is elated about the growth trajectory of the company which he had founded half a decade back. Being awarded as the fastest growing pharmaceutical company by India Achievers forum and also being recognised as the emerging Entrepreneur by Pipra in association with Govt. of Telangana, Bijjala now has reasons to celebrate. He has single-handedly taken Converge Biotech to new heights.
As a post graduate in Microbiology with a passion in sales and marketing, Bijjala has keen insight on introducing innovative products and building brands that would serve the needy patients. Talking about his own strength, he says “I like to build teams and ensure they have given growth opportunities along with organizational growth. I believe in collaborative management where each team member play a valuable role in building organisation.” From being a Medical Representative to GM of a pharmaceutical company, he has experienced it all across the corporate sector in past 19 years, before plunging into entrepreneurial expedition.
Life has never been easy for Bijjala – he lost his father when his mother was on her 7th month of pregnancy. But never shied away from challenges. Studying in vernacular medium was a cause of concern as he lacked effective communication skills during his initial days as a sales professional. However, he learned it all with sheer perseverance and focus. And that’s what helped him to build his business later in the career. Today he runs a versatile team of experts who are on a mission to make Converge Biotech a global leader in generics within cardio, metabolic and critical care segments.
Inspired by Ratan Tata, he has always been a risk taker and scanned the market properly before answering to its need. Rather than making random decision, he would go and spend time on field, meeting customers and understand their pain points. This practical exposure eventually helped him in launching products that are suitably addressed to take care of a customer’s need. It also helped him gauge various opportunities in the market. His sincerity, passion, hard-work, and leadership qualities helped him grow his venture. With indomitable spirit and great man-managing skills, he truly symbolises and acts as an inspiration to today’s youth.
No entrepreneurial journey is a path of roses and Bijjala had to face initial hiccups before he shifted gears from being an employee to become an employer. Starting his venture with all the resources earned was the biggest risk, besides having a great team to work with. He had to convince people to join him in his journey which was a task by itself. Launching trials for market at early stage and making high investments in sales and marketing was a risk at the beginning. But as they say ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’ – his objective and focus made him sail smoothly.
Bijjala is a true entrepreneur – he is a quick learner and adaptive to changes. He is into networking with likeminded professionals and gain different perspectives from them which influences his decision making processes.