D2C startup, BECO, develops and manufactures 100% natural and plastic-free consumer goods in the kitchen, home, and personal care space. Founded by Aditya Ruia, Anuj Ruia and Akshay Varma, BECO makes a sustainable lifestyle easily accessible to all Indians. It provides affordable and eco-friendly alternatives to single-use products such as napkins, toilet paper, tissue rolls and more. BECO recently launched its first-ever 94% plastic-free and 100% recyclable tetra-pak packaging for cleaning solutions.

In this exclusive interview, BECO’s co-founder, Aditya Ruia, talks to NEHA KIRPAL about their process, products, and plans for the future.

Tell us how you develop and manufacture natural and plastic-free consumer goods.
AR: As a sustainable brand, we want consumers to slowly eliminate non-biodegradable items from their homes. Our products, like tissue rolls, kitchen towels, and other normally plastic goods such as toothbrushes are made from bamboo. Bamboo is a strong, durable fibre that is a better alternative to trees that are felled for paper. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet. We source the raw material from North East India.

In terms of kitchen and personal cleaning solutions, we identify non-toxic chemicals. This ensures that all our products are biodegradable and compostable. The biggest benefit of using non-toxic chemicals in cleaning products is that they prevent health issues for those handling them.

Tell us about your affordable and eco-friendly alternatives.
AR: Single-use plastic is one of the largest reasons for environmental degradation. The genesis of BECO goes back to a time when the three of us were part of a beach clean-up drive in Mumbai. We discovered a plastic wrapper, which belonged to a chocolate whose circulation was discontinued back in the 1990s. We wanted to address the pain point afflicting Indian consumers: lack of awareness and availability as well as the ill-affordable options. Starting BECO was our response to this gap.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.

The post BECO: Natural and Plastic-Free Products appeared first on The Teenager Today.

SpaceBasic is an edu-tech company that is making student accommodation and university hostels smarter through an app. SpaceBasic was founded in 2017 by Madhavi Shankar and Silicon Valley based serial entrepreneur Indu Navar. The app helps educational institutions automate everyday tasks and communication within their hostels and student housing communities. The app has grown 300% year over year. It expects to accelerate towards a revenue goal of $25mn in 2026, capturing revenues from the U.S. and India market.

In this exclusive interview, Madhavi Shankar, CEO and Co-Founder of SpaceBasic, talks to NEHA KIRPAL about SpaceBasic’s unique features and plans for the future.

What was the idea, inspiration behind starting SpaceBasic in 2017?
MS: I had some experience working in an early stage startup in Sydney, Australia. Drawing from my international student experience, I was very keen to start a company in India in the student space. In 2017, on a trip to the Bay Area, I was introduced to Indu who was based in San Francisco. We met for a casual chat and we thought it would be a social meeting. A short meeting turned out to be a long and detailed conversation about startups. We both wanted to do something in the education space. We decided to explore the pain points in the education sector. After that, I quit my job in Australia and returned to India to solve a real problem in the education sector.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.

The post SpaceBasic: Digitization for the future appeared first on The Teenager Today.