How son’s asthma diagnosis set dad on a mission to find its cause, and led to a new career tackling air pollution in Hong Kong
- After Saketaram Soussilane’s son Kalyan developed chronic asthma in Hong Kong, he felt compelled to find out why, and if there was a solution
- It led him to set up Meo, a company that helps building owners introduce measures to improve indoor air quality and reduce energy wastage
In 2007, Saketaram Soussilane and his wife, Christelle, were working in finance in Paris but keen for a change of scenery. Hong Kong ticked all the right boxes: it was safe, multicultural and had nature trails close to the city so the couple could indulge in their love of hiking.
Starting a family was also part of their Hong Kong plan, so when Kalyan was born in 2011, the couple were over the moon. But when he was about 18 months old, Kalyan developed respiratory problems, coughing at night and wheezing during the day.
Feeling helpless, the couple visited doctors, who diagnosed their son as having chronic asthma and prescribed him antibiotics, inhalers and anti-allergy drugs.
“All the doctors said ‘This is Hong Kong, there is pollution, so just take these drugs’,” says Soussilane, who was born in South America to Indian parents and raised in France.
The symptoms disappeared but the problem was still there. “The doctors only cured the consequences, only masked the symptoms,” says Soussilane. This realisation triggered what would become an obsession with air quality and ultimately a career change. He eventually left his job in finance to set up Meo, a company that helps building owners turn properties green by improving their indoor air quality and reducing energy wastage.
