Voice for Silent Struggles
Butterfly Learnings, founded in 2021 by Dr. Sonam Kothari and Abhishek Sen, is a Mumbai-based company offering integrated therapy and developmental care services for children and families.
Dr Sonam Kothari, CEO & Co-founder of Butterfly Learnings
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Silence often serves as the initial sign of struggle. Parents have a silent worry that gets heavier every day, a child stops reacting, words do not come, and school feels scary. “Families were moving from clinic to clinic, holding questions and fears with no clear path forward,” said Dr Sonam Kothari, Co-founder and CEO of Butterfly Learnings. “They were navigating diagnoses, therapy, schooling, and emotional stress in silos.”
Trained as a pediatric neurologist at Nair Hospital and later at NIMHANS, where she completed her MD-PhD in Clinical Neurosciences, she spent years working closely with children and families at different stages of development. “I met parents who blamed themselves, who felt lost, and children who were misunderstood,” she recalled. “Children don’t develop in standard patterns, but systems often expect them to.”
In 2021, together with co-founder Abhishek Sen, she founded Butterfly Learnings in Mumbai. “We wanted care to feel connected and humane,” she shared. “Support should hold the child and the family together.”
The earliest believers were parents. “Trusting someone with your child’s development is deeply personal,” she mentioned. “Their feedback shaped how programs were designed and how progress was shared.” Clinicians and therapists joined with a shared belief in compassionate, evidence-based care.
Since inception, Butterfly Learnings has raised close to INR 47 crore from impact-focused and early-stage investors, enabling it to expand responsibly while maintaining clinical quality.
Today, a team of 300+ professionals including over 250 trained therapists supports thousands of families. Yet for Dr Kothari, impact is not measured in numbers. “It’s the moment a child speaks their first clear word… the day school no longer feels frightening… the relief in a parent’s eyes when they feel hope again,” she shared.
As a woman founder in healthcare and technology, she has often had to challenge perceptions. “I’ve had to prove that empathy and scientific rigour belong together,” she reflected. “When children progress and families feel supported, assumptions begin to change.”
The most meaningful moments remain quiet and deeply human. “Sometimes a parent says, ‘I finally understand my child,’” she shared softly. “In that moment, fear lifts and hope enters the room.”
Silence often serves as the initial sign of struggle. Parents have a silent worry that gets heavier every day, a child stops reacting, words do not come, and school feels scary. “Families were moving from clinic to clinic, holding questions and fears with no clear path forward,” said Dr Sonam Kothari, Co-founder and CEO of Butterfly Learnings. “They were navigating diagnoses, therapy, schooling, and emotional stress in silos.”
Trained as a pediatric neurologist at Nair Hospital and later at NIMHANS, where she completed her MD-PhD in Clinical Neurosciences, she spent years working closely with children and families at different stages of development. “I met parents who blamed themselves, who felt lost, and children who were misunderstood,” she recalled. “Children don’t develop in standard patterns, but systems often expect them to.”
In 2021, together with co-founder Abhishek Sen, she founded Butterfly Learnings in Mumbai. “We wanted care to feel connected and humane,” she shared. “Support should hold the child and the family together.”
