The article is contributed by Ms. Stuti Kothari and Mr Ankit Kothari, Co- founders, WishCare.
In this digital age, one of the most important aspects of growing your business is your eCommerce and D2C strategy. As much as choosing the right business approach is important; crafting the appropriate marketing strategies is equally essential. Successful marketing is a constantly moving, shifting, and changing machine. It should evolve with the changing dynamics of the industry and ecosystem.
The personal care market occupies a fair share in the booming D2C segment in India. One of the notable names in the sector is WishCare, an environmental-friendly and vegan brand built on the core principle of a sustainable tomorrow. Conceptualized in 2018, the brand has grown exponentially ever since then. Successfully completing and dispatching over 2000 products every day, they have a customer base of over a million now. Behind this successful D2C personal care brand lies the strong and effective marketing strategy based on community building and creating a customer feedback loop.
Co-Creating with Community
Co-creating with the community is the first step of launching any new product for WishCare which is based on extensive market research and community feedback, while ensuring that it is a hit amongst its existing consumers.
Although collecting customer feedback is standard practice, WishCare has stepped it up by innovating its product based on the collected feedback. Based on community suggestions, WishCare identifies the gaps and needs in the market, then their internal research team develops the product. The community also helps with sampling which allows the brand to leverage its feedback loop for research and development purposes. In fact, WishCare developed its Vitamin C+ Pure Glow Serum in complete collaboration with its community.
3C Sustainable Approach
The brand’s 3C approach – Clean (using products that are safe and natural and not harmful either to the humans or to the environment), Conscious (the brand undertakes conscious packaging. It uses packaging material that has either been recycled or can be recycled) and Caring (the brand academically adopts and educates underprivileged girl children) is its core philosophy based on the sustainability vision and this model resonates well with its customer base as well. Hence, every strategy that the brand devises, whether business-oriented or marketing focused centers around this 3C practice.
The brand has banned a list of 100 + ingredients which are chemicals and toxic substances from using it in the production of their products. Furthermore, the brand also identifies itself as a vegan and cruelty-free brand due to its clean approach that promotes using natural ingredients. This is what the brand promises to its customers and it is this ideology that has helped WishCare earn the trust of its customers.
WishCare even boasts of a strong customer care team. Contrary to what anyone would believe, this customer service team is not restricted to customer care executives. In fact, skincare and haircare experts are present to connect with the customers and have one-on-one conversations. Every time, the brand launches a new product, these experts are right there to resolve the customers’ queries. This has helped the brand to create a feedback loop wherein they have been able to persuade the customers to continue their loyalty towards the brand by using the products.
Product development based on community feedback – This team also helps us in identifying gaps in the current market and then the brand transforms it into the next product that could be launched in the market. This approach has helped the brand foster well-knit connections with the customers and also build long-lasting relationships with them.
Conclusion
These three strategies of creating the community feedback loop, adopting the 3C approach, and building a customer-first team have been the brand’s main pillar of success over the past 3 years since it has forayed into the personal care market that is highly fragmented and largely unorganized!
With passing time, people are becoming more responsible and fulfilling towards the environment. Many companies are taking initiatives towards working entirely for nature’s betterment. This brings us to a major contributor in the formulating environment-friendly methods and plans, which is a Cleantech industry.
The cleantech industry works for the benefit of the environment and improves active performance, productivity, and efficiency. This is done by reducing the inputs, costs, waste, and energy consumption, especially in the factories. And for this, India is known to be one of the biggest Cleantech industries with billions of investments along with Foreign direct investments (FDI).
The Cleantech industry basically includes companies that are allied with energy and water resources, and agriculture and manufacturing. On a side note, it’s also known as the Greentech industry. The Cleantech industry in India utilizes a huge range of technologies like renewable energy (biomass, wind power, biofuels etc), recycling, and others.
In fact, the government of India has taken several initiatives in order to support the Cleantech industry such as Wind bidding schemes, skill development, National Solar Mission, and many others.
In this article, we have dug deep into the history, present, and future aspects of the Cleantech industry. Let’s get started!
When it comes to India, the Cleantech industry has been growing with an uprising graph. India has always been very generous and upfront in supporting the cleantech environment. In fact, our country has great plans for increasing the renewable energy capacity up to 175 GW by the year 2022, said by Miss Gaganjot Kaur, Project Manager at the cleantech initiative at Swissnex India.
However, the government of India has changed this target to 225 GW by 2022 and has various plans ahead.
With this in mind, India has set up the goal to achieve up to 40% of its total energy requirement through the renewal of energy sources. This has attracted some very prominent investors overseas.
A few years back, in the EY Renewable Energy County Attractive Index 2018, India was ranked 4th. The energy market in India is prepared for both domestic as well as international ventures that are starting up to offer products and services in India.
Reasons and Growth Implementation for Cleantech Industry
Shortcoming of Natural Resources
Mostly, the natural resources are available in dense forest locations where mining is forbidden under the current environmental laws. This is causing shortcomings of natural resources which puts huge pressure on available resources. That’s why it’s very essential to protect the available resources.
Regulations by Government
The government of India is putting great effort into developing safeguarding regulations for the environment. Alongside, it has become very active in the implementation of such regulations by active social media and awareness of people.
In fact, India is to adopt a pro-environment standpoint in all the growth strategies.
Advanced technology
One thing that can bring a huge difference in the results of the Cleantech Industry programs is the usage of advanced technologies. This would surely help India in achieving the sustainable growth pathway along with the high growth of the Indian economy.
Latest Trends in the Indian Cleantech Industry
India is known to be the fastest-growing renewable energy sector among all the biggest economics across the world. India has set up the aim to rise to 450 GW in renewable energy sources by the year 2030.
Alongside the number of installed solar capacity has also enhanced with great proportions in the past decade.
In the year 2020, India witnessed great investment offers towards clean technologies especially in the areas of grid management and electric vehicle charging. Today, around 20-25% of startups in India are working towards the advancements of clean electricity.
In the upcoming years, the Cleantech Industry is set up to achieve enormous growth and advancement. With the rapid growth, depletion of resources, urbanization, and climate change the requirement of investments is very necessary for clean technology.
Many companies are being established to take the idea and usage of clean technology up forward and drive growth for clean technologies.
India has been investing billions into the Cleantech Industry that’s why it’s known to be one of the biggest markets in this prospect. The US and Western Europe have been transporting advanced technology for safeguarding the environment in India.
India offers pretty strong business outlooks for its foreign investors because of which some of the top companies are taking interest in the Indian Cleantech Industry.
Conclusion
India is working towards the Cleantech industry with great efforts and investments. The government as well formulating various regulations so that companies can easily purchase renewable electricity from the state distributors. And with the high demand for clean power to boost energy protection and reduction of pollution, India is becoming more developed in the field of clean technology. And that’s the main reason why some of the biggest environment-friendly investors are approaching the Indian Cleantech industry with great interest.
It can easily be concluded that the Cleantech industry of India has earned enormous growth and is expected to achieve more advanced technology and results in all aspects of the environment.
FAQ
What is the cleantech industry?
Cleantech refers to measures taken to reduce pollution or waste in the process to safeguard the environment.
What is the rank of India in renewable energy?
India ranks 3rd in the renewable energy market.
Which state is the largest producer of solar energy in India 2021?
Gujarat is one of the largest producers of solar energy in India, with its total installed solar power generation capacity reaching 4,431 MW as of 31 March 2021.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verifiedinformation ondifferent startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.
AirOk is an IIT Madras incubated startup incorporated on April 23, 2015. AirOk was launched with a vision to provide a one-stop solution for any air quality related problems. The company designs and develops cost-effective and efficient green technologies for ambient and indoor air quality management in small/medium scale industrial environment, urban built environment and waste management facilities.
Read this article to know more about AirOk Company Profile, its founder, revenue, funding, wiki, competitors, business model, products, and startup challenges.
AirOk Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is focused on addressing the issue of rising levels of air pollution with innovative solutions in air purifiers, filters, face masks, purifying bags etc. The company specializes in providing customized solutions for both residential as well as commercial set ups, including data centers. AirOk is Headquartered in Delhi, India.
Their flagship solution is EGAPA, a patented filter technology that efficiently reduces high levels of CO2, VOCs and other toxic chemicals, thereby providing a comprehensive indoor air quality solution. Besides providing innovative solutions, the company is also focused on unique designs of the products to enhance user experience and align with today’s design sense of homes and offices.
AirOk – Founders & Team
AirOk Founders & Team
V Deekshith Vara Prasad, Yasa Pavan Reddy and V S Krishna are the co-founders of AirOk Tech. Pvt. Ltd. that manufactures smart air purifier and the company is focused on addressing the issue of rising levels of air pollution.
V Deekshith Vara Prasad, Director & CEO
Deekshith is a BTech graduate in Civil Engineering at IIT Madras. Deekshith Vara Prasad has worked on air pollution since he undertook the project at his college. Deekshith worked as a project associate at IIT Madras for about a year after his graduation, during which he worked with different companies like Hyundai to assess indoor air quality. He also worked in various Indo-German projects at IIT Madras.
Yasa Pavan Reddy, Director & CTO
Pavan is a MS graduate of IIT Madras who has done his M.S by research in environmental engineering with his thesis on the application of low-cost sensors for air quality monitoring. He also has experience in various air quality, water quality and waste management projects. Yasa Pavan Reddy has 4 research publications in different international conferences.
V S Krishna, Director & COO
Krishna is a MTech graduate from the Civil Engineering at IIT Madras, V S Krishna has worked on the design of Control technologies for Industrial emissions. He has experience in Product Designing and fluid Modelling with Computational Fluid Dynamics. He has done various projects on Indoor and Ambient Air Quality testing.
AirOk has designed and developed a revolutionary combination of Air purifiers with high efficiency and performance, equipped with unique design and patented filter technology.
EGAPA Microbes Suitable for hospitals and other healthcare units, this does not just trap harmful bacteria, but kills them. Available in an affordable range, it is a good alternative for tier 2 hospitals.
EGAPA Fumes The filter is designed to remove contaminants and other sources of air pollution. It further eliminates the downtime by removing corrosive gases through the process of adsorption and chemisorption.
AirOk Breathe Safe Face mask N 99 + ANBC (Anti Nicotine Bacterial Control) AirOk Breathe safe face masks come with 5-layered fabric, which includes a charcoal layer, protecting from gaseous and other toxic pollutants. This mask not only captures the particulate matter but can also protect from pollutants, including PM 2.5, automobile gases and dust. The fabric of the mask comprises two components – spun bond polypropylene and melt blown polypropylene, thereby providing a non-woven web. Due to smaller fibers and larger surface area taken up by them, it has excellent wicking and barrier properties. So together, they can create a strong product that can also offer a barrier to fluids and particles.
AirOk Natural These are 0dour removal bags for your small indoor spaces, helping you maintain a fresh environment. AirOk Natural odour removal bags go well with your washrooms, car cabins, shoe racks and closets, maintaining an odour-free environment. They are fragrance free, non-toxic and can be used for up to three years.
While undertaking a project at IIT Madras, AirOk founder Deekshith Vara Prasad did a survey on different Indoor air quality solutions. He identified gaps in terms of existing filter technologies (HEPA) and solutions it could not provide in terms of air purification.
When he pursued his tryst for further developing the technology for a comprehensive Indoor air quality solution, he came up with EGAPA (trademark registered to AirOk) filter technology. After seeing the results of the first prototype, he was confident that he had developed something unique, which the market actually requires.
AirOk – Business Model & Revenue Model
The company does direct sales as well as sales through partners and distributors. Ensuring clean air is a service for them. It collaborates with corporate clients as clean air partner for a period of 5 years and provide solution in the form of service. AirOk has done this already with several Fortune500 companies.
One thing that clearly sets them apart from competition is their technical background. Their strength has been technology since inception and they have partnered with their customers more as a clean air consultant rather than sales company.
AirOk – Startup Challenges
AirOk was started with the vision to become a one-stop solution for any air quality related problems. The issue that they have identified is that the incumbent indoor air quality solutions are able to solve the problems just partially, by eliminating few parameters in the indoor air.
The target was to develop a comprehensive indoor air quality solution and they went on to develop unique patented filter technology for the same. During this process, they have faced challenges such as validating the technology by a third-party organization, considering that it is a first of its kind in the league. Finally, they have identified a standard test protocol to validate to the technology that has helped them get into the market.
The company raised 2 million USD from SAR group in 2017 and used the funds in product manufacturing, launching the same in various markets and future product development. Within two years after their first round of investment, they have grown multi-fold and become profitable. They are now planning to go for second round of funding in next 12 months.
AirOk – Competitors
The USP of the company is its patented filter technology EGAPA – Efficient Granular Adsorbent Particulate Arrestor. Indoor Air quality problem can’t be generalized always to PM2.5. EGAPA was developed to solve the specific problems in various indoor spaces. Each Indoor environment requires its own solution after scientifically assessing the air quality and analyzing the data.
Indoor air quality problem can’t be generalized as it’s not uniform at all places. What differentiates AirOk from competition is that they work closely with their clients as clean air consultants, by addressing their specific air quality needs rather than being a knocking salesman.
AirOk – Growth
First 1.5 years of their journey was dedicated to product development and validation, till early 2017. Once the product got third-party validation from NABL accredited lab, they started raising funds for manufacturing and initial market entry. By the end of 2017, they successfully raised 2-million-dollars funding, enabling the company launch its product in July 2018.
During the initial three months after launch, the co-founders personally conducted product demos at various office spaces in Chennai, in a bid to understand the customer needs. Based on the valuable inputs, they entered the Delhi market and there was no looking back after that.
They are near to touching one-million dollar in revenue this financial year (2020) with a 10x growth rate. The best part of their growth is that they have established themselves as a profitable entity despite launching product in a segment that already comprises almost 300 brands in India.
AirOk Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is focused on addressing the issue of rising levels of air pollution with innovative solutions in air purifiers, filters, face masks, purifying bags etc. The company specializes in providing customized solutions for both residential as well as commercial set ups, including data centers.
Who is the Founder of AirOk?
V Deekshith Vara Prasad, Yasa Pavan Reddy and V S Krishna are the co-founders of AirOk Tech. Pvt. Ltd. that manufactures smart air purifier and the company is focused on addressing the issue of rising levels of air pollution.
How does AirOk make money?
The company does direct sales as well as sales through partners and distributors. Ensuring clean air is a service for them. They collaborate with corporate clients as clean air partner for a period of 5 years and provide solution in the form of service.
How much funding has AirOk raised?
The company raised 2 million USD from SAR group in 2017and used the funds in product manufacturing, launching the same in various markets and future product development.
AirOk – Conclusion
AirOk has developed the country’s first novel, indigenous air purifier – Vistar. Powered by an EGAPA (Efficient Granular Adsorbent Particulate Arrester), Vistar can filter a variety of pollutants such as particulate matter, microbes, fungus and gaseous substances. The product’s superior technology has been validated by lab and field tests. The positive results of the lab tests done by Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, Bengaluru and field trials conducted by Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Child Trust Hospital, Chennai are a testimony to the team’s ability to develop first-in-class solutions. AirOk launched Vistar air-purifier which will have a coverage area of 550 square feet.
Anamika Mahapatra
