Climate change has just become a real thing as well as a major concern as a result of unforeseeable events. Climate change is accelerating every year as a result of Greenhouse gas emissions (the burning of fossil fuels, methane, and carbon dioxide to generate energy consumption) and external activities conducted by industries (polycarbonate pollution, accelerated electric power, deforestation for paper manufacturing, oil drilling, transportation, and other acts). All this is causing wildfires, a sudden sea-level rise, ice mass loss in Greenland, Antarctica, and the Arctic, and melting of glaciers.
So, to help save the environment to a certain extent many sustainable startups are emerging. These startups work on the principles of sustainability and also encourage people to take the road towards sustainability. In this article, we will go through the top sustainable startups in India.
Top Sustainable Startups in India
- Ather Energy
- Phool
- ZunRoof
- Yulu
- Boss Lady Cosmetics
- BluSmart
- Banyan Nation
- Just Organik
- Beco
- Nexus Power
- Waste Venture India
- Zypp Electric
- Bombay Hemp Company
- Wakao Foods
- GoodDot
Top Sustainable Startups in India
Nowadays there are several startups that contribute to protecting the environment by developing sustainable brands and manufacturing eco-friendly products. The following are the top sustainable startups in India:
Ather Energy
Founded: 2013
Founders: Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Ather Energy is a Bengaluru-based startup, founded by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain in 2013 that manufactures electric vehicles intending to reduce air pollution. The two friends wanted to redefine the automobile sector by introducing electric scooters that are powered by AI and IoT, which navigates smooth rides, making our lives experience seamless. The company has established over 350+ charging stations across 38 cities in India named ‘Ather Grid’. The company received a lot of laud in its funding stage, which helped them to expand its manufacturing facilities in the development, testing, production, and launch of the vehicle.
Phool
Founded: 2017
Founders: Ankit Agarwal and Prateek Kumar
Headquarters: Kanpur
A Kanpur-based biomaterials startup was established in 2017 by Ankit Agarwal and Prateek Kumar. The company uses dumped flowers from temples and recycles them into something useful like incense cones, incense sticks, and Phool vermicomposting. Ankit and Prateek realized that damaged flowers from temple waste management might cause environmental concerns as they contain pesticides and insecticides. The company comes up with ingenious packaging- Florafoam, a high-performing, mouldable and durable material, which is purely made up of flower recycling.
ZunRoof
Founded: 2016
Founders: Pranesh Chaudhary and Sushant Sachan
Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana
One of the leading solar rooftop companies in India is ZunRoof, which makes personal energy consumption better, cleaner, and more affordable for every Indian consumer. ZunRoof was founded in 2016 by Pranesh Chaudhary and Sushant Sachan and is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana. Presently, the company has installed over 10,000 plus residential solar rooftops and has 30,000 + designed systems across India.
Yulu
Founded: 2017
Founders: Amit Gupta, Naveen Dachuri, RK Misra and Hemant Gupta
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Yulu is a Bengaluru-based technology-driven micro-mobility platform that enables integrated urban mobility across public and private modes of transport. The company was started in 2017 by Amit Gupta, Naveen Dachuri, RK Misra and Hemant Gupta. The company is renowned for eco-friendly transportation providers with an intent to make urban mobility in India sharable, seamless, and sustainable by using IoT, AI, and machine learning for demand-supply management and efficient operations.
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Boss Lady Cosmetics
Founded: 2019
Founders: Kajol Bafna
Headquarters: Mumbai
It is one of the most prominent vegan, cruelty-free, and sustainable cosmetic brands that offer natural makeup products. Kajol Bafna, the founder defined ‘Boss Lady’ as anyone who goes against society’s patriarchal beliefs in achieving their dreams. This is why the brand gives you the feel of who you are by giving a voice to your style and empowering you with tools you can choose to express who you are. Kajol implemented her ideology by defying the stereotypes across gender, body, skin, colour, and beauty in the Indian cosmetics industry, ultimately delivering a free- space for self-expression.
BluSmart
Founded: 2019
Founders: Anmol Singh Jaggi, Puneet Singh Jaggi, and Punit K Goyal
Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana
BluSmart is a Gurugram-based startup and India’s first all-electric ride-sharing mobility platform that is known for its efficiency, sustainability, affordability, and intelligent mobility. Anmol Singh Jaggi, Puneet Singh Jaggi, and Punit K Goyal founded BluSmart in January 2019, and following the month, the company launched its first EV vehicle along with the partnership company Mahindra & Mahindra. BluSmart became a well-renowned mobility platform for accreditation on carbon emission. In 2022, Tata Motors signed a memorandum of Understanding with BluSmart to manufacture 10,000 EVs and also partnered with Jio-BP in establishing its charging infrastructure across the country.
Shalini Rath
Banyan Nation
Founded: 2013
Founders: Mani Vajipey
Headquarters: Hyderabad
Making our Nation a zero-plastic is becoming an upstanding challenge, that’s why Banyan Nation founder- Mani Vajipey came up with the idea to recycle industrial plastic into a better quality plastic than virgin plastic. Banyan Nation became the country’s first vertically integrated plastic recycling company. The brand uses eco-friendly detergents in cleaning plastic which removes detrimental contaminants to supply near-virgin quality plastic. Moreover, it is the first company to use cloud and IoT to integrate thousands of informal sector last mile collectors into its supply chain to recover post-consumer as well as post-industrial plastic waste.
Just Organik
Founded: 2013
Founders: Pankaj Agarwal and Richa Agarwal
Headquarters: Delhi
A certified organic food manufacturing & selling brand, Just Organik wants to make safe and healthy organic food more accessible to the consumer. It also aims to create sustainable wealth for the farmers by motivating them to adopt organic farming practices in India. Pankaj Agarwal started this business in the basement of his house in 2013 and now owns 2 major branches across the nation along with a processing unit based in Delhi. The startup’s tagline ‘a walk towards a healthy future’ focuses on supplying chemical-free, 100% natural ingredients, healthy, affordable, and tastier food than your regular food.
Beco
Founded: 2017
Founders: Aditya Ruia, Anuj Ruia and Akshay Varma
Headquarters: Mumbai
This sustainable startup is known to develop sustainable and biodegradable products made with bamboo and cornstarch. Aditya Ruia, Anuj Ruia and Akshay Varma founded the startup in 2017. The startup aims to reduce the usage of plastic products and also offers alternatives to single-usage products like tissues, cotton balls, and more. It offers a wide range of products for home and personal care and makes sure to use only recycled paper for packaging, thereby reducing the use of plastic.
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Nexus Power
Founded: 2020
Founders: Nishita Baliarsingh and Nikita Baliarsingh
Headquarters: Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Another Indian sustainable startup on the list is Nexus Power. The startup is a manufacturer of biodegradable batteries that are designed to power electric vehicles. The company makes use of unburnt crops for manufacturing rechargeable energy-storing cells. This helps to prevent air pollution, as unburnt crops are one of the major sources of it. Nishita and Nikita Baliarsingh founded the startup enabling people to use eco-friendly and sustainable batteries.
Waste Venture India
Founded: 2012
Founders: Roshan Miranda, Parag Gupta, and Rob Whiting
Headquarters: Hyderabad
It is reported Urban India produces about 42 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per annum, which is not good for the environment. As rag pickers are getting affected seriously while picking up waste that is very dangerous like sanitary napkins, used medico synergies, and other plastic waste. On top of that, they are getting paid very low for what they’re doing for the country’s waste management. That’s when Roshan Miranda, Parag Gupta, and Rob Whiting wanted to reduce the country’s trash rate as well as create a safe environment for ragpickers by providing fair wages. They launched ‘Waster Venture India’ in 2012 to provide end-to-end solutions to bulk waste generators. Also offers professional waste collection and processing services to households and corporate clients while creating employment opportunities for waste pickers.
Zypp Electric
Founded: 2013
Founders: Akash Gupta and Rashi Agarwal
Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana
It is one of India’s largest tech-enabled EV-as-a-service platforms, that renders eco-friendly delivery fleet solutions. You would have noticed that food or grocery delivery partners drive in a green electric scooter with Zypp’s brand name on it. Akash Gupta and Rashi Agarwal worked together to build an eco-friendly and carbon-free India by using a network of Electric Vehicles and EV-based tech to make last-mile transportation sustainable and emission-free. Furthermore, Zypp Electric intends to provide carbon-free last-mile delivery for independent retailers, eCommerce giants, and delivery executives, reducing delivery costs and emissions on an asset-light approach.
Bombay Hemp Company
Founded: 2013
Founders: Avnish Pandya, Chirag Tekchandaney, Delzaad Deolaliwala, Jahan Peston Jamas, Sumit Shah, Yash Kotak, and Sanvar Oberoi
Headquarters: Mumbai
BOHECO is an agro-based enterprise established in 2013 that brings out healthy products from industrial loops of hemp and cannabis plants. A single cannabis plant could bring healthy food, quality clothes to wear, and ropes that tie strongly and also brew ayurvedic remedies. The startup made good use of sustainable hemp in manufacturing textiles, building materials, and medicines for health and wellness.
Wakao Foods
Founded: 2020
Founders: Sairaj Dhond
Headquarters: Goa
If I say that one company produces food from the superfood- Jackfruit, would you believe me? Yes, there is a goa-based company that goes by the name ‘Wakao Foods’ that produces food from the tasty and Panruti’s famous fruit aka ‘Jackfruit’. Sairaj Dhond founded this sustainable startup by offering plant-based as well as ready-to-cook products. Wakao Foods is becoming a Pan India brand by delivering its products on e-marketplaces like Flipkart, Amazon, and others.
Anik Banerjee
GoodDot
Founded: 2016
Founders: Abhishek Sinha and Deepak Parihar
Headquarters: Udaipur, Rajasthan
It is an environmentally sustainable brand which provides the taste of traditional cuisine and international fast food in a vegan version. Moreover, the first company to make vegan chicken alternatives such as vegan chicken tikkas, curry bowls & biryani that are loaded with mock chicken crispier. Ergo, Abhishek Sinha the founder of GoodDot wanted to make a big difference in omnivore diners by creating a plant-based trend on chicken & meats. In 2019, the startup has been recognized as the best vegan restaurant of the year.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned startups have made a difference in the world by adopting an environmentally safe method that helps to improve the environment and people’s lifestyles. These startups work on the principle of sustainability and also encourage people to walk toward the path of a sustainable lifestyle.
FAQs
What is a sustainable startup?
A sustainable startup refers to a startup that involves the development of products and services for fulfilling the needs of the present generation without hampering the future generation’s ability to fulfil their needs.
Who is the owner of Imagine meats?
Imagine meats is a plant-based food venture owned by the famous Bollywood couple, Genelia and Riteish Deshmukh.
Is waste management part of sustainability?
Efficient management of waste, water and energy are all parts of sustainability.
Which Indian startups are sustainable brands?
The following are sustainable startups in India:
- Phool
- Ather Energy
- BluSmart
- ZunRoof
- Yulu
- Just Organik
- Banyan Nation