Bhavna Bahri and Samarth Mungali, Founders, No Formulae

With the aim of providing strategic creative advantage to businesses, No Formulae designs innovative products, services and processes that help its clients forge unique identities in today’s crowded marketplace. The firm’s use of design and design thinking to provide customised innovative strategies and solutions translates into a better customer experience, lower costs and higher revenue.

Founded by Bhavna Bahri and Samarth Mungali, two young entrepreneurs from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, No Formulae practises ‘designful’ innovation, instilling creativity and innovation in business domains. “We work on long-term collaboration as strategic design partners, aiming to create solutions that help not only our clients, but also their customers and the environment,” says Bahri.

The world is full of women and men who have made significant contributions through sheer determination and effort. Motivated by such examples, Bahri and Mungali, who both studied strategic design management at NID, established No Formulae in April 2008 without external funding, and their firm is being incubated by their alma mater, at its National Design Business Incubator.

“Our objective while enrolling for the postgraduate course at NID was to move closer to our dream of being entrepreneurs. Essentially, we were excited by the infinite possibilities that are presented when we are the masters of our own show,” said Mungali, who, prior to pursuing his postgraduate degree at NID, earned an engineering degree in electronics and communication from the Delhi College of Engineering.

The duo, however, faced the challenge of changing the traditional perception of design. “Though we are still working on this, our past projects help us quote direct examples to prove our point. Clear results are the only way to change this outlook,” Mungali says.

“We believe that every problem is unique and requires a unique answer, and there is a unique mix of methods to attain this. No Formulae has a human-centric approach towards creating new services, processes and brands,” says Bahri. “We plan to expand our team and presence with the perfect mix of the creative and functional sides.”

No Formulae was conceptualised over a period of one year before being officially launched. Since then, it has been executing projects across various industries. “From just promoters, the team now has 10 members on board, each with diverse experience, adding to the richness of our organisation,” says Bahri, who also holds a graduate degree in commerce from the University of Delhi.

Even before forming No Formulae, both Bahri and Mungali were recognised for their entrepreneurial skills. They won the best student team award and were adjudged runners-up at one of the biggest business plan challenges in Asia, Eureka 2008, and also made it to the final round of the Power of Ideas competition organised by the Economic Times. In addition, Mungali was voted India’s hottest entrepreneur at the Philips Simplicity Challenge 2007.

“We gave up our regular jobs to embark on this journey, all the while enjoying the highs and lows that come our way,” Bahri says. “Entrepreneurship is like driving on the highway at night; you can’t see the end of the road, but you keep moving forward.”

No Formulae has already been lauded for its work. “Our invention, the Acceptor, has been globally recognised as a simple design innovation that has had a profound impact,” Mungali says. On their journey, these two entrepreneurs plan to establish a presence in West Asia and Europe in 2010, and also aim on collaborating with similar firms internationally. And for this journey, YourStory wishes them the success that comes through sheer determination and effort.