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| Edited By: Ashish K Tiwari |Source: DNA |Updated: Oct 30, 2018, 01:56 PM IST
Incubated in IIT Delhi, this two-year old start-up Clensta – derived from a combination of two words viz. 'clean instantly' – is a classic 'Made In India' venture that's revolutionising personal hygiene without the use of water. The idea not only address the issue of hygiene but also helps save water, something the entire world is working towards. An IIM Calcutta alumnus, Puneet Gupta, founder and chief executive officer, Clensta International Pvt Ltd, in conversation with Ashish K Tiwari, speaks about the unique waterless technology solution offered by the company, distribution in the business-to-business (b2b) space, addition of business-to-customer (b2c) vertical and future plans. Edited excerpts...
I have been in defence services earlier working on a few projects with them. During the tenure I observed that our soldiers posted in areas like Siachen had no option when it came to maintaining personal hygiene in such extreme weather conditions and difficult terrain. My interactions with the various senior generals there was basically the starting point of creating a personal hygiene solution that didn't require use of water. Extensive work was done on changing the fomulation, ingredients, concentration to make our product. When applied/ massaged on the body our product absorbs all the molecues of dirt, oil, grease etc. and can be easily wiped away using a towel. While water was earlier required to remove the molecules that's not the case with our solution. That's how it becomes a waterless personal hygiene solution.
Raising funds wasn't easy in the initial stages as nobody was willing to invest at that time. So, when I proposed to IIT Delhi about what I wanted to do, they accepted it and gave me access to all the required infrastructure facilities, equipment and machinery worth $20 million. Their support really helped in the research and formulation for this product. So the venture was incubated in IIT Delhi, which also funded the research. We also have Anurag S Rathore, chemical faculty at IIT Delhi as part of the core team. As for the intellectual property (IP)/ patent ownership is concerned, it is completely with by Clensta International. IIT Delhi is a shareholder with minority equity of 5% in the company. The balance 95% is held between the company, myself and a few other investors including the Indian Angel Network (IAN) and IAN Fund that has made a recent, undisclosed investment in the company.
There is no direct competition globally. So as such, it is a first of its kind in the world. Having said that, there are some similar products available but it's more like a dry shampoo (akin to products by British hairdressing salon chain Toni & Guy), which is also called waterless shampoo. A cosmetic/ beautification product, it is targeted primarily at people (working women) who cannot wash their hair daily and are still required to well-maintain it. In our case though, the product offers a comprehensive hygiene wherein you can use it continuously for six months. That's the key difference with our waterless technology.
Definitely. In fact, defence forces across the globe are already using our products. Additionally, there are various verticals like hospitals (in India and overseas), railways, airlines, adventure enthusiasts/ camps, lodging/ hostels, immigrants etc. who have been targeted with this product and have found great level of acceptability. In fact, the commercialisation of this product only began in February 2018 as prior to that, we were primarily doing reasearch (funded by IIT Delhi) and working on finalising the product/ solution for use. We still have a lot of ground to cover in terms of making it available to the end consumers.
A person will most likely use 20-25 ml of waterless body bath solution and the same would be true for waterless shampoo too. So quantity wise our products are on the higher side compared to 10-15 ml for body wash and 5 ml for shampoo. On the pricing front though we have a much more attractively proposition compared to various reputed brands and are priced at Rs 499 including 18% goods and services tax (GST). One also needs to take into account the 250-odd litres of water getting saved through use of our products. In fact, we have requested the government to consider the water saving aspect and bring us either in the 5% GST bracket or offer complete exemption from taxes. If that happens, pricing will reduce significantly making our products total value for money.
The lab-grade manufacturing is being done inhouse and the commercial-grade manufacturing is being outsourced to Mumbai-based Cheryl Laboratories. The contract manufacturer (Cheryl) also makes for a host of Indian and multinational firms and we have a dedicated line for our products with a daily capacity of 2 lakh bottles.
At this point of time, India is covered and we are available across most metros. Globally, we have recently signed an agreement for 11 countries including MENA region and South Africa. We have also launched a global office in Netherlands. On the dristribution front, since the target market is defence, paramilitary forces, hospitals and so on, we have not gone to modern trade as yet. We are working with a set of distributors that work mainly in the b2b space. We are also receiving encouraging inquiries from consumers who are interested in buying our products and will very soon be launching in the b2c segment through regular distribution channels as well as e-commerce.
The brand will be Clensta, which is an abbrevation of the words clean instantly. We will take a single brand approach for distribution all across India and the globe.
We will launch it in April next financial year. This will be done through stores of Future Group, Decathalon, Apollo Pharmacy and so on. We have already negotiated contracts with some of them to make our products available through their stores. Once the b2c part kicks in, we might have to increase the production capacity. Cheryl already has 11 factories and one of them could get dedicated to our line of products.
At this point, we have two products and by April next year we may add three more products to the portfolio. One of the products will be a waterless tooth paste. It will be an edible solution for dental/oral care. This will address the issues faced by patients in hospital who are unable to maintain a good dental/oral hygiene. People working in submarines will also benefit from this. Waterless anti-mosquito body bath will be another innovative offering. Consumers using this product will not face mosquito bites for 24 to 36 hours from its use. Water less washing for clothes/ apparels will be another interesting product.
Developing a similar line up for existing FMCG majors will not be that easy. It cannot be built overnight and will take nothing less than 18 to 24 months for any player to even come closer to what we are offering. So we already have a first mover advantage here.
We already have a memorundum of understanding (MoU) in place with L'Oréal. The nitty-gritties are still being evaluated and worked out though.
As a founder, I'll definitely like to scale up the business and it's very important to do it as fast as possible. I wouldn't want to use up a lot of time setting up a distribution base, logistics, etc. That's where acquisitions and partnerships come in and play a crucial role. There are certain terms that we'd like to be agreed to before getting into any patnerships as such. There is a lot left to do in the waterless technology space and we'd like to do that on our own. We are absolutely fine being part of a larger FMCG entity but will want to retain our individuality while operating as an independent business unit under their umbrella.
