Global IndianstoryMeet India’s unicorn wizard: Naveen Tewari the entrepreneur with the Midas touch

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Meet India’s unicorn wizard: Naveen Tewari the entrepreneur with the Midas touch

Written by: Global Indian

(October 1, 2021) The pandemic hit several enterprises hard. Jobs were lost and revenues took a hit. But India’s digital startups space managed to surge ahead on steady steam. Investments poured in and several of them went on to become unicorns and set new records. One among them was Glance, a subsidiary of InMobi that was founded by Naveen Tewari. The entrepreneur is one of the few in the industry who manages to attract investors time and again regardless of the business he launches. Right since he launched InMobi, a mobile advertising platform, in 2007, to Glance, which he launched in 2019: both are unicorns.

That Tewari works magic in the startup space is evident from the fact that InMobi was India’s first unicorn – a startup valued at $1 billion. His business acumen and penchant for identifying areas with great opportunity have also led him to being recognized across the globe. From receiving the Future Leaders Award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, being listed in Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list in 2015, receiving the Forbes India Leadership Award for Outstanding Start Up in 2014, to being ranked in the global 100 Most Creative People list in 2014, Tewari has come a long way since his Kanpur days.

Racing to scale may please the market. But building a superior product pre-scaling not only benefits the market, but also pleases you. Make the right choice. https://t.co/AkKJ1InBe5

— Naveen Tewari (@NaveenTewari) September 10, 2021

Back to basics

Born and brought up in Kanpur in a family of academics – his grandmother and father are former IIT-Kanpur professors, his aunt earned a doctorate from the same college – Tewari did his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya before graduating from IIT-Kanpur with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2000. It was here that he met Amit Gupta and Abhay Singhal, with whom he’d later found InMobi.

He bagged his first job with the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey where he worked for three years until 2003. He then moved to the US to do his MBA from Harvard Business School where he bagged the Dean’s Award for exceptional leadership and contribution. During his time at Harvard, he founded (and continues to chair) a US-based non-profit called India Schoolhouse Fund, which funds and sets up schools in rural India.

Naveen Tewari with Satya Nadella

On an entrepreneurial path

After he graduated from Harvard, Tewari experimented with various things: startups and venture capital, but they all came to naught. It was finally in 2007 that he set up InMobi along with Gupta, Singhal and Mohit Saxena. As the four embarked on their entrepreneurial journey in Mumbai, they shared an apartment together. Their first business mKhoj, an SMS search engine, failed miserably. But refusing to accept defeat, Tewari and the boys pivoted their business to a mobile advertising company and InMobi was born.

The adtech platform clicked, the company moved to Bengaluru and attracted investments from the likes of SoftBank, KPCB, and Sherpalo. Within three years it went on to become a unicorn – India’s first.

Naveen Tewari

Tewari’s Midas Touch

Nine years after this Global Indian launched InMobi, he was back in the game with his new venture Glance. The app uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create personalized content such as news, sports, entertainment, and video games in multiple languages such as English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu on the lock screen of Android smartphones. Launched in 2019, the app has more than 115 million active users, and the venture turned a unicorn in 2020. Speaking to Fortune about the success of Glance, Tewari said, “Glance is a splendid example of innovation solving for mobile-first and mobile-only consumption, serving content across India’s and the world’s local languages. The latest investment of $145 million from Google and Mithril Capital is a strong validation of how Glance is shaping the future of digital consumption and making digital economy accessible to all. With a scale of 115 million daily active users, who spend 25 minutes daily on the platform, Glance is clearly solving for a real need in the market, and solving it well.”

Despite the difficult pandemic year, he said that InMobi and Glance have both had a great run due to the surge in demand for mobile content. “Our B2B business has had the best year in its history, while Glance has grown from 70 million daily active users in 2019 to more than 115 million daily active users in 2020. Roposo, which is owned by Glance, became India’s leading short-video platform in June. In fact, it the first and only Indian short video app to have crossed 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store,” he said.

Given that Glance is purely AI driven, it is proof of Tewari’s knack for spotting an opportunity. With AI-led consumer internet technology catching on in this part of the world, India’s potential to become the next digital hub after the US and China is immense. In an interview with YourStory, he said that every employee across the InMobi group has an AI-first approach. “If you’re not an AI-first thinker, you will be obsolete in less than five years,” he said.

With an eye on the future and an ear to the ground, he has been founding and driving successful enterprises over the years. For someone who had leaned towards research and academics all through his early life, Tewari sure has cracked the code to launching successful businesses.

Follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Published on 01, Oct 2021

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Madhukar Varshney: The US-returned innovator-turned-entrepreneur helps children problem solve

(November 30, 2021) If the Future of Jobs Report by the World Economic Forum is right, 65 percent of students entering primary school will ultimately work jobs that haven’t even been invented yet. Then how does one prepare children for the future? It involves a farsightedness that Madhukar Varshney, founder of NimbleQ, has made a part of his DNA. The IT honcho imbues children with essential skills — creative thinking, communication, problem solving, critical thinking and collaboration. Technology is at the heart of many jobs, and understanding how to apply it to innovate and create able future generations is Varshney’s core strength. The idea, says the innovator-turned-entrepreneur, is to teach children to apply knowledge to solve real world problems and have a growth mindset. “Did you know only 2 percent of Fortune 500 companies have CEOs of Indian-origin?” he asks, adding, “This is because there is some flaw in the way we teach our kids. We focus on the math, but where is the creativity? Where is the proclivity to create and innovate?” [embed]https://twitter.com/HakimHabibulla/status/1418132814600433673?s=20[/embed] A holistic approach NimbleQ’s holistic skills development programme focuses on building the next generation of leaders, creators, and entrepreneurs, and it was developed by the US-returned Varshney and his wife Shailey Motial, who handles brand

mbed]https://twitter.com/HakimHabibulla/status/1418132814600433673?s=20[/embed]

A holistic approach

NimbleQ’s holistic skills development programme focuses on building the next generation of leaders, creators, and entrepreneurs, and it was developed by the US-returned Varshney and his wife Shailey Motial, who handles brand development and strategies.

What started as an after-school curriculum, now focusses on helping youngsters to innovate. “The idea is to get children to think independently like creators. While it is important to learn all things tech-related, it is also important that children know how to apply the knowledge, understand business, entrepreneurship, and money,” says Madhukar, who was in the US for 20 years thanks to the citizenship he was awarded under the Outstanding Researcher Category in 2009.

[caption id="attachment_16994" align="aligncenter" width="4898"] Global Indian Madhukar Varshney Madhukar Varshney with students during a NimbleQ class[/caption]

Raised in a very conventional family in Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh), entrepreneurship didn’t even cross his mind. Born in 1974 to a father, who was a government contractor father, and teacher mother, Madhukar grew up believing that the route to success was through a US education. “Career choices then were either as doctors or engineers. I’d never thought about starting up. When I moved to the US, I got the opportunity to explore with an exposure to diverse cultures and professional experiences,” recalls Madhukar, who graduated in chemical engineering from HPTI, Kanpur, and then did a master’s and PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Arkansas.

Madhukar then worked at Cornell University as a research associate studying micro and nanomechanical cantilever-based sensors. A job at NABsys, a company which develops semiconductor-based tools for genomic analysis, came next.

The researcher turned educationist

During his career as a researcher, Madhukar published over 35 papers and owns three patents. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, he decided to branch out on his own. In 2014, he set up his first company Forty-Five NE, a digital healthcare company that influences disease outcomes by empowering patients to get involved in self-care.

[caption id="attachment_16984" align="aligncenter" width="1065"] Global Indian Madhukar Varshney Madhukar Varshney with his wife and co-founder Shailey Motial[/caption]

He ran the Massachusetts-based company for two years. The Varshneys then began searching for something empowering in education. “We weren’t too happy about where the education system was headed. For instance, in India, students are not encouraged to question. There is no room for creativity, independence or leadership qualities. In the US too, though the system is different, there is still a loophole that needs to be plugged,” he tells Global Indian.

The seed was planted, and the couple moved lock, stock, barrel and family, to India and set up NimbleQ in 2017. Headquartered in Lucknow, NimbleQ is aimed at developing nimbleness of the mind. “They say that intelligence and capability are not natural talents; they are built by the flexibility of the mind. At NimbleQ, that’s what we aim to do: we encourage students to learn how to learn, question, focus, (even) fail and take in their stride and begin again,” says the founder of the so far bootstrapped startup.

Designed to teach

The NimbleQ experience is designed to teach kids to adapt, be flexible, question the status quo and adopt a holistic approach to life. “This is why business and entrepreneurship and understanding money are important aspects of the programme. So children are truly future ready,” he adds.

[caption id="attachment_16986" align="aligncenter" width="758"] Global Indian Shailey Motial Shailey Motial[/caption]

With programmes aimed at kindergartners to class 10 students, the startup has already been seeing some very positive results. For instance, a six-year-old student of theirs, won a Business Idea Hackathon for suggesting that energy be harnessed from Mars. “We don’t want our engineers to build a Taj Mahal. What’s the point of a Taj Mahal if it cannot be sold? The idea is for our engineers to innovate and design buildings that can be scaled and sold,” says Madhukar. So far, about 4,000 students have signed up since they started, with 80,000 plus hours of classes conducted.

The programmes are designed to treat students like adults, show them real time scenarios and what real jobs involve. After months of research, sit-downs with industry leaders, educationists, and researchers, Madhukar developed the programmes which today they are helmed by NimbleQ teachers (all engineers).

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlpvltyIF9M[/embed]

The startup has students in India, US and UAE. Plans are afoot to resume offline classes again, with expansion plans. “We’re also looking to raise funding to aid these plans,” says Madhukar, who is headquartered in Lucknow and always wanted to start small. "We’re not in it for the race.”

The father of two, loves to unwind with his children and encourages them to explore and question the world.

“At the end of the day, we put the student at the centre. We treat them like grown-ups. We don’t restrict ourselves to premium schools, we want to democratise education and also tie up with mid-size and small schools,” says the entrepreneur, who loves to sketch.

Follow Madhukar Varshney on LinkedIn.

Reading Time: 10 mins

5 Indian healthtech startups that empower doctors with their innovation

That the medical fraternity has been stretched to its limit in the past year would be an understatement. Medical practitioners have been manning the battle lines tirelessly as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across the globe wave after wave; variant after variant. With a doctor-patient ratio of 1:1456, it is imperative to bring in technology to ease the burden on India's healthcare ecosystem. Fortunately, there have been a few healthcare startups that have stepped in with new technology to make life easier for the medical fraternity and increase the ease of doctor-patient interactions in a virtual manner. Global Indian looks at five such startups that are creating a seamless patient care experience through data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. Augnito [caption id="attachment_4208" align="aligncenter" width="255"] Rustom Lawyer[/caption] Launched in 2020, Mumbai-based Augnito is a cloud-based speech-to-text software that guarantees error-free documentation by converting human voice into written text in real-time. It runs on AI and happens to be India’s first and only medical speech recognition application available that doctors can use to generate reports. Augnito was founded by Rustom Lawyer, the man behind Scribetech, a 19-year-old company that pioneered clinical documentation in UK’s NHS. The tool uses Human-Centered

hine learning." width="255" height="267" /> Rustom Lawyer[/caption]

Launched in 2020, Mumbai-based Augnito is a cloud-based speech-to-text software that guarantees error-free documentation by converting human voice into written text in real-time. It runs on AI and happens to be India’s first and only medical speech recognition application available that doctors can use to generate reports. Augnito was founded by Rustom Lawyer, the man behind Scribetech, a 19-year-old company that pioneered clinical documentation in UK’s NHS. The tool uses Human-Centered Design principles to understand the needs and challenges faced by Indian doctors and took seven years to be developed. It uses cutting-edge technology in speech recognition science and offers the highest accuracy rates for diverse Indian accents.

In a report in India AI, Lawyer said that with funds from his business at Scribetech, they didn’t need to raise any additional capital for Augnito and were able to launch it right when the COVID-19 pandemic had begun to pick up pace. Today it works with over 4,000 doctors and hospital chains such as Apollo, Max Healthcare, Jaslok Hospital, and Medanta Hospital among others.

Qure.ai

[caption id="attachment_4211" align="aligncenter" width="483"] Global Indian looks at five such startups that are creating a seamless patient care experience through data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. Prashant Warier and Pooja Rao[/caption]

Founded in 2016 by Prashant Warier and Pooja Rao, Qure.ai uses artificial intelligence to make healthcare more accessible and affordable by combining learning expertise with clinical, scientific, and regulatory knowledge. Its advisory panel consists of radiologists, doctors, and public health experts who work with the team to define clinically relevant problems and design real-world solutions. Qure.ai uses deep learning techniques to diagnose disease and create automated diagnostic reports from CT Scans, X-Rays, and MRIs, thereby helping doctors make faster and more accurate medical decisions. This also helps in rural areas where physicians may not have access to radiologists.

The team reportedly used more than 7 million data sets to train its AI algorithms and had the results validated at institutions such as Stanford University, Mayo Clinic, and Massachusetts General Hospital. Last year, Qure.ai raised $16 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital and MassMutual Ventures.

Healthplix

[caption id="attachment_4216" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Global Indian looks at five such startups that are creating a seamless patient care experience through data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. Raghuraj Sunder Raju, Sandeep Gudibanda, and Prasad Basvaraj[/caption]

Bengaluru-based HealthPlix offers software solutions to help doctors digitize operations and manage patient interactions seamlessly. Founded in 2016 by Sandeep Gudibanda, Raghuraj Sunder Raju, and Prasad Basvaraj, HealthPlix provides electronic medical record (EMR) software to medical practitioners to assist them in generating e-prescriptions and digitally managing their clinic’s operations. It also allows doctors to keep tabs on their patients to track their symptoms and the status of their health with the medication being prescribed by them. In an interview with TechCrunch, Gudibanda said that the software also helps determine all the factors a doctor needs to assess as they commence treatment.

HealthPlix is now being used by more than 6,000 doctors and the company plans to reach over 50,000 medical practitioners over the next two years. Since its inception, the company has raised $23.5 million, with the latest round of funding of $13.5 million being raised in March this year. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Kalaari Capital and Chiratae.

Navia Life Care

[caption id="attachment_4218" align="aligncenter" width="491"] Global Indian looks at five such startups that are creating a seamless patient care experience through data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. Kunal Kishore Dhawan and Gaurav Gupta[/caption]

The New Delhi-based healthtech startup Navia Life Care uses technology to create smart solutions for doctors and improve patient loyalty. Founded in 2016 by Kunal Kishore Dhawan and Gaurav Gupta, Navia aims to address the information asymmetry in India’s healthcare ecosystem such as the lack of electronic medical records, insights on prescription patterns, and availability of drugs. The startup tries to bring efficiency and certainty to the whole doctor-patient interaction and enables medical practitioners to quickly and effortlessly create digital prescriptions.

With various products such as Navi Voice, Navi Trace, Navi Scan, and Navia QM, the startup is offering medical practitioners and the pharma industry a seamless experience. While the company has not disclosed its funding details, some of its key investors include Benori Ventures, Sorabh Agarwal, and Mayank Mamtani.

Practo

[caption id="attachment_4221" align="aligncenter" width="275"] Global Indian looks at five such startups that are creating a seamless patient care experience through data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. Shashank ND and Abhinav Lal[/caption]

Bengaluru-based Practo was launched in 2007 by Shashank ND and Abhinav Lal as a way to make doctors and quality healthcare more accessible. Back then the digital healthcare ecosystem was largely nonexistent. Today, Practo has clocked in over 5 million patient stories and has onboard medical practitioners across various specialties. With the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world, Practo has actively been working on its telemedicine and online consultancy segment. Close to 50% of its teleconsult requests come from India’s Tier-II and III cities. The startup has onboard over 180 million users and has partnered with over 76,000 clinics and hospitals.

So far, Practo has raised $228.2 million in seven rounds of funding and counts AIA Group, Sequoia Capital, Google Capital, and Matrix Partners as some of its investors. It is now looking to raise ₹60 crore in debt from Trifecta Venture Debt Fund II.

Reading Time: 5 mins

Guinness World Record holder Saurabh Bothra is redefining wellness through Habuild

(April 18, 2024) ‘We build habits. Habits build you’ – with this winning mantra Saurabh Bothra has been transforming the lives of lakhs of people through his health and wellness venture Habuild that he co-founded with Anshul Agrawal and Trishala Bothra. The startup, which has just completed its eclectic four-year journey, boasts two million members across 38 nations. “It is a celebratory yet humbling feeling. The responsibility has increased, but so have the blessings,” Saurabh tells Global Indian. Going from humble beginnings to creating a global impact, with a Guinness World Record under its belt, Habuild has been working towards improving the fitness levels of people, guided by its IIT alumni founders. [caption id="attachment_50787" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Saurabh Bothra, CEO, Habuild[/caption] In January of this year, Saurabh Bothra and his team at Habuild organised a 21-day online yoga challenge, which attracted 4.5 lakh yoga enthusiasts from 92 countries. During the challenge, on January 12th, the wellness platform achieved an incredible milestone by setting the Guinness World Record for the highest number of viewers in a single session, comprising 2,46,252 yoga enthusiasts. “Working for the world record was not just a personal endeavour, it was an opportunity to inspire and motivate people

l Indian " width="640" height="640" /> Saurabh Bothra, CEO, Habuild[/caption]

In January of this year, Saurabh Bothra and his team at Habuild organised a 21-day online yoga challenge, which attracted 4.5 lakh yoga enthusiasts from 92 countries. During the challenge, on January 12th, the wellness platform achieved an incredible milestone by setting the Guinness World Record for the highest number of viewers in a single session, comprising 2,46,252 yoga enthusiasts. “Working for the world record was not just a personal endeavour, it was an opportunity to inspire and motivate people to embrace a healthier lifestyle,” remarks Saurabh.

The Nagpur-based wellness entrepreneur and government-certified yoga trainer also describes himself as a content creator. “I love to create YouTube videos to share my thoughts and expertise on health and wellness, all with the goal of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to explore,” he remarks. In his videos he unleashes health secrets in easy-to-implement ways to make people achieve their fitness goals. His YouTube Channel now has surpassed 800K subscribers.

Habuild – Helping people cultivate fitness

In 2020, when Habuild was established, it had just three eager students and a small team. Today, it boasts a thriving community of two million people on the path to cultivating healthy habits. The technology-enabled platform, which helps people build sustainable habits, now employs over 200 employees.

“I host live Yoga classes for our community every day and I am also deeply involved in looking out for better ways to serve our members through different health and wellness programs. In the past year, we have organised and hosted over 150 events for our community, all aimed at improving their health in all aspects,” Saurabh remarks.

[caption id="attachment_50788" align="aligncenter" width="749"] Health | Saurabh Bothra | Global Indian Saurabh Bothra conducting an offline yoga session[/caption]

Habuild offers its community members a bouquet of programmes like Yoga Everyday, Ayurvedic Detox, Mindful Journaling, Marma Healing, Her Health Matters (sessions on Women's wellness), Kitchen Gardening, and more for their fitness and well-being.

The wellness model

The platform operates via a messaging automation tool integrated with WhatsApp. One of the favourites of the Habuild community is the daily WhatsApp reminders. These reminders set the tone for their day and help them integrate the habit of making healthy choices into their routine.

“At Habuild, we firmly believe that taking small, consistent steps towards a healthier lifestyle can lead to significant positive life changes,” says Saurabh. Each user’s journey is personalised on WhatsApp with lessons tailored to their health needs. Attendance tracking is also implemented to keep users active and motivated, with automated texts sent to provide details on missed classes.

Monthly challenges are hosted regularly to emphasise the importance of habit building. Participants can join between 6:30 am to 7 pm according to their schedule, engaging in various asanas of yoga or exercises from the comfort of their homes.

https://youtu.be/iPus54eHptk

“We are constantly seeking new ideas to improve our users' experiences. Moving forward, we want to make our members' journeys more personalised,” says Saurabh adding, “Exciting things are happening, like introducing a new yoga batch just for kids. Plus, we are splitting batches into Hindi and English groups to make our programs accessible to everyone.”

In its monthly membership plan, Habuild offers chat support to users, addressing inquiries on general health, yoga, and physical ailments. Users can access complimentary consultations tailored to the nature of their inquiry, with a team of experts, which includes specialists in yoga, nutrition, and physiotherapy.

It started when…

Saurabh, an alumnus of IIT BHU, has always been a fitness enthusiast. In 2020, when people worldwide were confined to their homes due to lockdowns, he began offering lessons on Zoom and YouTube from his hometown, Nagpur.

Along with his friend Pramod Yadav, he conducted 45-minute sessions every morning, guiding viewers through simple breathing exercises, Surya Namaskar, and various asanas targeting different muscle groups for upper body, lower body, core, and flexibility.

Initially, it was just his way of contributing to the community. He didn't anticipate its rapid popularity, leading to the establishment of a startup centred around the wellness idea. Collaborating with other IIT alumni, Trishala Bothra (his sister) and Anshul Agrawal (his batchmate), he laid the foundation of Habuild, which now boasts members not only in India but also in the United States, Canada, Dubai, and Singapore.

[caption id="attachment_50789" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Health | Saurabh Bothra | Global Indian Saurabh Bothra[/caption]

Love for creating change

Working towards bringing about change in his community had always been part of Saurabh’s personality. During his time at the IIT BHU campus, he initiated two initiatives that were positively embraced by his college community. He co-founded the ‘Let's Read’ club, providing fellow students with the opportunity to exchange books and engage in a culture of reading and knowledge sharing.

Additionally, he spearheaded the ‘Satvik Mess’ on campus, which quickly became a student favourite. 'We managed to offer Satvik food choices that led to a close-knit community,' he shares.

As a former mechanical engineering student at IIT Banaras, Saurabh was awarded a Special Mention Award for his contributions to the campus, which included organising a successful cultural fest.

[caption id="attachment_50790" align="aligncenter" width="727"] Health | Saurabh Bothra | Global Indian Habuild Team got successful in earning a Guinness World Record[/caption]

“I did not turn out to be an engineer after IIT, but my college experience taught me the problem-solving skills crucial for my entrepreneurial journey. Every day in business, I use the lessons I learned during those special years,” he signs off.

Follow Saurabh Bothra on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube
To know more about Habuild visit its website

Reading Time: 5 mins

Ankit Agarwal’s Phool: Turning floral waste into vegan leather

(June 23, 2023) Ever wondered what happens to the flowers offered to the Gods in temples and mosques across the country? Well, the floral waste mostly makes its way to either dumping yards or rivers in the vicinity, adding to the pollution. It was at one such ghat in Kanpur that Ankit Agarwal, a native and an engineering student, had an epiphany. That watershed moment changed it all and gave birth to India's first biomaterial startup Phool in 2017, which five years later, became one of the finalists at the Earthshot Prize 2022. The Kanpur-based startup accumulates floral waste from temples in Uttar Pradesh, including the biggest temple, Kashi Vishwanath, averting 13 tonnes of waste flowers and toxic chemicals from reaching the river every day. The waste is then handcrafted into charcoal-free incense sticks and essential oils through 'flower cycling' technology by women from Dalit communities that the startup has employed. Moreover, they convert the floral waste into a material "that behaves exactly like animal leather" - Fleather. [caption id="attachment_40473" align="aligncenter" width="542"] Ankit Agarwal with Phool Head of Operations Prateek Kumar[/caption] "Fleather solves multiple problems. First, there is the deep environmental footprint of animal leather. Second is the inhumane animal

rwal | Global Indian | Phool" width="542" height="543" /> Ankit Agarwal with Phool Head of Operations Prateek Kumar[/caption]

"Fleather solves multiple problems. First, there is the deep environmental footprint of animal leather. Second is the inhumane animal slaughtering. The third is the pollution caused by ceremonial flowers in rivers in India," says Ankit Agarwal, the founder of Phool, which has now found a new home in Bodhgaya. The startup earned Ankit a spot in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. He was also named one of the 17 young leaders for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations.

How flower waste gave birth to Phool

It was on a wintery morning in 2015 that Ankit accompanied his friend to Ganga ghat, as the day was an auspicious one. It was Makar Sakranti, and the duo could see ghats filled with people performing suryanamaskars and pujas. While the festive fervour was on a high, these engineering lads were aghast by the sight of the devotees drinking and bottling up the river water which was evidently murky. "In spite of being one of the most revered water bodies in India, we started wondering why this was river turning carcinogenic and if it was us, the worshippers, who had turned against the river," he writes on Phool website.

But gazing hard at the filthy water, he couldn't help but notice the flowers that were dumped into the river from the nearby temples turn into mulch as their colour started to fade away. This was enough to put Ankit into action, and he began researching on the subject. Combing through reams of information, he found that most of the flowers that make it to the temples are loaded with pesticides and insecticides, and once they reach the river, the chemicals wash off, mixing with water and making it toxic, thus threatening marine life. This pushed Ankit to start Phool with the mission to repurpose the waste coming from places of worship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz_v3pIU48g&list=PL-04isyUx6NySZKBWse99Qf5nWkVAxs87

Giving marginalised community a chance

Like most startups, this one too had its teething troubles. The idea of further using waste flowers seem absurd to many, and the team had to work hard to convince people to the idea of recycling as no one was ready to take them seriously. But after much effort and persuasion, the idea set rolling and there was no looking back. After experimenting for countless hours in a makeshift lab for a year and a half, flowercycled incense was conceived. Using the innovation - flowercycling - Phool inched closer to their goal of upcycling temple flowers into incense sticks and cones, keeping in mind their mission to preserve Ganga and empower marginalised people by providing them employment.

"Our products are handcrafted by women coming from the so-called 'lower castes'. These are the women who have been looked down on and discriminated against for years. For them, repurposing flowers sourced from temples has an emotional quotient," he told a daily, adding, "It is something that makes them feel equal in the society, a job that gives them the respect that they deserve. Besides, they now have a steady source of income that helps them take better care of their families and provide education to their children."

Phool | Global Indian

Vegan leather - Fleather

The process of flowercycling starts with the collection of flower waste from temples and other places of worship which is then turned into natural charcoal, and later kneaded to prepare incense sticks. After successfully placing the brand in the market, Phool expanded its horizon with a new ambition - to bring vegan leather to the masses - which gave birth to Fleather. It was while working on craft incense sticks that Nachiket Kuntla, head of research and development at Phool, noticed that unused piles of flower had developed a mat-like coating. "It had a very strange morphology. I was very intrigued by it…Slowly, slowly, after three years of hard work, we were able to figure out this material behaves exactly like animal leather," Ankit told a magazine.

[caption id="attachment_40475" align="aligncenter" width="606"] Phool | Global Indian Floral waste turned into vegan leather[/caption]

This idea intrigued him enough to pursue, and soon Phool saw itself making environment-friendly version of leather. It was Fleather that helped Phool bag a place among the Earthshot Prize finalists in 2022, thus opening new opportunities for the startup. "So far Phool has been able to make several Fleather prototypes – wallets, sling bags, sandals and trainers," Ankit told BBC. Phool is now working with PVH, the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, on a Fleather pilot. "I want to make animal leather history," he says, adding, "I'm not sure if that happens in my lifetime but yes, that will happen."

Follow Ankit Agarwal on LinkedIn

Reading Time: 5 min

The Indian startups that are turning the spotlight on all things beauty

(July 15, 2021; 12.15 pm) Beauty is big business and everybody wants a share of the pie. Store fronts and e-commerce platforms are filled with perfectly made out models screaming the power of makeup. Lately, there’s also more spotlight on toxin-free products and clean beauty is fast turning into the buzzword. It’s no longer about buying only big, luxury brands anymore. Probably why, several Indian startups are finding the right audience both in India and overseas markets when it comes to offering clean, affordable beauty products. Here Global Indian looks at five of the most promising Indian beauty brand startups that are at par with any international label. Juicy Chemistry [caption id="attachment_4915" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Megha and Pritesh Asher; Photo Courtesy: The Weekend Leader[/caption] Launched in 2014 by husband-and-wife duo Megha and Pritesh Asher, Juicy Chemistry is all about clean beauty. The no-chemical, organic cosmetics company sells everything from soaps, scrubs, essential oils, shampoos to toners and dry shampoos. Set up in Coimbatore, the company fuses science with tradition. From starting off with experiments in their kitchen to now having a presence in 30 countries and retailing across several e-commerce platforms, Juicy Chemistry has come a long way. The idea for Juicy Chemistry came about when

cy Chemistry

[caption id="attachment_4915" align="aligncenter" width="480"] The Indian startups that are turning the spotlight on all things beauty Megha and Pritesh Asher; Photo Courtesy: The Weekend Leader[/caption]

Launched in 2014 by husband-and-wife duo Megha and Pritesh Asher, Juicy Chemistry is all about clean beauty. The no-chemical, organic cosmetics company sells everything from soaps, scrubs, essential oils, shampoos to toners and dry shampoos. Set up in Coimbatore, the company fuses science with tradition. From starting off with experiments in their kitchen to now having a presence in 30 countries and retailing across several e-commerce platforms, Juicy Chemistry has come a long way.

The idea for Juicy Chemistry came about when Pritesh happened upon an “all-natural” beauty product whose ingredients he realized are used as raw material in their petroleum products plant. The irony wasn’t lost on him: despite its natural label, it was filled with preservatives, parabens and mineral oils. Their hunt for pure and natural products too came to naught and that’s when they decided to launch their own clean beauty line. The couple leveraged on Pritesh’s knowledge of formulation and launched a skincare line that replaced mineral oils with butters and carrier oils, synthetic fragrances with essential oils, and plastic exfoliants with organic AHA rich sugars. All of their products also come in plastic-free packaging to a large extent.

Initially a bootstrapped company, Juicy Chemistry raised $6.3 million in series A funding led by Verlinvest earlier this year. Today the brand has over 100 products and is certified organic by Ecocert (France).

Mama Earth

[caption id="attachment_4919" align="aligncenter" width="558"] The Indian startups that are turning the spotlight on all things beauty Varun and Ghazal Alagh; Photo Courtesy: Forbes India[/caption]

When Ghazal and Varun Alagh were looking for toxin-free products for their baby boy, they were stumped at the lack of options in the country. They had to rely on bringing in products from abroad. That’s when the couple decided to bridge this gap by launching their own company and launched Mama Earth in 2016 with six baby care products. Today, the company, which is backed by Sequoia India and Fireside Ventures, is Asia’s first personal care brand with MadeSafe certified, toxin-free products for mothers and children.

They procure ingredients from around the world and ensure that they are ISO, GMP and Non-GMO compliant. Their product range includes skin and hair care products for men and women as well as products designed especially for expectant mothers.

The company is said to be in talks to raise around $100 million in funding from European investment Sofina.

Nykaa

[caption id="attachment_4921" align="aligncenter" width="499"] The Indian startups that are turning the spotlight on all things beauty Falguni Nayar; Photo Courtesy: Outlook Business[/caption]

Launched in 2012 by former banker Falguni Nayar, Nykaa was initially an e-commerce platform that curated a range of beauty and wellness products. The fact that it was a one-stop shop for all things beauty and also brought to India some luxury brands such as Charlotte Tilbury, Farsali, Chopard and Chloe, helped it cement its place in the sector. Soon after they diversified into fashion and also offline stores. More recently, Nykaa stepped in with its own labels such as Nykaa Cosmetics, Nykaa Naturals, and Kay Beauty that feature formulations hand-picked by actor Katrina Kaif. Their products range from skincare essentials to make-up products. In 2018 they also launched Nykaa Man for men’s grooming.

The company has raised several rounds of funding and counts Steadview Capital and Sharrp Ventures among investors. Currently valued at $3.5 billion, Nykaa gained unicorn status a couple of years ago and is now looking to go public. According to recent reports, Nykaa is in talks to raise anywhere between $50 million to $150 million through a secondary sale of shares.

SUGAR Cosmetics

[caption id="attachment_4923" align="aligncenter" width="453"] The Indian startups that are turning the spotlight on all things beauty Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee[/caption]

Ever since its launch in 2015, SUGAR Cosmetics has been all about breaking the proverbial glass ceiling. Founded by IIM-Ahmedabad alumna Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, the makeup brand found popularity among customers with its signature Scarlett O’Hara lipsticks and foundations that catered to most Indian skin tones; a feature not offered by leading international brands. By 2020, the Mumbai-based brand had managed to clock in an annual revenue of $1 billion, something that took bigger brands like Revlon years to achieve. Today, the brand offers a host of makeup products such as primers, bronzers, lip colors, foundations, face palettes, eye makeup and even a skincare range.

In February 2021, the cruelty-free makeup brand raised $21 million in a series C round led by Elevation Capital with participation from existing investors A91 Partners and India Quotient.

Plum

[caption id="attachment_4925" align="aligncenter" width="454"] The Indian startups that are turning the spotlight on all things beauty Shankar Prasad[/caption]

Plum is India’s first 100% vegan beauty brand and was founded in 2014 in Thane by IIT-Bombay and ISB alumnus Shankar Prasad. The entrepreneur had earlier worked with companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Everstone Capital and McKinsey before he decided to branch out on his own and dive into the world of beauty. The idea came about when he found a list of cosmetics brands that were Peta-approved but the companies were under no such regulation in India. He decided to launch a truly cruelty-free brand and today Plum offers a range of 60 skincare and body and bath products that are made using plant-derived chemicals and are completely free from all sorts of animal products, even dairy and honey.

With a footprint across 6,000 retail stores in 200 cities, Plum is backed by investors such as Unilever Ventures and Trifecta Capital. In November last year, the company raised $1 billion in funding in a round led by Faering Capital and is expecting its annual revenue to touch $2 billion crore by this year.

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