And these microplastics circle back to us human beings in multiple ways — via seafoods, drinking water and even air that we breathe.

But, getting rid of plastic is not easy. While plastic is constantly vilified as enemy number 1 against environment, it is an incredibly useful invention across multiple industries while available at dirt cheap prices.

They’re essential for packaging food, beverages, and industrial goods due to their durability and lightweight nature.
In construction, plastics appear in pipes, insulation, and windows, while in vehicles, they’re used for interiors, exteriors, and lightweight components. Electronics rely on plastics for casings and wiring insulation, and healthcare uses them for disposable items, implants, and medical equipment. Plastics are also found in textiles like polyester, sports gear, household items, agriculture (like greenhouses and irrigation), and even energy solutions like solar panels and wind turbines.

Despite being a budget conscious country, nearly every vegetable vendor in India will offer a plastic bag for free to every customer on every order showing the ubiquitous presence of plastic.

But, what can be the alternative?

In our latest podcast session with Shruti Kutmutia, CEO of Bacalt Biosciences we discuss how biopolymers can set the foundation of a sustainable future.

Check out our candid conversation on youtube.

How did it all start?

Shruti pursued a Bachelor’s in Microbiology from Pune’s prestigious Fergusson College, where she formed lasting friendships with Dr. Pranav Nair (her co-founder at BacAlt Biosciences).
After a brief sabbatical, where she traveled and sought a more in-depth understanding of microbial roles in different sectors, she pursued a Master’s in Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology at the renowned IBAB in Bangalore.

Her academic endeavors didn’t stop there. She was captivated by environmental microbes and biofilms, exploring cutting-edge topics like the gut-brain axis and microbial life in our surroundings.

The key turning point of her career was collaborating with Professor Stefan Schuster, a leading scientist in the field of metagenomics. This collaboration started with a cold outreach she did to Professor Stefan, detailing her interest in his research and even pointing out gaps in data collection and how she can contribute.

When I asked her what does she think of cold emails, she said

Cold emails work. I have gotten a lot in my life by just taking a shot at it.

In particular, she mentioned how Dr. Stefan liked her initiative and invited her to join his lab at NTU as a research associate.

And at NTU she spent next 5 years working on multiple different projects. Despite spending a time equivalent earning a doctorate, she chose not to pursue a PhD because that would have tied her to a specific research area.

But, instead she diversified her portfolio of experience collaborating with multiple researchers at Singapore Center for Life and Engineering.

It is here the global cosmetics brand, L’oreal housed their research unit. While working on a joint project, she got the first exposure to how cosmetics contain microplastics causing ingredients. And it opened her eye to how pervasive plastic was beyond just packaging.

I read about oral care, then I read about home care nutraceuticals, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, all of them have plastics, uh microplastic causing ingredients, some help in delivery of formulation, some help in so slow release some help in longevity, some help in film farming, bulking etc.

This was something that could not let me sleep at night at all like this really worried me. So then I thought this is it, this is the problem that I want to solve.

Getting back to India and kicking things off

After Shruti zeroed down she wanted to work on the problem resolving microplastics the next big question was how?

And for this she reached out to one of her close friend from her bachelor’s i.e. Dr. Pravin Nair — who just finished his PhD in biopolymer fermentation about the same time.

Choosing a co-founder is an incredibly personal and nuanced decision. Afterall, the skill-sets of co-founders should complement each other but the more important question is can they work together in a challening stressful environment. Because you will never know if the start-up will work out or not but you should be able to look back at the journey and say it was worth it.

When you co found something, arguments and especially when you two deep tech founders, like the way we design experiments or with the way we look at outputs and outcomes are so different that if you, if you have someone with whom you have mad conflict and you’re OK to openly say that,
no, you’re wrong. No, you’re wrong. No, we think about it.

We have to come back and work it out, but in the evening just go have a beer and laugh it out. I think that was one of my biggest metric how easily we bounce back from conflicts. I, I think that that’s one of the things about finding a co-founder for me. So that was great.

The next important question was where to locate the headquarters. Shruti described that the two co-founders had a mental tussle on whether it should be in NCL facilities or somewhere in Bangalore.

But eventually, they settled in for Bangalore because of the kind of people and the support they got from the institutes from IBAB. She particularly lauded the start-up ecosystem in biotech that is bustling around the city and how they provided the initial ignition to get started.

For example, Doctor Jitendra Kumar who’s now MD of BIRAC, and previously was the director of Bangloare Bioinnovation Centre. He really supported the BacAlt team like by providing an accommodation in one of staff quarters to make sure that she is comfortable and can just focus on work. It really helped in keeping rent low in a high cost of living city such as Bangalore.

Biopolymers and its business model

Biopolymers are naturally derived polymers made from biological sources such as plants, animals, or microorganisms, or synthesized biologically from renewable resources.
They are popular due to their biodegradability, low environmental impact, and renewable sourcing, making them crucial in tackling plastic pollution.

Shruti shared her insights into how they zeroed down on their first product. But, she reiterated multiple times that the key to their success will be in the platform and not just a singular polymer they are developing.

According to her, you need to be cost competitive to become an alternative to plastic. Afterall, consumers vote with their wallet. Everyone claims they want safer, sustainable and environment friendly products but very few are willing to pay for it. But, she also admits that it is near impossible to beat plastics on pure cost. One has to beat them on functionality as well.

The key product proposition they espouse is that the biopolymers they develop are multi-functional — you don’t need to buy 50 different products for different use cases. Moreover there is global increased scrutiny of how a product is discarded at the end of their life cycle. We missed the boat with plastics and that is how we end up with the mess we see today.
Biopolymers provide an effective solution for manufacturers to use an ingredient in their product that is compliant with 21st century Environmental Sustainability and Governance norms.

After diligent research they shortlisted 2 biopolymers — Polygamma glutamic acid (γ-PGA) & Bacterial nanocellulose. Both of these provide wide range of use cases.

γ-PGA finds it’s uses in drug delivery systems, food preservatives and wastewater treatment. Meanwhile, bacterial nanocellulose which is the purest form of cellulose on earth can find its uses from wound dressings, food packaging and textile manufacturing.

However, the current market prices of both the products is astronomically high — γ-PGA from Sigma-Aldrich will cost you approximately ₹20,000 for 10 mg, while bacterial cellulose is priced at around $8 per gram. This is not cost competitive with plastic at all and no functionality can compensate as an alternative.

This is where BacAlt Biosciences is planning to build their moat. In their current proto-type they have designed a bio-manufacturing process where taking the same input feed they can produce both of the biopolymers.
This means that while the initial Capital and operational expenditure is high, once the process is optimized they can start to generate high profits at a later stage.
Currently, they are experimenting with detergents and hair care products, but they are also seeking certification for agricultural bio stimulant and fertilizers. In the future, they hope to expand into pharmaecutical packaging as well as nutraceutical jelly markets as well.

This is also how they pitch their value proposition to venture investors who follow the maxim of loss in short term in hopes of 10X rewards on investment in long term. The arbitrage they are building is that with their biomanufacturing platform they can serve multiple plastic needs of a customer saving them the overhead of dealing with multiple vendors.

Since EU has already brought in a ban on microplastics they are able to find customers in developed economies who are seeking greener alternatives. Choosing the EU market has an added advantage that the regulatory approval is quicker given the microplastics ban.

Advice for young entrepreneurs

Shruti had a lot of great advice for young students who are aspiring to be bio-entrepreneurs.

According to her learning on the job is one of the most valuable experiences you’ll have — there’s a unique journey in doing every new work you do, so embrace it.
Also trust your gut feelings and pursue them; don’t let overthinking hold you back.

Sometimes, the best work happens in silence — focus on building without needing to broadcast everything. avoid getting caught up in fads; trends come and go, but staying grounded and consistent will take you far.
Meanwhile, plan your experiments in advance. It takes a lot of time to procure reagents and other chemicals in India.

On patents, don’t go for number of patents but depth and true differentiators. Older generation patens were filled with laundry list with no justifiable data back-up. But, that doesn’t work anymore. She quotes an advise from her mentor Ezhil Subbian (co-founder of String Bio) — push your technology to such a limit that even with published work they would never be able to touch you.

Always remain humble; if you don’t know something, it’s okay to admit it — it shows strength, not weakness. Seek out conversations with people from diverse backgrounds, especially founders with perspectives different from your own. Their insights can open up entirely new ways of thinking.

In your personal life, remember that change is inevitable, and your ability to adapt will shape your journey. Be sensitive to cultural differences; it helps you connect with people and navigate the world with grace.

Life will desensitize you to certain challenges over time, but that’s part of finding your balance and feeling settled. Keep communication open with your parents — they’re a pillar of your support system.

Avoid being overly stubborn when things don’t go your way; instead, focus on finding solutions. Lastly, accept that sacrifices are part of life, especially when balancing personal and professional commitments. It’s all part of the bigger picture.

About the Author:

Varshit is director of communications at India Biotech Leaders of Tomorrow. His educational background includes a Bachelor’s in Biotechnology from IIT Kharagpur and Master’s in Synthetic Biology from Imperial College London. He is passionate about science communications and data driven journalism.

The pharmaceutical sector in India boomed during the 1990s and early 2000s due to economic liberalisation policies, a focus on generic drug production, and increased investment in healthcare infrastructure.

In 1991, India's economic reforms opened doors to global trade, reducing trade barriers and allowing domestic companies to grow competitively. Additionally, the 1970s Patent Act, which encouraged the production of generic medicines by not recognizing product patents for pharmaceuticals, positioned Indian companies as major players in affordable medication.

Household names such as Cipla and Dr. Reddy’s have become prominent, not only in India but also on a global scale. Cipla, for example, pioneered low-cost HIV/AIDS drugs for African nations, while Dr. Reddy’s expanded its footprint in the U.S. and European markets. The sector’s expansion continued, driven by strong government support, a skilled workforce, and an emphasis on research and development.

Today, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is one of the largest suppliers of generic medicines worldwide and a critical player in global health.

Here, we explore the top 10 companies in this sector by market capitalization, delving into their history, unique selling propositions (USP), and focus areas.

1. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

History: Founded in 1983 by Dilip Shanghvi, Sun Pharma started as a small company with a focus on psychiatry and cardiovascular drugs. It has since grown into one of the largest specialty generic pharmaceutical companies in the world.

USP: Sun Pharma's strength lies in its extensive product portfolio and strong presence in over 100 countries. The company excels in the production of generics, branded generics, and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

Focus Area: It focuses on chronic and acute segments, including cardiology, psychiatry, neurology, gastroenterology, and diabetology.

Well Known Drugs:

• Ilumya (for psoriasis)

• Cequa (for dry eyes disease)

• Revital (multivitamin supplement)

• Volini (muscular pain)

Market Cap: ₹2,41,744.99 crore (Wikipedia) (BizApprise).

2. Cipla Ltd.

History: Established in 1935 by Dr. K.A. Hamied, Cipla is one of India's oldest pharmaceutical companies. It gained global prominence during the HIV/AIDS crisis by providing affordable antiretroviral drugs.

USP: Cipla is renowned for its commitment to making medications accessible and affordable. It has a significant presence in the respiratory, antiretroviral, urology, cardiology, and CNS segments.

Focus Area: Cipla continues to focus on respiratory, oncology, and antiretroviral therapies, leveraging its strong R&D capabilities.

• Well-known drugs:

  • Asthalin (for asthma)

  • Ciplar (for heart diseases)

  • Budecort (for asthma and COPD)

  • Ciplactin (appetite stimulant)

• Market Cap: ₹90,000 crore (approx.) (Groww).

3. Divi's Laboratories Ltd.

History: Founded in 1990 by Murali Divi, Divi's Laboratories started as a supplier of APIs and intermediates. Over the years, it has become a leading player in the pharmaceutical industry.

USP: The company's USP is its high-quality API production and custom synthesis capabilities. Divi's is a preferred partner for major pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

Focus Area: Divi's specializes in APIs, custom synthesis of active ingredients, and intermediates for generics.

• Well-known drugs:

  • Naproxen (anti-inflammatory)

  • Dextromethorphan (cough suppressant)

  • Levetiracetam (for epilepsy)

  • Gabapentin (for neuropathic pain)

• Market Cap: ₹1,00,000 crore (approx.) (Groww).

4. Zydus Lifesciences Ltd.

History: Established in 1952 by Ramanbhai Patel, Zydus Cadila, now known as Zydus Lifesciences, has grown into a global pharmaceutical giant.

USP: Zydus Lifesciences is noted for its innovation in biologics, vaccines, and novel drug delivery systems. It has a broad product range covering therapeutics and wellness products.

Focus Area: The company focuses on biosimilars, vaccines, complex generics, and new chemical entities (NCEs).

• Well-known drugs:

  • Lipaglyn (for diabetes)

  • Saroglitazar (for Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease)

  • Exemptia (for rheumatoid arthritis)

• Market Cap: ₹60,000 crore (approx.) (Groww).

5. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.

History: Founded by Dr. Kallam Anji Reddy in 1984, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories started as a bulk drug manufacturer and quickly expanded into generics and specialty pharmaceuticals.

USP: Dr. Reddy's is known for its strong generic drug portfolio and innovative R&D in oncology, gastroenterology, and pain management.

Focus Area: The company emphasizes generic formulations, biosimilars, and proprietary products in oncology and gastroenterology.

• Well-known drugs:

  • Omez (for acidity)

  • Nise (painkiller)

  • Finast (for prostatic hyperplasia)

  • Cresp (for anemia)

• Market Cap: ₹95,000 crore (approx.) (Groww).

6. Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

History: Torrent Pharma, founded in 1959 by U.N. Mehta, began as a small company and has grown into a major player in the Indian pharmaceutical industry.

USP: Torrent Pharma's key strength lies in its focused R&D and strong product pipeline in cardiovascular, CNS, gastroenterology, and women's health.

Focus Area: The company targets therapeutic areas such as cardiology, CNS, gastroenterology, diabetology, and anti-infective.

• Well-known drugs:

  • Losartan (for hypertension)

  • Azukon (for diabetes)

  • Azibold (anti-biotic)

• Market Cap: ₹68,000 crore (approx.) (Groww).

7. Mankind Pharma Ltd.

History: Mankind Pharma was founded in 1995 by R.C. Juneja with the vision of providing quality medicines at affordable prices. It quickly became a household name in India.

USP: Mankind Pharma's USP is its aggressive marketing strategy and extensive reach in rural and semi-urban areas. It offers a wide range of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription drugs.

Focus Area: The company focuses on antibiotics, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, dermal, and erectile dysfunction drugs.

• Well-known drugs:

  • Manforce (condoms)

  • Unwanted 72 (emergency contraceptive)

  • Prega News (pregnancy test kit)

  • Gas-O-Fast (antacid)

• Market Cap: ₹50,000 crore (approx.) (Groww).

8. Aurobindo Pharma Ltd.

History: Aurobindo Pharma was founded in 1986 by P.V. Ramprasad Reddy and K. Nityananda Reddy. It began as a small-scale unit and has grown into a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals.

USP: Aurobindo's strength is its large-scale manufacturing capabilities and diversified product portfolio. It is one of the world's largest API manufacturers.

Focus Area: The company focuses on antibiotics, anti-retrovirals, cardiovascular, CNS, gastroenterology, and anti-allergics.

• Well-known drugs:

  • Nevirapine (for HIV)

  • Zidovudine (for HIV)

  • Cefuroxime (antibiotic)

  • Olanzapine (for anti-psychosis)

• Market Cap: ₹42,000 crore (approx.) (Groww).

9. Lupin Ltd.

History: Established in 1968 by Dr. Desh Bandhu Gupta, Lupin started as a manufacturer of folic acid and iron tablets. Today, it is one of the top pharmaceutical companies in India.

USP: Lupin is known for its robust R&D capabilities and strong presence in the U.S. and Japan. It specializes in generics, branded formulations, and APIs.

Focus Area: Lupin focuses on cardiology, diabetology, asthma, pediatrics, CNS, anti-infectives, and NSAIDs.

• Well-known drugs:

  • Salbair (for asthma)

  • Gluconorm (for diabetes)

  • Lisinopril (for hypertension)

  • Cefixime (antibiotic)

• Market Cap: ₹45,000 crore (approx.) (Groww).

10. Alkem Laboratories Ltd.

History: Alkem Laboratories was founded in 1973 by Samprada Singh and has grown into a leading Indian pharmaceutical company with a strong global presence.

USP: Alkem is renowned for its extensive product portfolio in both acute and chronic therapeutic areas. It has a significant presence in the U.S. generic market.

Focus Area: The company targets anti-infectives, gastroenterology, pain management, and chronic therapies such as cardiology and diabetology.

• Well-known drugs:

  • Clavam (antibiotic)

  • Taxim-O (antibiotic)

  • Pan (for acidity)

  • Sumo (pain relief)

• Market Cap: ₹40,000 crore (approx.) (Groww).

Conclusion

The top 10 pharmaceutical companies in India by market capitalization showcase the sector's strength and diversity. From global giants like Sun Pharma and Cipla to specialized API manufacturers like Divi's Labs, these companies play a crucial role in the global pharmaceutical landscape. Their continuous focus on innovation, affordability, and quality has not only positioned them as leaders in the industry but also as key contributors to global health.

By leveraging the untapped potential of Insect technology, Loopworm carves out a unique niche in the market.

Q. Tell us about the loopworm. What does the name mean, and what does it say about your company?

It is about basically creating sustainable ingredients for various industries with the help of worms, and insects. Loop signifies sustainability and we are establishing sustainability with insects. We are trying to build a business around the use of insects and processing them with the help of bio-manufacturing and biotechnology so that we can extract valuable products from them for several industries.

Loopworm, the Bangalore-based startup offers four variations of their major products, each providing high-quality nutritional benefits for livestock, fish, and pets.

This highly organic by-product is often considered post-harvest waste (annually 1.3 billion tons) have been converted to a new market, which can be used as nutritional feed for animals.

#1 LOOPGRUBS: Whole dried Silkworm Pupae (Slow Dried — Solvent-free extraction)

#2 LOOP OIL: Silkworms (Solvent-free extraction)

#3 LOOPMEAL OMEGA: Protein & Lipid Concentrate from Silkworms (Solvent-free extraction)

#4 LOOPMEAL PRO: Defatted Silkworm Protein(Solvent-free extraction)

Q: Loopworm was started in 2019, right after you finished your integrated course from IIT Roorkee. Can you tell us why you chose insect technology or waste regeneration from insect technology?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: Being an entrepreneur was always clear. My co-founder and I were very enthusiastic about starting up.

This is our second startup, so we both had failed startup experiences before, during our college days. It was an obvious choice for us because we didn’t want to get into the job world or go for further education.

Entrepreneurship teaches you many things that conventional education cannot because you’re always dabbling between different verticals, trying to figure out things without a fixed structure. Every entrepreneur has their journey, which is what triggered the entrepreneurial spirit in both of us.

“The earlier you start, the better it is.” says Ankit Alok Bagaria.

The trigger moment for Loopworm came when we came across a United Nations report that mentioned insects can be upcycled for food and feed.

The report highlighted that insects thrive in tropical climates, which India has. Different species of insects can consume various types of organic biomasses, such as crop residues, food waste, slaughterhouse byproducts, and food processing industry byproducts.

These insects are nutrition-dense, containing high-quality proteins and fats that can be utilized for different products. This insight motivated us to explore insect agriculture, given India’s large population and significant waste generation. Initially, we were not clear on what exactly to do with insects, but we believed insect agriculture had a large scope. Gradually, we focused on developing valuable processes and disruptive technologies to value-add insects for different industries.

Q: You mentioned that you had failed startup experiences during college. Can you tell us more about those experiences? How many or what were a few ideas that you failed at before thinking about the ideation of Loopworm?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: It wasn’t a lot of failed startup experiences. I started something called AGROSNAP with a couple of other friends, not with my current co-founder. We were developing a precision agriculture device using multi-spectral imaging. The technology was good, but we didn’t think through the business model, or how to operate or generate revenue. We were not up to speed with the financial and business aspects, which led us to pull the plug on Agro Snap.

My Co-founder Abhi Gawri had a startup called KENDO in the B2B supply chain space, aiming to bridge the information gap in the textile supply chain. However, with interventions like GST and demonetization, things became chaotic for him. When we both met in 2017, we connected over the idea that waste management and Agritech, especially in the primary and secondary sectors essential for a developing country like India, would have great scope. We believed building something around these areas would have a high impact and be greatly needed by the industries we aim to serve.

Q: How did you generate seed funding? Did you use any particular means or resources, or did you get help from mentors and investors? How did you get introduced to them?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: When we started Loopworm, we knew that getting capital wouldn’t be easy. We first targeted multiple grant funds. Different ministries have small grants that help build your proof of concept (PoC) and move beyond the ideation stage. For industries like ours, which are not typically attractive to conventional investors, it’s important to develop minimum viable products and POCs(point of contact) before seeking larger capital. Our approach was to target smaller grants and funds instead of immediately pursuing equity capital. We did not do a friends and family round but it can also be a viable option for setting context for future investors.

The first three years were sustained with grant money from various sources, small amounts, but enough to keep us going and reach a stage where we felt confident to raise scale-up capital for commercialization. In September 2022, we received our seed funding from Omnivore and WaterBridge Ventures, along with a few marquee angel investors. This funding helped us build an insect processing facility, develop an R&D team, and focus on commercial markets. We initially targeted the animal feed industry because insects are natural food for fish and birds, which made it easier for the market to accept our product. This market has fewer regulatory barriers and a high volume orientation, making it our initial focus area. We are also developing products for plant nutrition, cosmetics, and nutraceuticals.

Q: How is your product being accepted in the Indian market, given that it is a novel product? How do you tackle the challenge of creating a new market for it?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: The acceptance of our product in the Indian market follows a conventional B2B process. We develop and stabilize the product’s quality, conduct detailed testing, and engage in test marketing with potential customers. B2B customers often conduct internal audits to check the product’s quality consistency and the vendor’s production capacity. They consult in-house experts or external consultants before giving the go-ahead based on the results.

Once we started to receive positive feedback and repeat orders, we knew the product was working. In terms of product performance, our protein concentrate has more than 60% protein, with some variants exceeding 70%. It contains essential amino acids, has high digestibility due to lower ash content, and includes microbial peptides that boost immunity in farmed produce. Our insect fat oil acts as a palatability agent with a unique smell that attracts farmed species, encouraging them to eat more and increasing their productivity and immunity. These qualities make our product stand out compared to traditional feed ingredients.

Q: What are the main challenges you face as the founder of Loopworm, and how do you address or plan to address them?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: The main challenges include building a robust commercial angle and justifying the capital we’ve raised by ticking all the committed boxes. We are early in our commercialization journey and focused on establishing stable revenue streams and building long-lasting customer relationships. On the R&D side, the challenge is the time to market. We have developed lab-scale products and are now verifying these processes at a pilot scale, often needing to tie up with organizations with the necessary equipment.

Once pilot processes are set, we conduct trials, establish product use cases, and determine ballpark pricing before speaking to potential customers and doing test marketing. Protecting our technologies through IP and deciding the right geographies for filing patents is also crucial. We must also plan our future fundraising carefully, ensuring the timing, ask, and terms are right for both investors and the company.

Q: Are you planning to scale up and expand your territory to other regions in India or abroad?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: Yes, as an ingredient manufacturer, we aim to reach out to anyone and everyone who can use our product. The animal feed industry is vast, and our strategy is to first target the Indian market, especially the shrimp feed segment with our protein powder and the poultry feed segment with our fat oil. After establishing ourselves in India, we plan to expand to Southeast Asian markets and then go global.

Q: How do you ensure regulatory compliance from end to end in your supply chain, given the importance of adhering to regulations in the feed industry?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: Ensuring regulatory compliance involves multiple checkpoints. We have a team that ensures quality at the farmer’s end. Once we receive the material from producers, our quality control team conducts a quick one-day testing. If the quality meets our standards, we proceed with processing; if it’s manageable but not optimal, we assess whether we can still extract value. If the quality is too poor, we return it to the producer. This process ensures regulatory compliance and maintains our product’s high standards and is governed by contractual terms we have with our suppliers.

Q: How do you maintain the quality of your products after receiving the raw materials?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: After the initial quality check, we proceed with processing the materials. Maintaining cleanliness in our facility and conducting planned maintenance for our machinery is crucial for producing a consistent quality product. Consistency in quality is vital for the success of our products in the market. If we don’t offer consistent quality, our products won’t sell, so it is in our best interest to adhere strictly to regulatory standards and maintain high quality throughout our processes.

Q: Can you share any new products or launches that your company is planning for 2024?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: We have a new product in the pipeline, but it won’t be launched in 2024. We are currently in the pilot scale optimization stage for developing plant-based biostimulant ingredients. These biostimulants, specifically amino acid biostimulants, will be supplied to agrochemical or crop nutrition companies. They will be used as foliar or drench solutions on crops to enhance growth, productivity, stress resilience, and quality. Throughout this year, we will focus on technology development and achieving production consistency. Next year, we plan to conduct trials and test marketing, with a probable timeline for commercialization around 2026.

Q: Can you share any customer success stories or testimonials highlighting your product’s impact?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: As we operate in a B2B space, our testimonials are reflected in repeat orders from customers. We do not get direct testimonials since our products are not consumer-facing. Our ingredients are part of a larger feed formulation, and the overall effectiveness depends on the skills of the feed manufacturer and their formulation experts. However, the consistency in quality and pricing we offer results in ongoing partnerships and repeat business, which serves as a testament to our product’s reliability and value.

Q: How do you evaluate your company’s performance and progress?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: We have a very structured approach to evaluating our performance. My co-founder, Abhi, and I have divided our verticals and worked with respective teams to set daily activities, weekly targets, and monthly goals. This helps us push ourselves and our teams to achieve maximum productivity within specified timelines. We reflect on our progress regularly, replanning and adjusting our targets as necessary to ensure continuous improvement and alignment with our overall business objectives.

Q: What are the essential technical skills or knowledge an entrepreneur should have?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: An entrepreneur needs a high-level understanding of the entire value chain in their industry. It’s important to be well-read and continuously update oneself on industry trends, customer needs, and technological advancements. If an entrepreneur is passionate about a particular sector, they should understand it deeply from both an operational and technological standpoint. Additionally, an entrepreneur should adopt a problem-first approach, identifying real-world issues that people are willing to pay to solve, and then develop solutions based on thorough research and industry knowledge.

Q: Do you think something is missing in our academic systems that could better prepare aspiring entrepreneurs?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: Yes, I believe there is room for improvement in our academic systems. Introducing courses on entrepreneurship, intellectual property, finance, and commerce at the undergraduate level could be very beneficial. These subjects would provide students with a foundational understanding of business and innovation, helping them think critically and strategically about solving real-world problems. Such courses could be integrated into the general curriculum in the first year of a bachelor’s degree, providing an early introduction to these crucial aspects of entrepreneurship.

Q: When you encounter challenges, where do you go for guidance or answers?

Ankit Alok Bagaria: I rely on a network of mentors, advisors, and senior entrepreneurs for guidance. They serve as sounding boards, sharing their experiences and asking difficult questions that help me think through problems. Additionally, our investors, who are partners in our journey, provide valuable insights based on their extensive experience with startups. While mentors and advisors do not always have all the answers, their perspectives help us structure better solutions to the challenges we face.

On an ending note, LOOPWORM together aims to epitomize the synergy between academic knowledge and practical mentorship.

By harnessing the insect technology, they aim to parallelly achieve

i, United Nations sustainability, responsible production goals, Insect waste upcycling

ii, Increase the income of agriculture, poultry, and fish-rearing farmers

iii, Create a market & Value addition to Insect rearing.

With all of these aligned targets, Loopworm has the potential to become a mainstream startup also making its founders Alok and Ankit the FORBES 30 under 30 icons of 2023.

Team IBLoT wishes Loopworm its best for its future milestones and greater achievements.

As a teenager, Shilpi Sen was deeply affected by the loss of her maternal aunt to breast cancer. She witnessed firsthand the devastation it brought upon their family. Motivated by this, she started to seek answers revolving around breast cancer care and its impact on women.

This experience ignited a passion within them to make a tangible difference in the lives of breast cancer survivors. Shilpi Sen delved into personal research, driven by questions about the emotional and psychological challenges faced by survivors, particularly the impact of losing one or both breasts on their sense of self and societal perceptions of femininity.

These questions continued to weigh heavily on their mind, fueling her determination to find solutions. Years later, a fortunate encounter with Vikas Garg, a material scientist, opened her eyes to the potential of 3D printing technology in breast cancer treatment.

Shilipi wanted to amalgamate Vikas’s knowledge of 3D printing and materials with her own experience in communication to build a viable venture. In their research they they stumbled upon the fact that mastectomy patients had limited choices for prostheses or implants.

“To clarify, prostheses it is the synthetic part that goes inside a brasierre, while implants are surgically inserted, We also found the existing solutions are to be standardized.” explains Shilpi Sen.

Witnessing the critical need for improved prosthetic solutions for mastectomy survivors, they came together to create Prayasta 3D Inventions in 2017.

Their prototype focused on the breast reconstruction or breast augmentation aspect of 3D printing. However, upon realizing the absence of a 3D printer capable of printing implant-grade silicon anywhere in the world, they undertook the ambitious task of building one from scratch.

Shilpi Sen emphasizes the need for personalization when it comes to printing the implants.

“Think of it ! Would you wear a prosthetic eye that you bought from the ten available options and clearly smaller/larger than your eye on the other side? If you want, you can also wear an expensive sunglasses to hide it. How about an ear? Or a cheek prosthesis? If your answer is no, then shouldn’t women need a personalized solution for breast reconstruction?”, Shilpi says.

Despite this 3D printing also allows personalization in terms of weight so that body weight is distributed equally on both sides and there is no imbalance.

They highlight being the only company globally to have achieved the feat of 3D printing implant-grade silicon also owning the Patent # 371508 in July 2021.

SIMILAC P-250 the IMPLANT GRADE silicon printer is their patented technology behind breast implant printing and customization at a quality that is best suited for long-term and medical applications.

Building the personalized soft-tissue implants & prostheses with implant-grade 3D printer technology from scratch, posed both a source of pride and challenge because they lacked any reference points.

“When we developed the technology from the Scratch, then why restrict it only to one particular area? So we ventured into every possibility of soft tissue implants ” as told by Shilpi in her own words.

After tasting success with printing breast implants, they extended by testing to print a variety of soft tissue implants. Though the initial focus of printing the breast implants was completed they committed to printing more reflecting their commitment to innovation.

Currently, in the process of achieving quality management systems, PRAYASTA has patented the 3D printing of personalized breast implants. They are working on obtaining certifications for our prostheses, aiming to be commercially available within six months.

Grants and recognitions

| Date | Grant / Award | Source |
|2017 | Nidhi Prayas | Grant program named Nidhi Prayas |
| 2017 | Most Original Idea Startup Award | FLA INFOCOMM 2017, Kolkata |
| 2018 | Tide — Design Clinic MSME Center of Excellence at IISc — Tide (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) — Elevate Two (Karnataka startup government program) — TDVC — Sibri | Various Governmental and Private sources |
| 2018 | Start-Ups Club — DELL | Dell-powered Startup Award |
| 2019 | Biotech Industry Research Assistance Council(BIRAC) | Biotech Ignition Grant |
| 2021 | The Grand Challenge — SHE LOVES TECH | Second runner up |
| 2022 | National Technology Award | Recognition as winner of the National Startup Technology Award |

PRAYASTA addresses a crucial need in the aftermath of breast cancer treatments through their blogs and social media.

Breast Cancer survivors or patients who have received their diagnosis and treatment are the people who would require Breast implants through the following process roughly:

Step 1: Post-Treatment Evaluation Following surgery or the completion of chemotherapy and radiation, patients undergo evaluation to determine their post-treatment needs. This evaluation includes assessing the impact of the treatment on their bodies and identifying any physical alterations that may require intervention.

Step 2: Introduction to PRAYASTA Patients are introduced to PRAYASTA, an organization specializing in post-treatment support and rehabilitation. PRAYASTA offers a range of services tailored to meet the individual needs of each patient.

Step 3: Assessment of Body Requirements PRAYASTA professionals assess each patient’s body requirements, considering factors such as the type of surgery undergone, the extent of tissue removal, and the patient’s overall health condition. Based on this assessment, they determine whether implants or prostheses are suitable for the patient.

Step 4: Decision-Making Process Patients are presented with options for implants or prostheses based on their body requirements. Some patients may choose implants for cosmetic or functional reasons, while others may opt for prostheses to assist with mobility or body function.

While some may opt for implants, others, due to medical reasons, may not be advised to do so by their doctors. Despite common perceptions that a woman may not need anything post-surgery, not wearing a prosthesis or implant can lead to physical issues like changes in body posture and gait. Thus, the recommendation for a prosthesis is essential.

Step 5: Medical Considerations However, medical considerations play a crucial role in the decision-making process. Patients may be advised against certain interventions, such as implants, by their doctors due to underlying medical conditions or potential risks associated with the procedure. PRAYASTA works closely with healthcare providers to ensure that the chosen intervention aligns with the patient’s medical needs and overall well-being.

Implants and prostheses, previously available in India, were typically sourced from abroad, leading to significant wait times for women in need. This delay, along with concerns about leakage and deterioration, led many to opt for prostheses over implants.

WHY PRAYASTA IS THE ONLY GO-TO OPTION FOR CANCER SURVIVORS?

Unlike implants, which are permanently inserted into the body, prostheses offer the flexibility of being inserted or removed as needed(like an external breast pad).

Unlike standard options filled with saline or silicone, their personalized implants and prostheses are gel-proof and liquid-proof, ensuring durability and a perfect fit- tailored to each individual’s shape and size, eliminating alignment issues commonly encountered with off-the-shelf solutions.

With our personalized approach, individuals no longer need to settle for one-size-fits-all solutions, ensuring comfort, functionality, and longevity. Apart from breast prostheses and implants, a wide range of soft tissue implants, such as Mallard, Chin, Trachea, lips, and ears, can now be personalized for individuals.

These personalized implants have been successfully printed and can be tailored to each person’s unique needs and preferences.

However, the company has been fortunate to secure various government grants like Nidhi Prayas, Biotech Ignition Grant from the Biotech Industry Research Assistance Council(BIRAC), and Startup Karnataka(as described in the above table) to support its endeavours. The investment required for a startup prototype can vary significantly depending on the product or service being developed.

For instance, in the case of Prayasta’s advanced medical technology, substantial funding, potentially exceeding $100 million, is needed due to the complexity of materials and regulatory approvals involved.

However, for software-based startups or online service providers, significantly lower funding requirements may suffice. Therefore, it’s challenging to provide a one-size-fits-all estimate, as the funding needs are highly dependent on the nature and scale of the venture.

“Not being from a science background, having left science after class ten. With over 15 years of experience in communications and branding, I lacked initial understanding in technical areas. Despite completing a startup course in Bangalore, the technical aspects remained challenging, especially when it was just Vikas and myself. Initially, terms like material scientist seemed alien to me.”says Shilpi Sen about the challenges she faced. “While Vikas patiently explained technology, my journey differed greatly from his.”

3D printing courses were scarce in India, making it difficult to find skilled hires. As a result, we’ve had to compromise and invest time in training our team from scratch, given our project’s budget constraints.

”We still face challenges, particularly in securing the significant financial input required for our company’s operations. Regulatory processes also pose hurdles.”

Despite these obstacles, potential revenue streams were explored, such as selling our specialized 3D printers to hospitals or manufacturers with existing regulatory approvals. Prayasta provided services like pre-surgical models and teaching aids. While these initiatives generated some revenue, the main focus was to be promoted through word of mouth.

Despite the small team size, they managed to build trust with silicon vendors, making it easier to procure the specialized materials needed for work.

The Current setup is housed in the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, in collaboration with other departments.

Although they haven’t fully commercialized our main products yet, they made significant progress with initial testing and documentation.

“Manage and navigate a situation.” Is what shilpi says when they face challenges left , right and centre.

Throughout the discussion, the importance of accountability within the healthcare sector emerged as a central theme.

She acknowledged that healthcare endeavours require a meticulous approach due to the high stakes involved — “One cannot simply experiment arbitrarily when dealing with matters of human health. “

This inherent accountability serves as a cornerstone, grounding healthcare startups in a commitment to patient well-being and safety. Despite the myriad challenges faced by healthcare startups, there was a prevailing sense of optimism regarding their potential for longevity and growth.

Unlike other industries where rapid rise and fall are commonplace, healthcare startups often take time to mature and establish themselves within the industry. This deliberate pace not only ensures sustainability but also fosters a culture of responsibility and thoroughness.

A notable point of discussion was the potential impact of government initiatives aimed at promoting domestic manufacturing in India. Such initiatives have the potential to significantly benefit startups like the one being discussed, providing them with valuable support and resources to thrive in a competitive market landscape.

This realization served as a catalyst, propelling the speaker into the challenging yet rewarding world of entrepreneurship.

Despite the initial hurdles and uncertainties, Shilpi shared anecdotes highlighting their active involvement in various aspects of the startup, from understanding patient needs to hands-on participation in equipment assembly.

These experiences underscored the resilience and determination required to navigate the complexities of healthcare entrepreneurship.

“Entrepreneurship is not just about building a business. It’s about creating a value. Solving the real problem and then making a positive impact.”

During the discussion, Shilpi Sen also highlighted the absence of certain certifications, which she acknowledged as a potential hurdle. However, she noted that the 3D printing process had not compromised the quality of the material, instilling hope for smooth approval processes in the future.

The prototypes were praised for their natural feel, lightweight design, and absence of leakage concerns. Overall, the feedback received thus far has been overwhelmingly positive, with no significant criticisms raised against the products or prototypes developed by Prayasta.

Their impact on society could be seen reflected in the number of testimonials and survivor stories on their Prayasta website.

Looking ahead, Prayasta’s vision extends towards enhancing accessibility, with plans to prioritize affordability shortly. This strategic direction aligns seamlessly with their mission of empowering individuals and ensuring that their innovative solutions positively impact as many lives as possible.

Making the product affordable to every sector of society is the plan for PRAYASTA 3D Inventions in the pipeline.

Gummy bears infused with Kokum and Turmeric?

In today’s article, you will learn more about probiotics in gummy bears and the story behind the success of TRIPHASE and A&A PROBICS, the gummy bear company.

In a recent interview with IBLoT, Dr. Shrilakshmi Desiraju, the visionary behind A&A PROBICS, shared insights into the journey of her two ventures — Triphase & A&A PROBICS (nutraceutical start-ups).

Originally from Ujjain, Shrilakshmi Desiraju graduated and enrolled for her PhD in Chemistry.

Following that, Dr. Shrilakshmi pursued her postdoctoral studies at National Chemical Laboratories, Pune, and thereafter at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Her professional trajectory later led her to Canada, where she gained exposure to global biotech projects while working for Pfizer projects through NAEJA PHARMACEUTICAL Inc. 

It was during this stint that she recognized the value of commercialization the scientific knowledge into technical products.

The Pivot Point:

Dr. Shrilakshmi returned to India in 2009 after completing her MBA in technology commercialization with the ambition of establishing her own Pharmaceutical products start-up TRIPHASE.

Initially, Triphase served as a service provider in the field of organic products. However, Triphase faced challenges due to the rapidly evolving Contract Research Organization (CRO) landscape and realized the fact that it was difficult to turn the service industry into a brand. Recognizing the need for flexibility, Dr. Shrilakshmi pivoted towards the product development industry.

With her history with Pfizer and with the need for organic food products in India, she focused on Probiotics for gut health. Gummy bears were emerging products in the US but were largely unknown in India.

“It was the time of COVID-19 and people suddenly realized health is their new wealth.”

She transitioned all the novel research from TRIPHASE and launched A&A PROBICS in November 2022 as the probiotic gummy bear company.

What are PROBIOTICS and how are they useful?

Probiotics are “good-live microorganisms”, typically bacteria or yeast, that are beneficial for health when consumed in adequate amounts. Their positive contribution towards gut health and the benefits are frequently discussed topics on social media. Below are some key aspects of probiotics:

• Digestive Health & Immune health:
  - Gut flora aids in digestion and nutrient absorption.
  - Imbalances can lead to digestive discomfort and issues.
  - Gut flora plays a vital role in training the immune system.
  - Imbalances may compromise immune function, increasing susceptibility(vulnerable) to illness.

• Mental Well-being:
  - The gut-brain axis influences mood and cognitive function.
  - Certain gut bacteria produce neurotransmitters(chemical messengers in the nerve cells) affecting mood.
  - Imbalances in gut flora have been linked to conditions like anxiety and depression.

• Metabolic Health:
  - Gut flora impacts metabolism and energy regulation.
  - Some bacteria affect nutrient absorption and appetite signals.
  - Some strains like Lactobacillus helveticus, and Bifidobacterium longum may positively influence mood and mental well-being.
  - Imbalances are associated with conditions like obesity and metabolic syndrome which shows the symbiotic relation between gut flora and overall wellness.

Targeting the increasing awareness of Probiotics & Gut-mind health in India and with the idea of extending novel additions to probiotics, A&A Probics was ideated. 

She identified the market pain in the temperature sensitivity of probiotics, she steered towards developing temperature-stable bacteria with triphase experience.

Triphase’s trajectory faced an unforeseen hurdle with the onset of COVID-19. Despite securing funding and strategic partnerships, the pandemic-induced disruptions compelled Shrilakshmi to make the challenging decision to exit in 2021.

This exit, however, marked a successful culmination of her efforts.

The One Health Philosophy:

Undeterred, Dr. Shrilakshmi transitioned from her previous startup TRIPHASE to A&A Probics in November 2022, capitalizing on the rapidly growing nutraceutical industry.

With a unified integrated approach that aims towards sustainable vegan solutions, focusing on one health where the products of A&A Probics are “totally vegan”(a lifestyle and dietary choice that abstains from the consumption of animal products and by-products).

Unlike other competitors that use fish liver oils/cod liver oils for omega-3, all the sources of the raw materials are vegan at A&A Probics embracing the ”One Health” philosophy, where the concept of conserving animal and human health is significant.

She ventured into animal health and human nutrition consideration with totally vegan pectin-based gummy bears. A healthy alternative for gelatin-based conventional gummy bears.

As of now, A&A Probiotics boasts nine SKUs in the market a few of which are pictured below:

From Probiotics to Nutraceuticals:

Shrilakshmi’s journey started with a focus on probiotics, recognizing their potential to transform. 

However, it didn’t stop there; she seamlessly transitioned into the nutraceutical space, expanding her product offerings. 

The emphasis shifted from mere probiotics to holistic nutraceuticals, incorporating a range of natural ingredients derived from plants.

In a market flooded with nutraceutical options, what sets A&A PROBICS apart?

Dr. Shri Lakshmi points to the meticulous process of extracting active nutraceutical ingredients.

For instance, in the case of Kokum or Garcinia Indica (a fruit from the western Ghats native famous for its medicinal, culinary, and antioxidant properties), it’s not just about using the entire fruit; A&A PROBICS isolates the hydroxy citric acid responsible for weight management.

This precision in extraction or isolation(of active ingredient) ensures that the nutraceutical benefits are concentrated, offering a more effective product based  on the  fssai approved RDA guidelines. 

The gummies, a signature product from A&A PROBICS, are crafted from pectin, not gelatin(unlike the other market competitors). This choice isn’t arbitrary; pectin is known to reduce the absorption of sugar.

A&A Probics also uses orange, and coffee as the plant resources added as flavours to the gummy bears.

Perhaps the aspect is the viability of probiotics at room temperature — a feat achieved by A&A PROBICS. The live bacteria claimed on the label are, in fact, present due to their innovative approach, overcoming the challenge of maintaining probiotic efficacy under various conditions.

Patenting as an IP Strategy:

Dr. Shrilakshmi emphasizes the importance of intellectual property (IP) strategy, especially for deep-tech companies.

“Patents become a shield for innovations, safeguarding them from potential competitors.”

With a list of patents in gummies attained at higher temperature and several products in the pipeline, this startup says they have miles to go before they sleep.

While patenting, A&A PROBICS cleverly excludes trade secrets, withholding certain aspects of the process, akin to how companies like Coca-Cola protect their recipes even after decades.

Handling regulatory aspects

Navigating the regulatory landscape is another crucial aspect.

Dr. Shrilakshmi acknowledges the regulatory team at A&A PROBICS and highlights the importance of staying proactive with their FSSAI-licensed products in the market.

Dr. Shrilakshmi outlined A&A PROBICS’s future trajectory within the nutraceutical domain, focusing primarily on the gummy format. The company envisions becoming a front-runner in this space, emphasizing impactful products for consumers.

The current product line includes well-known nutraceuticals like garcinia and biotin(plant-based nutrient sources), acting as a familiar entry point into the market.

Looking ahead, A&A PROBICS plans to diversify its product offerings with a strong focus on probiotics. Dr. Shrilakshmi highlighted their commitment to sourcing unique active nutraceutical ingredients.

Beyond that, the gummies incorporate active ingredients like Curcumin with C3 Complex, recognized for its anti-infective and anti-inflammatory properties.

Another example, the omega-3 component is derived not from traditional sources like salmon oil but from silkworm cocoons and  now from sea buck thorn extract, ensuring a distinct and beneficial product for consumers.

The company aims to introduce more clinically proven products such as curcumin (Turmeric), establishing a clear link between the consumption of their nutraceuticals and tangible health benefits. 

Dr. Srilakshmi emphasized the importance of educating consumers about the reasons behind taking specific nutraceuticals and the potential benefits they can expect to see.

Dr Srilakshmi envisions A&A PROBICS as a collaborative effort between countries, pooling resources, and knowledge to create impactful technologies and products.

The startup’s initial focus will be on expanding the understanding of probiotics beyond gut health, exploring connections to various bodily systems.

MARKETING STRATEGIES: USPs and the strategies behind

When questioned about the target market, Dr. Shrilakshmi highlighted the immense potential within India itself.

She views the diverse states in India as individual markets, offering substantial growth opportunities. While validation from Western markets is essential, A&A PROBICS is currently eyeing Southeast Asia for export, aligning with the government’s vision of making the nutraceutical industry a trillion-dollar economy.

The pricing strategy for A&A PROBICS’ products was also addressed. Dr. Shrilakshmi explained that the gummies are competitively priced, starting from Rs. 570 for a 30-day supply. 

The emphasis on quality and the incorporation of unique, scientifically-backed ingredients justifies the pricing, positioning A&A PROBICS as a competitive and quality-driven brand.

Challenges and Opportunities:

As the conversation unfolds, Shrilakshmi sheds light on the challenges faced by the nutraceutical industry in India. The absence of stringent regulations has led to a surge in market entrants, with varying levels of commitment to quality.

She advocates for more regulations to ensure a level playing field and protect consumers from substandard products.

Despite challenges, A&A PROBICS reached a significant milestone — breaking even within 22 months of its inception. Shrilakshmi attributes this success to careful financial management, efficient utilization of government schemes, and a diversified revenue approach.

Government Support and MSME Schemes:

Dr. Shrilakshmi credits much of her success to government support, particularly through schemes for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). She utilized collateral-free loans from banks and availed MSME schemes for patent reimbursement and other financial incentives.

Her mantra is clear — 

“Explore and leverage the numerous initiatives the government offers for entrepreneurs.”

HR Support from the Government:

Surprisingly, Dr. Shrilakshmi reveals that the government is not just a financial ally but also a substantial source of human resources.

Portals like the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) help entrepreneurs connect with skilled individuals through an online platform.

This government-backed HR initiative has become a valuable asset for businesses in the need for talent.

In the closing moments of the interview, Dr. Srilakshmi imparted invaluable advice to budding entrepreneurs.

“Regardless of the day’s challenges, perseverance is the key to entrepreneurial success.”

Regardless of passion, financial backing, or market dynamics, the ability to persist through good and bad days is what sets apart successful entrepreneurs.

Dr. Sri Lakshmi emphasizes that, in her journey, it’s been the unwavering commitment to the cause, the resilience to stand tall in the face of challenges, and the ability to keep going on every single day that has made the difference.

She believes that “Perseverance is the dipstick, the measure of success in the entrepreneurial journey.”

As A&A PROBICS charts its course into the future, the commitment to innovation, quality, and education is evident.

With a focus on unique ingredients and a commitment to consumer health, A&A PROBICS appears poised to make a lasting impact on the nutraceutical landscape.

REFERENCES

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-nutraceuticals-market-to-reach-441-7-billion-by-2026--301491307.html

https://www.investindia.gov.in/team-india-blogs/growing-nutraceuticals-market-india

https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/pharma/how-government-and-industry-can-collaborate-to-make-india-the-nutraceuticals-powerhouse/87635251

https://www.foodbeverageinsider.com/confectionery/overcoming-the-challenges-of-pectin-based-gummy-formulation

https://www.endosemolds.com/blog/gelatin-v-pectin

https://nuleafnaturals.com/pectin-vs-gelatin/

https://www.drlamcoaching.com/adrenal-fatigue/recovery/the-benefits-from-probiotics-healthy-aging-better-living/

Ready for yet another fascinating story from the Indian Biotech landscape?

Before diving into the startup story, let me ask you a simple question.

Did you know that silk fibers can be used in wound healing?

If you thought that silkworms are used to weave a saree or only in the fabric industry, then think again.

Because silk fibers are now being used in wound healing and wound care, and that is the topic we are going to discuss today.

A Forbes-featured Startup — FIBROHEAL is focused on making comprehensive wound care from silk using it as bio-materials.

We got the privilege to chat with Mr. Vivek Mishra, the visionary behind FIBROHEAL WOUND CARE PRIVATE LIMITED who shared insights on the company’s path, the challenges encountered, and their outlook for the future.

In this article, we will discuss the conversation we had with Vivek Mishra and his Silk Protein-based Comprehensive Wound Care startup.

So, you might be wondering, what’s Fibroheal all about?

Well, at its core, Fibroheal’s mission is to revolutionize wound healthcare.

The CHALLENGES in traditional WOUND HEALING:

1. Any wound or skin damage of any nature takes time to heal.

2. Wounds when left in the open can be healed but are infection-prone in general.

3. If the wound or skin damages are closed there is a probability of bacterial infection and septicemia.

4. So what could be the possible or only way for faster wound healing? Likes of permeable material that helps in aeration of the wound while preventing or minimizing infection.

There are bioactive or biomaterial wound care dressing and interactive wound care techniques that surpass traditional wound care techniques. But silkworm fibers that are protein-based significantly cover both criteria in terms of their mode of action.

Vivek Mishra drew inspiration from silkworms that create a self-contained system within their cocoons.

He wondered how a closed system like a cocoon could still make the worm inside grow and complete metamorphosis. This sparked his interest in using silk proteins for wound management also answering the questions stated above.

It turns out, that silkworm /silk proteins can be transformed into bio-materials for wound care.

Mishra firmly believed in the potential of silk protein.

This belief, combined with scientific research and a flexible approach, led the company to transition from treating burns to offering a wide array of wound care solutions.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

Faster healing(as compared to traditional methods) was also a key feature that was highlighted about their products through their patented product portfolio.

Silk fibroin has been known to induce wound healing by increasing cell proliferation and growth and migrating various types of cells which are involved in different stages of the wound healing process.

FIBROHEAL covers a comprehensive list of products that are classified under three categories:

CATEGORY 1: Active Wound-care requires

1. Tissue debridement

2. Infection and Inflammation Control

3. Moisture balance adhesives

4. Re-epithelialization and

5. Scar management solutions

CATEGORY 2: Postoperative Care contains Aid-port dressing, adhesive & non-adhesive meshes, and sheets.

CATEGORY 3: Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient(API) contains silk protein powder, sericin solution, cosmetic applicational products, etc.,

The journey of Fibroheal initially started with a focus on burns and developed into a variety of wounds.

As Mishra aptly puts it into words, “You need to be committed to your goals and flexible with the approach.”

Fibroheal’s journey has led them to explore a range of wound types, from acute to post-operative wounds.

Now, let’s dive deeper into the unique benefits of Fibroheal’s products.

• They cover the less travelled roads which are the likes of cosmetic and post-pregnancy wound applications that set them apart.

• Fibroheal works on creating an extensive selection of products with a large list for selection under the criteria of wounds, making it a comprehensive wound care facility. (as mentioned in the picture below)

• This diversity allows them to cater to distinct needs and provide real solutions for patients.

• These aren’t just passive solutions; they actively participate in the wound healing process wherein under the Wound Aid section, the products serve as a scaffold for cell attachment fastening the process of wound healing, possessing antimicrobial properties, and expediting wound closure.

• Post-operative transparent waterproof antimicrobial adhesive dressing sheets, Suture dressing, Scar-lite dressing adhesive sheet, Non-adherent microbial gauze dressing and Wound aid port dressing with silver-based silk protein specially designed for surgical incision ports.

• This proactive approach sets them apart, making their products faster than their traditional wound healing process.

NAVIGATING CHALLENGES :

Of course, navigating regulations and securing intellectual property in the biotech industry is no small feat.

Mishra emphasizes the importance of proving a product’s safety for public health through open communication and proactive cooperation with regulatory bodies.

On the intellectual property front, Fibroheal has built a strong foundation with certification patents and educational institution collaborations to ensure their research is valuable to both industry and academia.

One of their patent, Patent No: 333095- FIBROVID, is a broad-spectrum antiseptic ointment made from POVIDONE-IODINE & FIBROIN FORMULATION which enhances wound healing and faster wound closure.

FUNDING AND FINANCIAL STRATEGY

Early-stage startups often grapple with securing finances, but Fibroheal managed to fund their research through awards and grants.

Mishra highlights the significance of connecting with investors who understand the industry and its potential.

“It’s not just about having a brilliant idea; it’s about finding the right people who believe in your ability to execute it.”

When it comes to valuation and financial strategy, Mishra suggests that entrepreneurs need to balance their expectations with market realities.

The primary focus should be on creating something substantial, rather than maintaining strict control.

Ensuring that everyone involved, from suppliers to customers, benefits is a key aspect of the company’s success.

Talking about seed funding — Mishra suggests approximately 50 lakhs (5 million INR) is a reasonable amount for an early-stage startup.

It’s crucial to concentrate on building a minimum viable product and generating revenue, as revenue is the ultimate key to success.

“Making a product accessible and affordable for everyone is the end goal.”

In the realm of biotech entrepreneurship, building the right team and nurturing a strong work culture are major challenges.

Ensuring alignment with common goals, effective people management, and maintaining open and transparent communication are crucial for success.

“Adaptability is a critical trait in the constantly evolving world of biomedical innovation.”

CHALLENGES or ADVERSITIES OVERCOME

Dr. Mishra emphasizes that, despite the many technical challenges in the industry, managing human emotions is the most formidable hurdle.

When it comes to marketing, especially in the early stages, it’s essential for entrepreneurs to be their company’s most ardent advocates.

Mishra stresses that CEOs of start-ups should act as the company’s top salespeople and marketers.

Believing in the product, consistent follow-up, and open, honest communication with customers are key strategies for success.

EXPANSION STRATEGIES AND FUTURE OUTLOOK

Fibroheal’s journey into scaling its business involved careful anticipation of challenges, expanding facilities, and investing in the right equipment and personnel.

As the company grows, staying ahead of the curve and continually investing in the infrastructure are critical elements for success.

With the initial expansion from burn wounds to post-operative, pregnancy scars, they would also want to include diabetic wounds, cosmetics, and other wound care applications to their portfolio, in the future.

To maintain success, Mishra recommends a few regular steps:

“Keep communication open,

Resolve problems as they arise, and

Keep the team motivated.”

Fibroheal has also attained numerous academic and industry collaborations, enriching its range of products and research.

“Ultimately, it’s the people who drive the success of the company.” says Vivek Mishra.

Collaborating with educational institutions ensures their research remains relevant and valuable to both industry and academia.

In terms of competition, Mishra acknowledges that staying ahead of the game requires offering products that are cost-effective, superior, and provide clear benefits.

They have achieved this through an emphasis on product performance, affordability, and effective communication with customers, including healthcare professionals.

WORD FOR THE BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS

For aspiring biotech entrepreneurs, Mishra underlines the importance of self-belief supported by scientific evidence and a deep commitment to problem-solving.

“Enthusiasm, energy, and a focus on execution are vital in the biotech world.”

In the journey of Fibroheal, the inspiration comes from the realization that the company is responsible for its employee's livelihood, and their trust and support are of utmost importance.

The joy of saving limbs and improving patients’ quality of life is the motivation that keeps the team moving forward.

In conclusion, Fibroheal’s journey, from inspiration to innovation, regulatory approval, and market success, offers valuable lessons.

Their commitment to creating affordable, effective products, fostering a strong team culture, and maintaining open communication have been the pillars of their success, making them a beacon of innovation in the field of wound care.

REFERENCES:

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/A-silken-touch-to-healing/article16668987.ece

https://www.nsmedicaldevices.com/news/five-wound-healing-technologies/

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/business-tech/the-shape-of-wound-dressings-to-come/article38093173.ece

https://yourstory.com/2021/09/funding-medtech-startup-fibroheal-woundcare-karnataka-venture-kitven

https://biopatrika.com/2020/10/06/fibroheal-woundcare/

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2021/9069924/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0734975015300495

https://lopyanko.eu/project/silk-sericin/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41745-019-00114-y

What if I told you we don’t need cold supply & storage for fruits and veggies?

Speaking of increasing shelf life, methods like freezing, cold supply, and chemical preservation have been used in some cases.

But ever heard about plant extracts saving the day, to increase their shelf life?

What if I told you, you could use tiny sachets for your groceries to stay fresh?

Yes. Certainly, there is a way.

And that would be the topic that we are discussing today.

GREEN POD LABS is an Indian startup founded in 2019 with nature-inspired solutions for fresh produce loss by active packaging.

We share the insights of the interview after conversing with Mr. Deepak Rajmohan — Founder & CEO of GreenPod Labs.

Let’s begin by exploring the inception of this novel concept.

Why Agricultural Engineering?

The story of Green Pods begins with a simple yet powerful idea:-” Finding an untapped niche in agriculture.“

Mr. Deepak Rajmohan himself hails from Chennai.

Agriculture wasn’t a big part of his daily life, though he wanted to explore a niche where he could go deeper and learn more about it.

This led him to choose agricultural engineering.

Even though the future wasn’t clear to him initially, he believed agriculture was a field with enormous untapped potential.

After his undergraduate degree, he went to the US to pursue a Master’s in Food Science because he wanted to be trained in advanced research in the same field.

“Before starting, I looked at the syllabus and things were very interesting, very new, things that were never explored. So I thought I will give it a shot.“

How was the journey from food science to starting Green Pods?

After completing his Master’s in Food Science in the U.S., Deepak delved deeper into food-related challenges.

It was during this time that he became acutely aware of the staggering issue of food waste.

This problem was prevalent even in India — the world’s second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables.

After which it became a personal mission.

This problem of food waste would nag him every day.

He explored various aspects of the problem and began addressing challenges within the food industry.

He worked as a Food scientist for a major US food corporation — Nurture Inc. which is where he gained additional real-world insights into the problem of food waste.

He worked there for about 2 years before moving back to India.

He felt that the massive amount of food waste that happens in India was ripe for some entrepreneurial disruption. Specifically, he wanted to address food loss issues in fresh produce.

His initial plan was to build a cost-effective alternative to cold storage. But, he wanted to assess the ground realities — to truly appreciate the problems farmers faced in the field.

He did extensive travels across Tamil Nadu, where he engaged with farmers, traders, exporters, and retailers, it became evident that cold storage and supply chains were insufficient to solve the problem.

This realization led to the exploration of other solutions — something that would not disrupt the existing logistics phase to alter the supply chain.

Eventually, he realized the viable solution would be “Active Packaging”. Once he had this epiphany, he and his team promptly delved into the science behind it.

The novel idea behind this technology was to create a defense mechanism for fruits and vegetables, inspired by their natural ability to withstand stress.

Temperature and handling was the only point of view that was dealt with to keep the produce stand for a long time, where the common solutions employed were cold chain transport, individual packing, and freezing.

But there could be various points of stress induction in plants and hence this needs a fresh approach.

This approach marked a turning point.

They dedicated themselves to developing sustainable plant products for preserving fresh produce.

What was your R&D experience like?

Until 2019, Deepak spent time dabbling and understanding the problem and understanding pain points of the stakeholders.

He and his team zeroed down on “Active Packaging” as a solution.

In Feb 2020, Deepak came across the idea of using defense mechanisms from fruits and vegetables against the stress factors causing spoilage.

By mid-2020, he and his team were ready with their first prototype.

Deepak’s philosophy for market entry was — “Be close to the customer”.

If the market wants your product it will sell and scale.

In fact in his words:

“R&D can be lab-scale and until you understand what is the pain point from the customer side, there is no way you can scale from here.”

So Ðeepak spent much time with their target customer even during the prototype phase.

Their early prototype showed promising results — they were able to increase the shelf life of a few commodities for a significant amount of time. This validated their hypothesis about this technology. From there on, they increased their investment in R&D.

The initial team of scientists working with Deepak started to focus on customizing the product for field usage.

By June of 2021, they brought in an R&D director, who had a PhD and Post-doc in Plant Biotechnology and post-harvest management to bring in expert knowledge.

In 2022, they started to monetize their product — thanks to the close connection they maintained with customers.

Please share some technical insights into your Active Packaging technology.

Here we will quote directly, as he explains the technology in his own words:

• Fruits and vegetables before harvest can communicate between different plants. If there is any predator coming in, it can give cues to the other plants signaling or caution.

• When that cue reaches the next crop it activates the immune system within the crop. It helps fight against the other predators coming in and can also be temperature, it could be drought, it could be pests or it could be anything.

• We understood that communication system and how we can replicate that communication system through our product. So every food has different defense pathways that are related to certain spoilage.

• We do look at the cross spoilage and backtrack to see what are the potential pathways that are influencing this spoilage.

• We counteract these products by using our pathways so our product releases those volatile compounds when it comes in contact with the food that activates these pathways.

• Resulting in reduced spoilage.

• So it could be slowing down the ripening rate or minimizing the metabolic growth or it could be anything of that sort but it tries to solve that pain point.

The product / the active plant ingredient sachet contains 3 layered nano-encapsulated plant extracts. This sachet activates the defense system of the fruit or the vegetable against ripening or spoilage by microbial attack. According to Deepak, the GREEN POD LAB’s active ingredient sachets when placed inside/ along with the stock have an extended shelf life.

What is unique about Green Pods?

According to Deepak, there is little competition in India because the R&D behind their product is complex.

Secondly, they have developed their product for ambient temperature — which is a challenging problem to solve.

Finally, they customize packaging products — THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT SACHETS — for each commodity which also increases their shelf life by 40–60%.

A set of mangoes, denoted as A (the control group), and another set of mangoes packed alongside GREEN POD Sachets, denoted as B, were left at ambient temperature for a period of 10 days. Observations were made at 5-day intervals. The results, depicted in the image, reveal that the A (control) mangoes displayed signs of spoilage, while the B set of mangoes exhibited reduced and controlled ripening indicators.

Deepak concedes that there is competition in the US and Europe, but according to him their models still centers around cold storage and cold supply chain.

“THE EXCLUSIVE EDGE MODELS OF GREEN POD ACTIVE INGREDIENTS”

1. Because in ambient temperature the spoilage is 3X more solving the scenario, Green Pods has a unique advantage in the market that gives green pod products their edge.

2. These sachets are portable and the formulation of the active ingredients varies according to the stock of the fresh produce and its volume, they are economical at a price range of about 7–15 INR per sachet.

3. Green Pods products can adjust to an existing supply chain.

Deepak wants to keep working on technology in an agile fashion to make their product easier and easier for their customer to use.

What has been the marketing strategy of Green Pods?

Deepak disclosed that there is no dedicated marketing team within the organization. He personally takes charge of outreach and business expansion, and a substantial portion of their growth has been organic.

What helps Green Pods according to Deepak is seeking mentorships. So he keeps trying to get into accelerator programs and gets into collaboration with universities.

According to him, media attention is not very useful for a B2B company as eyeballs don’t necessarily translate into contracts.

However, the accelerator programs have still gotten unexpected media attention.

Because it is a B2B product, they want to focus on how Green Pods can associate with more universities, more accelerators, and more support systems, to improve their products.

That’s the focus on. The media attention is just a by-product of the same without any planning.

Once again, we would like to quote Deepak:

“We only have R&D, operations, and business development. We are a team of 23 people spread across the 3 departments and we are an R&D-heavy company so 50% of it is R&D, we have not even put 1$ into marketing.”

“We focus on working with other collaborators and other ecosystem players who can help us scale to the next phase during the journey we get these opportunities to express about our work.”

Green Pods and Sustainability. How do you see them together?

According to Deepak, the environment is evolving and it’s not evolving on the positive side.

“The next two generations are gonna experience it the day they are born.”

So he feels it is a moral responsibility to minimize that impact in whatever way one can.

And he feels that food-based wastage is not something that should happen.

Because as of now it’s like we burning 15% of our money. To elaborate, food wastage is on such an insane level that it is like if you get 100$, then you are burning 15$ out of it.

According to studies, when one ton of food-based food loss is preserved you save about 2.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

Right now food waste contributes to about 8% of the carbon footprint.

At 8% it is one of the significant contributors, and if Green Pods can help reduce, it will long-term benefit everyone.

But there is a lot in this area that has yet to be solved both from a production perspective as well as from the environmental perspective.

What is the greatest challenge that you faced in your startup journey?

As with any startup, Green Pods has faced its share of challenges.

Educating customers about their innovative solutions has been a significant hurdle.

Even though the customers are well aware of the food loss problem they need to be better aware of the solutions.

Their thought process is that cold storage and a cold supply chain is the only solution.

Convincing a market accustomed to cold storage that there’s a viable alternative for preserving produce at ambient temperatures requires time and persistence.

They have to put it up in such a way that reduces their pain points and increases benefits.

No one is gonna buy a product because there are some sustainability efforts.

The customer will buy it only if there is an economic benefit for them.

Hence Green Pods focuses on how can they increase their customer’s revenue by increasing the life through our product.

Luckily, food waste is also one of the major contributors to economic losses.

However, building trust through continuous education and demonstrating economic benefits have been the key challenges.

And what about the funding?

Green Pods, operating in a niche within the agricultural sector, faced unique challenges in securing funding.

After a successful pre-seed round of 550K USD in 2022, the company also secured another set of grants from India and abroad.

These funds have been crucial in advancing their mission.

Regulatory Rigor: Ensuring Safety and Compliance

Ensuring the safety of their product has been a top priority for Green Pods. All ingredients are US FDA TRAS/GRAS compliant.

Also, the company worked closely with India’s regulatory body, FSSAI, to establish a new category called Shipment Extension for Food.

Compliance with international regulations is a step-by-step process, with each country presenting its unique requirements.

Treasured Milestones: From Vision to Reality

For Green Pods, every commercial success is a milestone.

So far they have already commercialized 2 products in the market.

By working with over 170 pilot customers and bringing their products to market, they’ve not only extended shelf life but also demonstrated the economic benefits of their solution.

But the happiest moment according to Deepak is when a customer sees the value in your product. 

One of the customers had told them that for every dollar they put in Green Pods, they get 7–8$ in return as an increase in revenue.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Green Pods

The future for Green Pods is both broad and International.

GREEN PODS is not only making the active plant ingredient for fruits and vegetables it is also covering grains, cereals, and much more which are all in the pipeline of processing.

Their horizontal expansion includes developing products for various commodities such as grains, seeds, milk, meat, and food products across the different segments.

Simultaneously, they plan to expand their presence into international markets, particularly in Africa and Asia.

Pointers for the Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow

“Identifying a problem you are genuinely passionate about and dedicating time to learning and understanding your chosen field are fundamental to success.”

Because according to him the glossy side of entrepreneurship that comes from the media about the opportunities and making it big is not the reality.

“The reality is hard-hitting, to be back persevering every day you need to be committed to doing it day in and day out.”

But alongside passion, preparation is equally important.

For example, before starting the company Deepak spent about 5–6 years understanding different aspects of the business and the company, reading a lot of books, speaking with a lot of founders listening to a lot of podcasts, and building up his understanding of how to start-up.

“Whatever you do about building that foundation is very very critical. But passion comes first. If you have a passionate problem to work on, you will get the rest of it.”

The journey of Green Pods is an inspiring tale of innovation, sustainability, and perseverance.

By reimagining how we preserve fresh produce, this company is making strides toward a more sustainable and efficient agricultural future.

“Finally, When someone says we would not need a cold supply or refrigerator for fresh produce, you can trust them on this. The future of sustainable storage is here and it is growing with nature-inspired solutions around the world.”

Your kitchen scraps and garden waste vanish from sight once you discard them.

But their usefulness is far from gone.

After all this organic waste can be changed into energy, fertilizers, and other biodegradable marvels.

Today we discuss with you the story of BIOFICS.

But, before we dive deep into BIOFICS, let’s talk about the increasing waste crisis.

In 2020, a report from the Centre for Science and Environment stated India had 3,184 garbage mountains which stored 800 million tonnes of trash.

But then what is the problem with the garbage in the Landfills?

Increasing rates of diseases, respiratory disorders, emission of hazardous gases, and leakage/Leachate.

Remember the waste dump fire incident in Cochin, Kerala? That could be one example of the effects of landfills left unattended for years.

What is the status of the waste handling worldwide?

The above picture shows the Global status of municipal solid waste management. It is from the #WhatAWaste2 campaign run by the World Bank in 2018.

• The World generates 2.01 Billion tonnes of municipal solid waste every year.

• It is projected to increase to 3.4 billion by 2050.

• In low-income countries, over 90% of waste is mismanaged.

But Countries worldwide are coming up with their own solutions.

Singapore - an Island nation, decided to create its own “Trash-formation Island.”

Yes, you heard it right, they made a real-life ‘Island of garbage’ called Pulau Semakau.

They went all out to ensure it was eco-friendly.

They lined up the shredded, treated garbage with an impermeable membrane. Then, to keep the remnants from seeping out planted lush mangroves around it to give it a green touch.

It’s not your typical dumpsite but rather a garden of dumps.

Singaporeans turned their landfill into a sustainable wonderland.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, people are making cash from garbage!

How?

Sweden has this incredible waste-to-energy program.

They generate energy that is delivered to homes and businesses on a regular basis.

But that’s not all.

Sweden was so successful that they ended up with a “Trash shortage”.

Yes, Sweden ran out of waste to burn!

They imported garbage every year to make electricity!

But what about India?

This is where we go back to BIOFICS.

HOW BIOFICS STARTED? Early Motivation

Sunil Pramod Mahapatra, and Vikas Sujeeth Kumar Mishra, are two graduate students of Ahmedabad University who were researching the post-harvest loss in India.

They noticed the farmers were either burning or throwing away their Postharvest leftovers.

And they wanted to find a sustainable solution for the same.

Sunil attended a life-changing experience at the Global Action on Poverty event.

The experience led Sunil to choose waste management as his field of interest.

“Both of us were inclined at doing something useful with the waste,” says Sunil.

Sunil and Biofics’ motivation is not surprising.

After all, rarely anyone is dealing or wants to deal with Organic waste.

Let’s look at the current scenario of waste in India

India generates about 277 million tonnes of municipal solid waste every year, according to a 2016 estimate.

Garbage management in India varies across different cities and regions.

But in general, it looks like this 4-step process:

1. Waste Collection: Garbage collection is managed by municipal authorities. Or they are sometimes outsourced to private waste management agencies. In big cities, door-to-door collection systems are implemented inside apartments and townships. This waste is collected from households, commercial establishments, and public spaces.

2. Waste Transportation: Collected waste is transported to designated disposal sites or processing facilities.

3. Waste Treatment: Incineration, Composting, Anaerobic digestion/Biological treatment, and material recovery are few treatments.

4. Landfill Disposal: Landfills, are a prevalent method of waste disposal in many parts of India. The treated and Untreated municipal wastes end up in landfills. The below picture says it all.

But, LANDFILLS are no real solution to waste. In fact, they cause more problems such as:

• Environmental Impact: They release greenhouse gases like methane from decomposing waste. Methane emissions contribute to more than 25% of global warming.

• Resource Depletion: Landfills consume vast amounts of land. Often in valuable locations. This land competes with other purposes like agriculture, housing, or recreation.

• Groundwater Contamination: Improperly managed landfills are harmful as rainwater percolates through waste layers. There it can carry pollutants into the soil and reach underground water sources. This poses a serious risk to drinking water supplies.

• Soil Degradation: Landfills can impact the quality of surrounding soils. The waste decomposition process releases leachate. This is a toxic liquid that can infiltrate the soil. There it causes soil contamination and degradation.

• Odour and Air Pollution: Landfills generate odour from the decomposition of organic waste. Additionally, they release various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like hydrogen sulfide. This further contributes to air pollution.

Efforts are being made by governmental and private organizations to reduce the volume of waste going to landfills. They have been promoting recycling and waste-to-energy initiatives through public awareness and campaigns.

Over 80% of the waste collected in India is disposed of in dump yards. [Source: Planning Commission in 2014 report]

As of today, only 5% of waste is recycled.

Clearly, the current methods are not sufficient for a country with 2 billion population.

With that said, there is a clear need for newer methods and strategies for waste management.

“It was always not in priority or nobody wanted to deal with it”says Sunil Mahapatra, CEO & Founder of BIOFICS.

How did the journey begin?

Vikas Mishra has an organic chemistry background.

He worked on the microbial consortium formulation. This formulation adds to organic waste for its conversion to organic fertilizer.

Sunil Pramod Mahapatra handles the machinery aspect.

He creates the best combination of machines to deal with the microbial consortium.

The Transition of BIOFICS from an idea to a startup:

• For 2 years, they studied waste composition and its chemical components, laying the foundation for their work. Building the machinery, equipment automation, and optimizing were part of their initial tasks.

• With funding from Ahmedabad University and Stanford University, they sold their fully functional prototype in the design phase to Ahmedabad University.

• Solid waste management added a new set of regulations, where all the Urban Local Bodies(ULBs) and private sectors had to segregate and deal with their wastes at the source itself. 

• Biofics used this opportunity. However, they to change the microbial consortium and the machinery model to work for the requirements of any client. 

• They made replicates of the same model for different types of waste coming from this municipal waste and all kinds of waste handlers/ facilities.

• During this period, they received a request from a five-star hotel. The client sought BIOFICS’s services for discarding their waste on a contract basis.

• This marked the beginning of their contract-based service. They figured a single contract could cover comprehensive waste management solutions. They bootstrapped in 2016 and launched BIOFICS.

• They started to convert compost into electricity, biogas to electricity, and then biogas/CNG to different sources of electricity. Electricity, Biogas, liquid fertilizer, Organic fertilizer, and CNG are all by-products.

• The Electricity, Bio-CNG are in turn resourced into the same units/facility from the same waste.

Navigating Challenges :

A project with Gujarat Tea Corporation, was challenging when their equipment failed in the field due to tea dust solidifying in water.

This setback taught them a crucial lesson: Every waste must be treated separately. Undeterred, BIOFICS modified their equipment, developed specialized microbial cocktails, and forged ahead.

Currently, they are working on Centralized models of BIO-CNG plants where they are converting entire food and feedstock of agriculture residues and municipal solid waste altogether.

The reactor/processor is designed to give 2 tonnes of CNG every day.

Notable Achievements:

• On 26 January 2023, Biofic’s newest plant was setting a new standard by producing 20 m3 of Bio-methane daily from food waste.

• Shri Mukesh Puri, Additional Chief Secretary- Home Department Government of Gujarat, inaugurated the 500 kg BioMethane Plant at Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd Vadodara.

• Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited(GSFC), Vadodara also produces 13,000+KW, from a different plant built by BIOFICS transforming waste into electricity.

HOW IT ALL MAKES SENSE FOR FACILITIES TO OPT FOR BIOFICS

Let’s consider an example, an estimate for an average restaurant/hotel.

If a Restaurant generates 500 kg of Organic/solid waste daily, dumping or discarding it can only make a landfill.

But WHAT IF it is segregated and treated appropriately?

According to BIOFICS, any bio composting machine from their portfolio(for a restaurant that makes 500 kg organic waste) can make up to 2–2.5 cylinders (approx 30–45 litres)of Bio-gas daily along with 200 kg of organic fertilizer that could be sold or used in its gardens.

BIOFICS has an organic Biofertilizer website.

They provide a wide variety of manure portfolios of the same by-products they produce from their composting machines.

According to the above-mentioned estimate, it makes

• Annual savings from a Biogas — 7.20 Lakhs,

• Annual savings from Biofertilizer — approximately 2.5 Lakhs.

The Payback period /time for the restaurant is approximately 1.5- 2 years. (which is a financial metric used to assess how long it will take to recover the money invested in a machine)

The BIOFICS’s customized Biocomposting machinery varies from 50 kgs of any amount of organic waste & to any waste.

From coconut shredders to wet waste from municipal segregation, they handle almost all types of wet waste.

SIGNATURE SELLING POINTS OF BIOFICS:

1. Customization: Develop unique machines to meet the specific needs of our clients.

2. Regulatory Compliant: All their equipment comes with a minimum of a one-year warranty. Also, they provide a one-year AMC with 100 percent service assurance.

3. They also provide operational training and waste management services in addition to their high-end machinery.

4. A Sustainability report to all clients they deal with at the end of every year. This report shows an organization’s commitment to environmental stewardship. It highlights their achievements, as well as identifies areas for improvement.

Previously, the true extent of waste generated was unknown. And management would only acknowledge a fraction of the actual amount.

Waste often goes unnoticed in big facilities, lacking priority and visibility. But now they could be used as resources. When businesses started to look at this perspective of waste, their approach to it changed.

BIOFICS offers a comprehensive package that covers the entire waste management process.

They handle everything from equipment installation to waste analysis, reduction strategies, collection, processing, and reuse.

They ensure compliance and prepare log books, reports, and documentation. They even provide carbon footprint and sustainability reports.

BIOFICS: GO TO MARKET STRATEGY

Marketing is crucial for growing startups. After all, it helps create awareness, acquire customers, build brand equity, and drive growth.

They organized FEETS ON THE STREET- Gandhinagar’s Biggest Green Carnival, Nukkad Nataks as a collaborative approach with other green initiatives to spread the word about Zero waste, and green conservation was one of their many events.

FUTURE OUTLOOK 

BIOFICS today manages:

1. 1,500 facilities inclusive of 500+ zero waste facilities,

2. 350+Biogas Plants,

3. 100+ community events through contract-based services.

The team plans to address waste management issues with a capacity ranging from 3000–5000 tons daily.

There are about 8 Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), in the pipeline through various collaborations

Their vision is to become the leader in circular economy space with zero waste strategy.

Conclusion:

It’s not a MIRACLE when Singapore gets a trash Island. But, it’s a stark reminder that our planet’s health is in our hands. We can change our fate by our own creativity and planning.

“Let’s face the reality and tackle this problem head-on, one step at a time before it’s too late.”

So what’s your idea of waste management? Let us know in the comments.

INTERVIEW CREDITS: Chittatoor Veena & Ishitha Shreshta

REFERENCES:

https://www.activesustainability.com/environment/waste-generation-management/

https://coralreef.nus.edu.sg/publications/Lim2020ENVISION_Mag.pdf

https://thelogicalindian.com/environment/singapore-garbage-problem-recycle-34951

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/swachh-bharat-waste-recycling-indonesia-sweden-singapore-colombia-961084-2017-02-16

https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/5-countries-revolutionised-way-tackle-trash-waste-5013/

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/lure-landfills-how-garbage-changes-animal-behavior

https://www.forbesindia.com/article/lifes/singapore-races-to-save-garbage-of-eden/87125/1

https://evreka.co/blog/managing-landfills-with-advanced-technology/

https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2021-12/Waste-Wise-Cities.pdf

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/india-s-plastic-problem-no-easy-fix-for-trash-mountains-that-provide-profit-and-pain-1.6785583#:~:text=According to a 2020 report, have been reclaimed and cleared.

Responsible Consumption and Production (Goal 12) is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aims to ensure that economic growth and development are achieved sustainably, without causing harm to the environment and society.

How are the UNITED NATIONS goals -“ZERO HUNGER” and “RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION” interconnected?

How can we achieve them together?

Read more to find out.

The above two concepts connect in several ways such as:

1. They minimize the negative impact of consumption and production on the environment(Unsustainable patterns of consumption and production are root causes of the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss & pollution.)

2. Both these goals require collective action and collaboration among stakeholders(Government, Policy makers, Food producers-Private sectors, farmers, and consumers ).

3. Both concepts promote the idea of a circular economy. A circular economy is an economic system that minimizes waste generation and maximizes the reuse & recycling of materials. By adopting a circular economy approach, we can reduce our reliance on finite resources.

To understand the background better, let’s consider a common scenario in the Agriculture Community of India- An on-the-field example.

Azadpur Mandi is Asia’s largest vegetable and fruit market.

Despite the fact that the market handles thousands of tons of produce daily, it operates efficiently and generates only minimal edible food waste.

However, a significant amount of inedible food waste is produced as approximately 2,000 tons of products move through the market each day to make space for the next day’s stock.

All those waste(edible and inedible together) is dumped into designated enclosures that could fill thousands of needy stomachs.

If just one market could dump approx 2000 tonnes every single day what could be the total wastage of the state? 

The whole country?

What could be the harvest waste globally?

According to the Food Waste Index Report 2021, published by the United Nations Environment Project (UNEP), nearly one-third of the total quantity of produced food each year is wasted during the various steps of the food supply system, making it a leading concern for all nations.

The reason is predominantly: POST-HARVEST LOSS(PHL) AND HARVEST LOSS

Post-Harvest and Harvest refer to two different stages in the production & storage of crops.

Harvest loss refers to the loss of crops that occurs during the process of harvesting, such as the dropping of grains during seeding, threshing, shattering of fruits, or damage caused by pests and animals.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), harvest losses can range from 5% to 20% of the total production, with losses being higher for certain crops such as fruits and vegetables.

While Post-harvest loss(PHL) refers to the loss of crops that occurs after they are harvested and during the storage, processing, and transportation of the crops to market.

PHL can be caused by various factors such as poor storage facilities, inadequate temperature control, moisture, pests and diseases, and poor handling and transportation.

Globally, post-harvest losses are huge — somewhere between 1/4th to 1/3rd of the produced stock goes unutilized.

If these losses are addressed, it can possibly end hunger or minimize the problem.

We will discuss the post-harvest loss in this article as it accounts for higher losses across multiple countries.

GLOBAL status of POST HARVEST LOSS(PHL).

The United Nations — World Food Programme(UN-WFP) report says that One-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted which is 1.3 billion tons.

• Of which, 20–30% of the vegetable and fruit harvest don’t even make it to the farm gate, which is a waste of the resources like land, water, labor, and energy that are producing the harvest.

• Many businesses take these losses as a part of their logistics, but this can be reduced or eradicated progressively.

In India, Reuters Reports indicate that as much as 40 percent of crops/farm produce spoils before reaching consumers.

This is higher than any Agriculture Prime Countries (agriculture as a significant part of the country’s economy). 

For example, Post-harvest loss for the United States is 14–16%, and for China is 7.9–8.2%.

We generate almost three times more post-harvest loss waste compared to other countries.

While Western countries deal with post-harvest loss through sophisticated agriculture methods, infrastructure, cold supply chain, and logistics management, there is a lack when it comes to cold supply chains in tropical climates of India.

Moreover, infrastructure is itself a whole different ball game.

Now coming back to the question, how can a start-up combat Post-harvest loss parallelly achieving the zero hunger goals?

With the dreams of creating their own start-up Dinesh Narayanan and Guru Vignesh, engineering graduates bounced ideas and used to have discussions very often during their college.

Eventually, they got hired by different companies after college and moved on with their lives.

Dinesh Narayanan, Founder & Technical Director of IMPENSUS TECHNOLOGIES, put up in Mumbai and got associated with farm-oriented technology, where he deals with every farmer’s daily problem- harvest loss.

“We don’t need solutions, we need End-to-End solutions. WHY?”

Dinesh Narayanan, in a casual chat with us, the India Biotech Leaders of Tomorrow team explains why they wanted to make End-to-End solutions for the farmers addressing every issue in harvesting practices.

Because the End-to-End solutions in Agriculture are something that a usual farmer cannot think of and big-scale farmers don’t need them.

These gaps in harvesting have been unnoticed:

1. Proper training of the laborers on how to reduce post-harvest loss: This can significantly bring down the post-harvest loss numbers

2. Manage/ Reroute the post-harvest loss produce to composting, any damaged /ugly produce(that does not sell) can be recycled for composting/biofertilizer.

3. Packing and transporting the harvest appropriately: Separate unit packing/Appropriate packing of the fruits would increase the shelf life

4. Cold storage for appropriate crops: this also reduces the damage due to temperature and increases shelf life.

5. Pest control and transit monitoring.

These are just a few significant gaps that were initially identified.

In the beginning, team IMPENSUS perceived that there is a greater need for the post-harvest loss to be addressed, immediately.

• By 2050, the global population is projected to reach 10 billion. It would result in food shortage/ demand in the future.

• The price of the crops and harvest increase in the market by default when the amount of products reaching the market is low.

• The methane gas emission/carbon imprint that the post-harvest loss generates is another severe issue.

• Waste of resources like water, labor, and energy, that go into the cultivation of agricultural production.

And IMPENSUS’s path forward to the issues stated above:

1. Post-harvest loss produced in Indian farms is not often quantified, this unaccounted surplus can be diverted to suffice the demand in the market by organized and well-trained waste reduction techniques.

2. When higher quality and quantity of farm produce is offered to the markets, the prices are relatively reduced according to the SUPPLY vs DEMAND concept(when the demand is high and there is high/enough supply, prices are reasonable, when demand is high and the supply is low the prices increase).

3. Reducing the decomposable waste would eventually bring down the carbon imprint/emission of greenhouse gases-methane.

4. With the help of advanced technology and the implantation of high-end IoT-enabled chambers, every parameter that affects the quality product can be controlled.

FOUNDING STORY OF IMPENSUS TECHNOLOGIES

During the interactions, Dinesh told us about the FOUNDING story of IMPENSUS.

His Ideation for IMPENSUS TECHNOLOGIES came up when he could get on the field on a daily basis and could see through their issues.

WITH THEIR INTERACTIVE AND ADVANCED MACHINERY APPROACH, they chose to work towards sustainable ways to PRODUCE & SUPPLY WASTELESS FARMING.

Challenges in the Infrastructure

Cold supply & cold storage that is allocated by the governments and farmer commissions are often under-maintained or ineffective. Other private firms and agencies are too expensive for a small-scale farmer to afford.

Pest/Rodent infestation, power failures, and under-maintained chambers affect the quality of the harvest.

That’s when Dinesh Narayanan came up with the Cold storage & Cold supply chains (for small facilities) but automated systems that run around the year with key features like a dashboard including IoT technology.

They could be as small as 10 MT to any size required by the farmer.

After attaining validation of his idea, market research, and pilot studies, they bootstrapped IMPENSUS TECHNOLOGIES in 2017 and incubated with Crescent Innovation and Incubation Centre(CIIC)- Chennai.

THE UNIQUE FACTOR OF IMPENSUS 

Unlike conventional storage solutions that monitor and controls temperature and humidity, IMPACT FRESH goes a step further to monitor and control parameters like ethylene, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and oxygen.

Ethylene, Carbon dioxide, Ammonia, and Oxygen are proven factors that preserve the freshness of the commodity and increase its shelf life from the inside of the produce(not just the skin).

The commodity is produced through IMPACT GROW and IMPACT FRESH farms with pre-set parameters maintained throughout the life of the farm produce.

Once harvested, the produce is transported to cold storage chambers and stored in the warehouses which are monitored and recorded.

To elongate the shelf life of the commodity, Automated storage chambers do real-time modifications (changing the C02, 02, and the ethylene composition) to ripen the produce and keep it fresh from the inside, not with external factors.

IMPACT GROW

These are fully automated polyhouse/greenhouses for cultivation of crops.

-deals with the cultivation process.

Products — Automated Indoor farming, Automated mushroom farming, hydroponics, and Protected environment farming.

Basic feature — monitors and controls growth parameters like Temperature, Humidity, EC, pH of the nutrients, and lighting system.

Pre-fixed recipes for common leafy vegetables and herbs.

IoT integration for all value-added systems, solar power integration systems with fertigation system, Dosing pumps, Ambient sensor kit, and Soil sensor kit.

IMPACT FRESH

Impact fresh is the storage facility with its stand-alone/ built-in parameters.

-deals with ripening, and cold storage.

Products — Multi commodity storage, Customised storage, Standalone storage, Ripening system, and Transit storage

Basic feature -monitors and controls storage parameters like ethylene, carbon dioxide, ammonia & oxygen that help preserve the commodity’s freshness and increase its shelf life.

The integrated sensor module, Centralised smart controller, Humidifier, Dehumidifier, Carbon-di-oxide scrubber, and ethylene scrubber.

ADOPTING AN APPROACH TO POST-HARVEST SOLUTIONS

Inefficient supply chains(causing damage to the product during transit), Inefficient storage/ Infrastructure (damage in the storage due to pests and poor storage conditions), poor quality of the produce, and Inadequate growing techniques are the reasons for damage caused during storage and transit.

Hence, all the Impensus products are IoT-enabled systems associated with the internet, where you get all the important notifications, or on the control panel on the app dashboard.

These alerts and notifications are built-in with the IoT.

They help in keeping track of the parameters and keep them in check 24*7.

So no manual intervention is needed unless there is a discrepancy.

Are the End-to-End Solutions for farmers devised by IMPENSUS really working?

Their initials set-ups comprised IoT-designed storage chambers, poly houses, greenhouses, and transit chambers that

-produces vegetables and fruits where PHL is significantly low(less labor, automatic temperature and growth conditions)

-increase farm production by 30 percent as compared to the initial production(according to reports from Impensus Technologies).

-Wastage due to mishandling is replaced by well-equipped and fewer labor requirements.

-increase the shelf life of farm produce comparatively(as they had been in ambient temperatures throughout the growth, harvest and transit)

-Infrastructure and the farm conditions inside the closed houses lessen the damage due to temperature.

All of these factors together account for the reduction of the post-harvest loss on the whole.

Though greenhouses, poly houses, and cold storage have remained in the market for decades, IMPENSUS TECHNOLOGIES puts everything in one place with automation in reduced spaces for farmers.

Automated chambers with controlled parameters, Poly houses, greenhouses that require less labor and area of cultivation, and storage solutions for areas as low as 10 MT(1 mT = 100000 Line/square meter) to larger cold storage facilities.

ARE INDIAN MARKETS WELCOMING FOR THE POLY-HOUSE/GREEN-HOUSE AGRICULTURAL METHODS?

Yes, Indian Markets have been ready for poly-house & green-house (closed type) cultivation considering the presence of newer produce like lettuce, basil, oregano, and strawberries at the markets.

According to reports from National Horticulture Board(NHB), strawberries, celery, and lettuce are short-term crops that are bankable at the expense of subsidies announced by the government to encourage horticulture.

These newer crops with greenhouse & polyhouse can be implemented in small models(lesser areas than wheat and rice), are cost-effective, and exportable.

These crops are priced reasonably high so farmers could easily get their returns. (on average it can be priced at 3.4 Lakhs to 3.8 Lakhs per acre), which is higher than 80, 000 per acre of rice/maize.

Hence, most farmers are seeking closed cultivation methods and support from Governmental subsidies and Agri-tech startups.

Meanwhile, outdoor farming and traditional farming methods for crops like wheat and sugarcane(tropical crops) do not require any support as they are least affected by temperatures and storage.

FARMER OUTREACH& MARKETING STRATEGY

IMPENSUS TECHNOLOGY has also installed a few of their pilot(National Health Portal or NHP certified) devices in Karnataka, where the reach for greenhouse crops is comparatively high.

To a certain extent cities like Karnataka and Chennai have the reach and exposure towards greenhouses government subsidies and farmers there are interested in them.

Until 2022, IMPENSUS’s prime focus was south India, and their presence and expansion in the market happened by finding farming organizations and farming clusters.

Guru Vignesh, CO-FOUNDER of IMPENSUS handles the marketing responsibilities.

He and his team set up stalls to get the attention of their target customers who are farmers and farmer organisations.

The Impensus team reaches out to Farmer producing organizations (FPOs- registered farming communities/facilities that support and provide small farmers and covers marketing, technical services, processing, marketing, and other aspects of cultivation inputs) for New Clients and form clusters using the old clients.

IMPENSUS initially researches the problems of the farmers & small farming groups and then gets back to them with solutions.

In their experience, the Word of mouth and references are the best promotions.

After selling the product they would use the feedback and reference for their follow-up.

IMPACT FRESH has a separate client cluster in North India, that often requires only storage solutions.

For example: An apple farmer from the northern part might not need IMPACT GROW solutions as they do follow their traditional cultivation methods but they require IMPACT FRESH solutions for their transit and storage.

IMPENSUS TEAM has launched India’s first Mushroom cultivation plant — ATMOS and Banana Ripening plant in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

Four chambers were installed in a span of 6 months for different clients.

A pilot unit of “Controlled Environment Mushroom Cultivation” in CIIC(Crescent Innovation Incubation Council) integrating sensors, humidifiers, ventilation dampers, and refrigeration systems provided a maximum yield.

These automated chambers run without any supervision and generate notifications/alerts when needed.

Farmers could cultivate, store and transport their harvest in a novel way and get the fullest benefits of their harvest with the help of startups like IMPENSUS TECHNOLOGIES.

CHALLENGES AND ROADBLOCKS

They have faced challenges promoting their portfolio all over India and Middle East Countries.

Promotions and marketing their products all over the country needed some recognition on the start-up’s part. While marketing with the native dealers and suppliers was not so hard, exporting their equipment was also an entirely different ball game.

They would need to re-design their equipment to optimize the cost whilst maintaining quality standards, functionality, and performance when they do it to the EXPORT variant of the machines.

It is essential to redesign to match the standards of world-class equipment to go against the competitors in the same sector.

Although this is not the perfect solution for the Postharvest loss, there is still a way to go IMPENSUS has just started its journey and has more in the pipeline for the future.

Finally, When we picture the things that are hurting our planet what do we think of?

SMOKE STACKS, CARS, AND OILS SPILLS. WE DON’T THINK ABOUT THE FOOD we throw.

But if we put together all the numbers of food loss(as shown in the picture: GLOBAL STATUS above) that would be 30% of the Global food count, which is 365 million pounds per day.

If the global food loss problem was a country it would be the third largest methane emitter in the world.

Of all the challenges out there, reducing the amount of food that we are wasting should be the first, and easiest to deal with says Dr. M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International his team from UCLA & U.S Conservation Technology Experts.

NGOs, and WFP (WHO) collaborations enable farmers to cultivate without post-harvest loss but there is still a lack of awareness.

Turning our own food wastes to compost/into manure, could be one way to decrease the methane emission from the waste that is already generated.

But going forward, the post-harvest solutions by collaborations or by engaging with Agriculture start-ups, or lending the expertise of agriculturists could be a few ways.

The World Health Organisation’s — World food program (WHO-WFP) generated a 98% loss reduction with around 1 Lakh participants from various regions collaborating to make the Low-cost silos. 

World Food Programme(WFP-WHO) is an initiative by WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION to address the major issues in the food supply chain towards progressive approaches towards ending hunger worldwide.

WFP-WHO proved that changing little things can have a profound impact, where the initial projects in Niger, and Tanzania areas achieved a 98% loss reduction in 2017.

Low-cost Silo projects and Small-holder farmer training projects with minimal changes in their methods like changing storage units turned out to be a huge success.

In Rural areas, POST HARVEST /FOOD LOSS could also be the result of overbuying or overestimation/misinterpreting our daily needs. 

Another campaign in Europe trying to emphasize the importance of reducing the harvest loss.

While start-ups like IMPENSUS TECHNOLOGIES, NGOs, global communities, and NPOs strive to see through and design the best solutions to tackle post-harvest loss, with the right mindset and strategy, anyone can turn their vision into a successful venture.

“With strong communal support and start-up collaborations, achieving zero hunger by 2030 is “NOT FAR FROM HOME” for INDIA.”

“ Expanding our territories to the Middle East would be the future of IMPENSUS,” says Dinesh Narayanan regarding his plans for the future.

On an ending note, he says

“Improved infrastructure, Technology adoption, and Capacity building could make Agriculture and Agricultural losses minimal, also ensuring that more of the food we produce reaches those who need it most, while also supporting economic growth and sustainability in the agricultural sector.”

So what’s your idea to reduce post-harvest loss as an individual, write your answers in the comments.

REFERENCES

https://news.mit.edu/2012/sustainable-approaches-to-reducing-food-waste-in-india

https://pkgcenter.mit.edu/2011/12/11/iap-12-sam-kornstein-and-paul-artiuch-12/

https://inpec.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/research-project-delhis-azadpur-mandi-vegetable-market/#:~:text=There was however quite a, through the market every day.

https://news.grainpro.com/best-practices-the-post-harvest-management-process

https://sdgs.un.org/partnerships/good-practices-food-loss-and-waste-reduction

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/agriculture/our-insights/how-to-reduce-postharvest-crop-losses-in-the-agricultural-supply-chain

https://innovation.wfp.org/project/post-harvest-loss-prevention

https://www.zerowaste.com/blog/what-is-zero-waste-a-guide-to-resource-recovery-and-conservation/

https://www.greatergovanhill.com/latest/tackling-rubbish-different-approaches-from-around-the-world

In 2018, Cape Town faced DAY ZERO -the serious consequence of groundwater mismanagement.

“Day Zero” — refers to the day when a city or region’s water supply has been completely depleted or reached an extremely low level. Resulting in the government enforcing water restrictions.

Day zero is inevitable in countries like Qatar, Israel, and Lebanon due to zero water resources. The reason is that it takes almost decades for the natural restoration of groundwaters to occur.

Despite groundwater resources being the lifelines for agriculture, and our country’s — 52% population dependent on it, a comprehensive survey in 2018 seems late. But the good side is that we have a streamlined survey in place that analyses water bodies with a well-structured Composite Water Management Index(CWMI).

The NITI Aayog survey ranked the states with CWMI (based on 28 indicators present in the state like restoration of water bodies, irrigation methods, farm practices, drinking water policy, and water governance/water management).

It took 3 years for data collection only.

The report concluded that the majority of states have undermanaged or mismanaged resources. If this condition prevails 40% of the Indian population will have no access to drinking water by 2030.

With all that said, the possible ways to avoid the consequences of groundwater mismanagement could happen through water data management and its efficient use.

What is water data?

Measurements of available water quantity, quality, and distribution of surface level & groundwater are referred to as water data.

For example, Voltmeters and smart power meters are used to measure and manage electric consumption data.

Data collection will be the first step to working on planning and distribution.

But in the case of water resources the problem is,

“We do not have any water data”.

“We do not have a water meter to monitor individual pipelines”.

DIGGING DEEPER INTO THE BACKGROUND

Groundwater conservation is difficult because it is a hidden resource that is overused and depleted due to poor monitoring and mismanagement.

Effective management and regulation of groundwater use are complex, especially in areas where resources and expertise are limited as mentioned below.

• Agriculture uses 80% of the groundwater resources but most of it does not have any monitoring and the ones that are monitored are not active/accurate enough.

• Industries track the water usage that goes into their devices or machines but only some of the entirety is recorded. Thus, there is a lack of resources like effective water meters or flow meters in both sectors.

Let’s consider the major water sources in India, which are

GROUNDWATER — Aquifier and wells

SURFACE WATERS — Rivers, lakes, ponds, wetlands, dams.

Rivers and dams are inaccessible to most parts of the country, they are partially measured(dam waters are measured by the water volume they hold in the dam’s surface area).

Lakes, Ponds, and wetlands have no records of any water volume estimation.

Borewells/borewell waters tap into the groundwater reserve which cities/metros depend on. There is no information on the amount of water being pumped by individual borewells.

While the number of borewells drilled yearly is recorded and is soaring high, there are fewer/no restoration methods.

Replenishing groundwater by natural refilling at depth is a slow process and takes decades for the groundwater to slowly seep through several surface layers. It should be considered a priority, as groundwater contributes to approx [97% of usable freshwater, globally]

Can there be a practical solution to avoid the consequences?

Kristnam Technologies, a Hyderabad-based startup, introduces water data and monitoring which can delay serious consequences like overpumping or day zero.

“Most of the water data that we have seen are guesswork or referencing estimations to the previously available data,” says Vinay Chataraju, Co-Founder and CEO of KRISTNAM TECHNOLOGIES in a casual chat with IBLOT.

Kristnam was ideated, when Sri Harsha(Co-founder of Kristnam Technologies), an IIT-Kanpur student, came up with an idea to digitalize the water data by installing a water flow meter with an inbuilt sensor on the supply pipelines for his thesis. When Sri Harsha implemented his idea it was just a water flow device with sensors and data for a project thesis for a governmental organization.

But this idea became a startup when the product started getting orders with zero marketing in place.

During this time, his batchmates at IIT-Kanpur, Vinay Chataraju, and Prithvi Sagar joined as co-founders with Sri Harsha and established the startup at Kanpur in 2017 and later extended their office to Hyderabad as their head office.

During the initial days of product research, they did a lot of activity around lakes, ponds, rivers, and water banks that supported agriculture.

They were analyzed for their water usage measurement, surface water fluctuations, and distribution which would help them set up prototype models for research.

Most of the water management companies in India, target water purification machines, wastewater treatment wells, and borewell digging services for clients. While Kristnam came up with the novel idea of monitoring and digitalizing water resources.

There are only a handful of manufacturers and suppliers that work with water flow meters.

Kristnam came up with the idea of covering every aspect of monitoring, documentation, and distribution of water with economical water meters(starting from 2k), water data tracking and data-generating dashboards, and real-time monitoring systems.

Kristnam ensures that these solutions to groundwater resource depletion issues can be addressed.

Dhaara smart water flowmeter, an integrated system for online monitoring ultrasonic flowmeter that tracks the water distribution in real-time for applications such as drinking water supply, groundwater extraction, industrial water usage, and irrigation. The water inflow & outflow monitor, water storage audit, and data generation are key features of the different types of water meters like ultrasonic, mechanical, and electromagnetic.

Starting with a Basic plan(agricultural farm water plan) at a cost of 2k-4k per farmer per season there are many plans like corporate, Enterprise, and domestic, designed for every sector of the community. This economic aspect of their portfolio is an added advantage.

They could reach nearly 150–200 farmers to save 1000–1500 liters of water in a year by involving farmers to use their water flow meters for the borewell during their first year of launch.

Over the years, they scaled up and provided water consulting services to almost all sectors like government projects, hospitals, hotels, and domestic water lines.

In 2021, a radar-based flood water monitoring device in Kristnam made headlines for sending flood warning alerts around river Ganga and the nearby villages, bringing down human and economic loss.

But how does this help individual homes/apartments with solutions?

Dhaara smart is a portable water flow device designed for small-scale water monitoring like homes/apartments.

Most homes are not aware of the availability of such devices or they fear the initial costs that occur during installation and they hesitate to see the bigger picture of water conservation.

Moreover, when you pay for what you use it gives a commitment and willingness towards water tax and water saving. As opposed to paying a bulk divided bill among a community or apartment where both a water-conscious and negligent person pays the same amount.

The best take-home from this article could be how we could save ourselves from water taxes whilst saving the resource too.

A COLLECTIVE APPROACH

When homes, industries, hospitals, and corporates take up efficient water conservation plans it could contribute towards bigger water conservation goals.

In his words, Vinay explains WHY WATER MEASUREMENT/MONITORING to collect Water Data is important.

• Estimating the volume of the water resource is the first parameter that can be used for building, estimation, distribution, and planning to be water safe(informed of water availability well ahead ) in the coming years.

• When water safety is assured, in turn, it reduces risking water resources for irrigation(food safety is also assured).

• Rightly optimizing resources helps prevent wastage and conservation. Central Ground Water Authority emphasizes that there is a potential to reduce up to 20% groundwater extraction in 2- 3 years. We could cut down the irrigational water usage like how China uses only half the water resources to cultivate the same crops.

• monitor the water costs for the companies.

• Before the laws and resources become stringent, it is wiser to approach water conservation/preventive measures.

WAY FORWARD

Water education could help create awareness about the current status of resources.

Water seepage(letting water be in contact with the surface for a longer time) can be an effective way to restore groundwater resources.

Water gardens, rain gardens, and rainwater harvesting help with water seepage(making most of the surface water to be available for seepage and turning it into groundwater than getting washed away).

Smart washing taps, devices with low run rates, and cutting down on overpumping will help prevent extraction of the water from pumps more than what is required.

Upon his plans for the future, Mr. Vinay says that though they are not looking for outbound reach, there have had orders/inquiries from Israel, Africa, and Bangladesh.

The reason is bandwidth.

Kristnam team currently tries to focus on production, customer segment, and the market, and to capture the majority market.

There is a common terminology called a “beachhead market”. You get to the shore, then you start building and occupying after you achieve your beachhead market.

It is very important for any startup to capture the beachhead market.

Keeping that in mind, they halted their international plan for a while.

“Awareness of the current water situation and research on advanced/advancing water saver models can be a solution”, says Vinay at the end of the conversation.

We would like to bring more science to this sector by bringing in data-driven water management from rivers to the tap.

While achieving a phenomenon like water resources conservation is daunting, inching one step closer as the community is not too far.

Interview Credits : Tejashree Murugan an alumnus of IIT Madras and currently a student at IIM Ahmedabad — she writes about science, technology, literature, and history. She also writes for various organisations like Students for freedom. She conducted this interview with Mr. Vinay Chataraju on behalf of IBLOT. Follow her here.

About the author: I am Veena Chittatoor, a Biotechnology Postgraduate, Ex- Research scholar and Content writer by profession. Exploring the concepts behind the incredibly complicated mother nature have always fascinated me. Reach out to me at chittatoor.veena@gmail.com.

Let’s talk about “CYGENICA, the origin, and development.”

Background for the Solution

After Cancer diagnosis, Chemotheraphy is the dominant treatment method prescribed for cancers. Chemotheraphy and drugs do a lot more than just kill the actively growing cells(cancer cells) in the system. This set of side effects is widely known as CARPET BOMBING which refers to the destruction of the healthy cells along with the cancer cells causing severe side effects like Balding/hair loss, anemia, chemobrain, and many other peripheral dysfunctions.

“CyGenica’s main goal is to develop the world’s safest molecular carrier. That is it in one line.”, says Dr Nusrat J M Sanghamitra, Founder and CEO at CyGenica.

Dr Nusrat J M Sanghamitra, Founder and CEO at CyGenica felt the need to create a better cancer treatment with fewer side effects because she had been working on the same issue throughout her doctoral studies. After Nusrat’s father suffered prostate cancer, she reinforced her belief.

Dr. Nusrat synthesized and patented an efficient, in-vivo, and in-vitro therapeutic delivery system — GEENIE, a non-toxic drug-delivery service with high precision and other nanotechnology-based molecular cargo, she aims to improve cancer patients’ quality of life.

Previously, she worked on organometallics (molecules that contain a carbon-metal bond) and some copper phosphine complexes, which she thought could make water-soluble compounds, as a replacement for cisplatin. It was a naive idea that she realized at the end of her Ph.D. as the molecules she synthesized showed very good activity in vitro(in the cell lines), but in vivo(in a functional model) in mice, they were very toxic.

The disappointment led her to understand the phenomena of drug delivery inside cells and the mechanism of action of cancer drugs in a cellular system. She switched her studies from chemistry to protein engineering trying to explore proteins and protein folding. She went on to study Biology during her post-doctorate from TIFR, then went on as a medical fellow to Leiden.

“Out of serendipity, I met a professor from Kyoto University who wanted a chemist to do biology. I accepted that because I felt that fits my puzzle because I knew how to synthesize new molecules, or I had an idea of synthetic chemistry.” exclaims Dr. Nusrat.

In Japanese culture, an idea exists that if one includes various people from different disciplines, a new science comes up. So that is why they didn’t want a biologist to do biology. Rather, they wanted a chemist to do biology.

“I understood the drug targets, but I didn’t know what was happening inside the cell. So that’s why I took that position. I discovered a molecule or the engineered protein that I found is entering the cells. That was the moment that I felt that if something is going through to the cell, maybe this is what I need.”

So instead of synthesizing a new molecule, she used this molecule to deliver the drugs effectively to the target side, which makes cancer drugs safer and better.

SEED FUNDING

For 4 years, Dr. Nusrat further investigated the fundamental aspects of the molecule based on drug delivery. After returning to India, she received the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council -BIRAC BIG grant(2016) as an individual researcher to develop a proof of concept in 18 months.

During the course of the research, she applied for “RebelBio” 2017, a Cork-based life sciences start-up accelerator program in Ireland, which was being conducted by SOSV, a global venture capital, and investment management firm. Being elected as one of the 15 shortlisted start-ups the world over, she was invited to attend the event at Cork in Ireland for the residential four-month accelerator program.

To nominate their research under the accelerator program they had to be an Irish company/start-up so they formed Cyca Oncosolutions which was later renamed CyGenica. Alongside workshops, pitch training, and lectures, we also had to prove our research at the lab there.

“I realized that in drug discovery and delivery, it was challenging to raise private investment in India. Our Indian ecosystem does not understand this space.” Dr Nusrat explained.

She eventually also got enrolled under “NEW FRONTIER”, which is also a three-phased Irish government program that took eight months to complete.

CO FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR

On her return to India, as her work progressed, she needed a lab space and equipment on a daily basis. She chose Pune as their base for the establishment and started in 2018. She remained a single founder until 2020. Dr. S K Fazlul Haque Krishnan joined as the Co-founder & Director-Operations of the team.

Dr. Fazlul ensures the execution of key policies, strategies, milestones, and operational management at Cygenica. Being a healthcare management professional and Dr. Nusrat’s brother, he brings 15 years of expertise in managing high-value funds and implementing health policies in various national and international organizations like Nutrition International, Save the Children, Digital Green, and UNICEF.

TRANSITION FROM ACADEMIA TO ENTREPRENEUR

“The transition from academia to entrepreneurship did not happen the conventional way.” says Dr.Nusrat.

Before getting the BIG grant, she was not very convinced that she wanted to join an academic position, as it was a slower process and was not giving her adequate gratification. Back in 2012, when she was in Japan, she happened to listen to a lecture by Steve Jobs delivered at Stanford University.

“Every day, you have to ask yourself the question that if this is the last day of your life, would you really be doing the same thing that you do today? And if the answer is no, then change it.” quoted Dr. Nusrat from Steve Jobs's words.

When she asked herself this question, she realized she would not be doing it and also that if she continues her postdoc or researcher or faculty position she might lose the opportunity of making the product/making difference in people’s life. This became her driving force and she got very inclined to do something which impacts people’s lives and makes a difference. This gratification she could not attain in her academic path so she took a break for almost a year and a half to volunteer students. Finally, when the BIRAC BIG grant scheme was announced she felt it was a good opportunity to prove her idea/product.

Even then she did not have a start-up or an understanding of start-up functioning. But in 2017, when she proved the hypothesis they got into the “RebelBio” accelerator program in Ireland. This program needed a company/ start-up in order for the idea to be registered under the program. So that’s how she formed the company Cygenica from academia.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

CyGenica creates in vitro and in vivo medication, gene editing components, and antibiotic delivery systems using a non-viral, non-toxic platform. The cellular membrane of the target cell continues to be the most important factor in the distribution of big molecules inside cells, particularly for gene therapy.

This biological barrier has a double-edged effect: while it stops infectious organisms from penetrating our bodies and spreading disease, it also limits the effective use of cutting-edge therapeutic technology and life-saving medications. Successful therapeutic transport into target cells and organelles would lessen undesirable “off-target” adverse effects and lower the dosage needed.

Cygenica ‘s Delivery strategy

While the therapeutic strategy has 3 critical steps of approaching the target cell(as given in the above picture), it happens and strives to be termed as the world’s safest molecular carrier for therapeutics delivery termed as GEENIE.

KEY FEATURES OF GEENIE

• it is a negatively charged protein molecule that effectively transfers small and big biomolecules and small oligonucleotides across the cellular membrane of different cell types.

• delivers biomolecules with functional properties, such as proteins and nucleotides.

• deliver to certain cell types (such HER2+ expressing cells) and intracellular destinations (like the nucleus) with preference.

• Low immunogenicity and Non-Toxic.

PATENTS

Despite not having any information on patents, Dr. Nusrat applied for their first patent in 2017. With some preliminary data in hand, they filed to get a priority in their name with a time of one year to submit the remaining data.

With a lot of data at the year's end, the team submitted two Patent Cooperation treaties (PCT). One PCT is in a national phase, another PCT is in the public domain and expected to enter a national phase soon in seven countries. She explains how the time resource can be used up to its maximum but filing patents at the right time.

“To file a patent, one should have a strong hypothesis and a strong conviction on the product” says Dr. Nusrat.

REGULATIONS AND COMPLIANCE

Since the product of Cygenica is a molecular drug delivery system and not a new drug, it will be a new formulation of existing drugs for existing genome-editing molecules. It is not a drug, but the new formulation will be treated as a drug by the FDA whose processing is very long. The team had to compete in the preclinical trials, and it will go for clinical trials. The phases are a much longer process than any other kind of startup source work. As they are still in the preclinical phase, they still have time to approach regulatory people, to go for clinical trials.

GEENIE not being a single drug or a product the team needs strategic drug model partnerships to go on clinical trials on specific disease areas. But it is still termed important by the founder to talk to regulatory consultants or people who are in the regulatory area or read about it and what the needs are to avoid problems at a later stage.

MENTORS AND NETWORKING

Cygenica is developing strategies to include more people in their network. Pharmaceutical companies being their target clients needed connecting and networking. In order to acquire her first five target company contacts, the founder left no stone unturned. She would mail multiple client offices, reception staff, and Business development managers for collaborations. Company executives, emails and calls to Linkedin connections, top executives, mentors network, and recommendations will get through in certain ways.

Conferences are one place where you could get one-to-one conversations. In the founder’s case, she happened to win a scholarship in London in 2020 to attend a conference where she could meet 6 top executives for 30-minute meetings which was helpful.

Mentors were usually assigned from the programs as per the background and requirements of the startup in every program Cygenica team attended like the New Frontiers program in Ireland, and the Leaders in Innovation fellowship by the Royal Academy of Engineering, London. Excluding them Bill Liao, Founder of RebelBio, and Dr. Satya Prakash Dash, Head of Strategy at Cygenica are the main mentors throughout the journey.

SOURCES OF FUNDING

Taking an unusual path, Dr. Nusrat has not looked for funding so far, but she admits it is a mistake. And she also advises to never stop fundraising.

In the beginning, she got the BIG grant and then she got into the level five accelerator program which was 100k, not a grant. It is an equity-based convertible loan. Later, she also got selected for the top 5 Startups for follow-up funding. After a series of interviews, she also received a petroleum startup grant.

“For grants and investors, we need to do an extensive search to find out and identify who would be the right fit for your work or your company because not every investor or investment fund is suitable for our area of research. The investors look for the technology and the team. A winning team is more important because even if technology fails, they can make it work with alternative methods. Market Value, the idea and market potential are all key things that investors look for in a startup.” concludes Dr. Nusrat.

ROADBLOCKS AND CHALLENGES

Dr. Nusrat says, “The first challenge is being in an interdisciplinary domain, understanding and working with chemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, and molecular imaging.

Finding a Lab space with High-end equipment with high investment was a major problem. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they could not progress on anything without the experiments. They could not raise funds and also not be spared of expenses for research.

“Good innovations come from hugely depend on the external Infrastructure.” she says suggesting that more help is needed from the government.”

Being a single founder herself, Dr. Nusrat says building a good team with expertise in high-end domains is difficult. Huge sums of pay scales are rendered to such experts in a team which could be hard for a startup that runs entirely on funding. Retaining experts who invest their time and skill is also a challenge as it is not a 9-to-5 commitment for them.

AWARDS / RECOGNITIONS

With a number of rewards and recognitions, she aims high on globally establishing Cygenica simultaneously building new technologies such as Genome Editing agents, and non-toxic cell labeling reagents which are in the pipeline.

“Most Innovative Business Idea” at the New Frontiers National program for developing the world’s safest molecular carrier 2021.

She was awarded at the “She Loves Tech Global Startup Competition-2019”, in Beijing, for her innovation in anti-cancer drug delivery.

She received the “Technology Start-up Awards-2018” for the development of technology that has the potential for commercialization all these are a few of recognitions in recent years.

“In Cork, Ireland, with a seed round of $1 million, our preclinical trials will be finished. But in order to gain access to the series A round, in which we hope to earn $10 million, we will relocate to the golden triangle neighbourhood in either Boston or London. We plan to pursue an IPO prior to revenue.”, says Nusrat about their future plans for Cygenica.

She also has plans for an establishment in Boston and to enroll in CYGENICA under NASDAQ.

Towards the future

Working towards their vision of making a better quality of life for cancer patients, CYGENICA aims to spread her wings across the globe with a new establishment in Boston. Dr. Nusrat plans to enroll in NASDAQ in the future. Though pitching globally comes with the promise of immense challenges and opportunities for the founders.

Featured in various media platforms and being the lead in their domain of therapeutic drug delivery, CYGENICA continues to build new technology with the CYGENICA DISCOVERY team.

With a two-decade history topping the med-tech startup lists along with consistency in products, CYGENICA manages to retain its markets. IBLOT wishes CYGENICA and its team a great 2023.

IBLOT wishes team CYGENICA a great 2023 ahead.

INTERVIEW CREDITS : Tejashree Murugan an alumnus of IIT Madras and currently a student at IIM Ahmedabad — she writes about science, technology, literature, and history. She also writes for various organisations like Students for freedom and IBLOT. She conducted this interview with Dr. Nusrat J M Sangamithra on behalf of IBLOT. Follow her here

About the author:

I am Veena, a Biotechnology Postgraduate, Ex- Research scholar and Content writer by profession. As an avid admirer of nature and science, my career found its way into biotechnology. Exploring the concepts behind the incredibly complicated mother nature have always fascinated me. Reach out to me at chittatoor.veena@gmail.com, for more content.

Despite being a significant movement in Western countries for over a decade, there is not much awareness or commercial landscape for anti-aging/longevity research in India. However, one company established in 2021 is changing that. DECODE AGE targets elongating “healthspan’’ which is the time in one’s life with good health without any significant disease or ailments. This Nutraceutical based start-up is also India’s first longevity research company. With this futuristic idea, an understanding of chronological & biological aging, and FDA-approved nutraceutical products, this start-up is rapidly gaining momentum.

The start-up rephrases the term “Anti-aging” into “Longevity,” thereby creating awareness of a new brand and products targeting cell-level understanding and conceptualization. Aging is more than skin deep. It is a diverse phenomenon linked to fundamental biological processes such as DNA repair, aging pathways, and cell metabolism, which is the prime focus of this company.

In the global economy, there has been a severe imbalance due to the current low workforce and exponentially high retiring population. Particularly in some countries like Japan which has a low reproductive rate, there is a detrimental shift of a larger aging population depending on a lower number of working population contributing to the economic imbalance. As a result, the countries have invested mainly in Anti-aging or longevity research.

Resonating scenarios in other countries (Germany, Switzerland) in recent years resulted in governmental, non-profit organizations focussing the scientific solution for this scenario, which is building longer life spans without ailments or creating an extended healthy lifespan. As a result, these Western markets started gaining awareness about elongating their “healthspan,” which is healthy life without disorders and diseases rather than concentrating on “lifespan.”

Eventually, leading to Anti/Reverse Aging drugs, R&D, funding, and clinical trials by both private and government sectors falling in place to stabilize the economic imbalance issues with a healthy working population.

Founder’s Story

“It was never a startup idea. Longevity came to me; I saw a problem which turned out to be a startup,” says Mr. Darshit Patel, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of DECODE AGE, in a casual conversation with IBLOT.

Darshit Patel attributes his seminars on telomere research and telomeres under stress management which he attended during his masters-drug design in the UK. He fondly remembers watching a Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn video to learn more about Telomeres, cell health, and Longevity.

The basic idea is that controlling the length of telomeres (protective caps at the ends of DNA that make up the chromosomes) on a cellular level will eventually lead to the cell’s life forever. This immortal cell / Reverse aging concept lying in the cells, along with the telomere study, astounded and inspired him. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Darshit arrives in India and finds the absence of longevity research in leading biotech companies intriguing.

The startup idea was formed with all the global insights on longevity, finding the need for a new market, more research on the technical requirements, product development, economics, market study, and meticulous preplanning. He discovered his co-founders, Mr. Parth Amin, a tech entrepreneur, and Mr. Rakesh Somani, a triathlete & businessman, at the right time with keen business acumen.

“India has served the tech industry with high involvement. It is time we do in healthcare, biotech, and longevity, as longevity is the next moonshot of global research,” recalls Darshit as their team’s vision to enter this industry.

Bootstrapped with the 4P’s strategy to achieve confidence in the product, their first two products, LONGEVIT(slows down aging) and RESVIT(prevents damage and tissue repairs), were launched on e-retail outlets, which were wiped off in a short period. Thus, proving the demand for the product in the current markets, though there was not much awareness back in 2020.

“Our goal was to use a Predictive, Preventive, Participatory, and Personalisation (4P) strategy to approach Indian markets with one P at a time” says Darshit Patel.

1. Predictive — predicts most prevalent conditions in the market and determines root cause — Aging.

2. Preventive — patents the preventive medicine/nutraceutical combinations, stand-alone products to be available in markets.

3. Participatory — provides Application based participatory/interactive support.

4. Personalization — aims to personalize the drug recommendations to clients, also providing nutritional and lifestyle changes.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

The aging scenario depends on various factors such as sleep, nutrition, physical activity, health conditions, etc. DECODE AGE targets scientifically established 9 Hallmarks of aging factors( the nine signs of aging) and works with validated products to slow down or reverse aging.

DNA repair mechanism contributing to Genomic stability, which is the first Hallmark(a sign of aging), commences with the PARP-1 cycle(DNA repair enzyme). The cell system needs NAD+ NMN(as a precursor) for the repair cycle to proceed. But in the case of an aged cell system, there is NAD and NMN deficiency or low levels of the same due to less productivity in cells, which stalls the repair and leads to natural aging (or accumulation) in the cells.

Each product on the catalog of DECODE AGE is significantly designed or formulated with relevance to the 9 Hallmarks of Aging, such as LONGEVIT, the formulation of NAD(Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide), NMN(Nicotinamide Mononucleotide), CoQ10(Coenzyme Q10) aids slow aging. This first-of-its-kind formulation increases the cellular NAD levels with the help of the precursor NMN. According to recent studies, NMN increases muscle function and repair mechanisms. Furthermore, the synergy of NMN with CoQ10 reduces the formation of free radicals, which leads to oxidative damage.

Similarly, each product and its combinations lead to the enrichment of these deficient nutrients due to aging or contributing factors. According to clinical studies on the website, this drug delivery approach to the cell system to enhance the natural DNA repair slows down aging consistently with long-term and short-term benefits.

With a range of products, DECODE AGE directly offers Longevit(slows down aging), Resvit(reverses damage), Senevit(formula to remove ‘zombie cells’), Sportvit (multi-tasker), Fesitin (formulated products) and Quercetin, NMN, Trans-resveratrol (Stand-alone products).

With their newest addition, the Decode Biome test kit, a DIY tool kit that identifies the biomarkers linked with aging signs and gut microbes for predicting healthy aging by data analysis.

STRUGGLES AND SUCCESS

Sticking to the niche product, collaborations, clinical trials, and creating awareness are all done by a team of three, making it a herculean task. In addition, choosing the longest path for longevity via nutraceuticals rather than the cosmetic phase, creating awareness, and educating about cellular-level effects were a struggle.

CREATING AWARENESS

Through community meetups, seminars, and webinars with doctors working on preventive care specialists and panelists, the team of DECODE AGE explains the Anti-aging concepts to acquire their first set audience. In addition, technical presentations, youtube videos, Linkedin, and Biotech community posts with the concept explanation spread awareness to the masses on social media. However, the best way of capturing an audience was through word-of-mouth from the actual buyers or clients who have reaped the same benefits.

These Over-the-counter (OTC) Nutraceuticals/dietary supplements have mostly garnered wide attention and funding for the startup in the pipeline process. In addition, more add-ons are being launched on the alluring website, such as read-worthy blogs on longevity and lifestyle.

A community-based App with features to connect physicians, clients, and customer care is the plan for the future to create and achieve greater understanding/contributions toward longevity. Proceeding towards an ageless community, DECODE AGE aims to achieve personalized suggestions through its Upcoming App for all ages on lifestyle changes, nutrition, and dietary priorities.

About the author:

I am a Biotechnology Postgraduate, Ex- Research scholar, and an accidental Content writer by profession. As an avid admirer of nature and science, my career found its way into biotechnology. Exploring the concepts behind the incredibly complicated mother nature has always fascinated me. Reach out to me at chittatoor.veena@gmail.com, for more content.

In the wake of COVID-19, its aftermath triggered several warning shots in the otherwise clear minds of the Global Population. Towards the end of 2021, in many parts of India, these changes were visible in the form of Organic lifestyle changes(Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic-Induced Dietary and lifestyle changes and their associations with perceived health status and Self-reported Body weight changes in India: A cross-sectional survey), Global conservatory methods and Environmental awareness.

The traditional methods of global conservation focus on strategies such as afforestation, reducing environmental pollutants, and reducing global warming. This article throws light on Marine Restoration and its associated phenomena- Marine farming, Clearing of pollutants, Ocean bed restoration, Coral reef restoration, Tracking and regulating marine flora and fauna, and Replenishing the oceanic population.

“No water, no life. No Blue, no green.”

-Sylvia Earle, Oceanographer

As a part of the Corporate Sustainability Initiatives, several MNC’s has partnered with NGOs, environmental alliance groups, and local government to work on marine conservation projects.

Marine Biosystem startups

Sea6 Energy — aims to mechanize sea farming, works with an automated harvester “Sea Combine” collecting and replanting seaweeds.

SeaNova — provides healthy ingredients and innovative food formulas like vital oils, capsules and nutrient powders sourced from Marine flora and fauna.

Planblue — aides in building a seafloor database to protect and foster with the help of underwater satellite technology.

CCell — works on restoring sustainable balance in the coastal ecosystem by combating issues like coastal erosion.

Innovasea — works on open sea aquaculture, land based aquaculture, aquaculture intelligence, fish breeding and tracking providing end-to-end solutions worldwide.

Blue Ocean Gear — provides fishing industry solutions like censored tracking buoys, patented products of high operational efficiency also addressing environmental impacts.

Coral Vita — creates high-tech coral farms and break through methods to restore and revitalize dying coral reefs even including adoption of corals.

Econcrete — offers marine construction with technology via Shoreline protection, Waterfront infrastructure and Offshore conservative projects.

Above initiatives represent a myriad number of startups and establishments (including profit and non-profit organizations) launched during the last decade.

Seafloor restoration with coral reefs, seaweeds, and associated flora creates a natural space for zooplankton and phytoplankton. In addition, these corals and flora salinate, regulate, and nutrient recycle the seawater, making modes to restore integral parts of the Ecosystem reaching from the bottom to the top, similar to the natural process of recreation. Though it takes decades of microbial culturing work process and is expensive to recreate the subsystems of corals, according to sea farming experts, it is bare” The Only” option.

Culturing the coral colony and larvae in lab conditions mimicking the ocean has been replaced with culturing using most parts of natural subsystems (with 3D imprints of coral substrates) directly on the ocean sea beds. Regulating the salinity, pH, and temperature is vital in maintaining the clarity or visibility throughout the waters that enhance the photosynthesis in green and red marine flora and the photo-dependent fluorescent organisms.

On the other hand, Seaweeds and Algal farming are primarily targeted in the Asian and European Oceans as they are used in Food Technology. Plastic and other pollutant clearing on the coastal areas and frontal coast surfaces are being recycled as by certain NGOs as their part in the restoration. Fisheries and Aquaculture management by keeping constant checks on seasonal breeding and fishing proportions, seawater treatment plants in vulnerable spaces, buoyancy floats, and drones employed to constantly monitor and keep natural calamities at bay are all these are few more contributions. Though all these startups focus on different fronts of conservatory processes; they all impact a very time-consuming process of Marine Restoration.

The parallelity of Marine restoration affects the Global terrestrial Ecosystems, in turn promoting life and sustainability.

Why is there a need to conserve Marine ecosystems?

Rising Sea levels, Ocean currents, High and low tides, Temperature, and Salinity are the factors that instigate coastal wind currents, Atmospheric temperature, and Humidity altogether, causing Climate change in the Land Ecosystem. A global range of funding prospects has begun as the significance of time has been observed in initiating the Marine restoration process. As described above, a micro fragment of the coral may take around a decade to grow into a coral substrate. Similarly, the inter-dependent flora and fauna might take longer periods, meaning the existing coral reefs have been centuries-old treasures as necessary as the Terrestrial Ecosystems. Two-thirds of the global population lives around the Coastal areas. Awareness on a global scale, Research, and funding for the relatively effective methods are the only ways these treasures can be revived and restored in time.

About the author:

I am a Biotechnology Postgraduate, Ex- Research scholar and an accidental Content writer by profession. As an avid admirer of nature and science, my career found its way into biotechnology. Exploring the concepts behind the incredibly complicated mother nature have always fascinated me. Reach out to me at chittatoor.veena@gmail.com, for more content.

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