[Startup Bharat] This Vadodara-based startup has manufactured over 70,000 PPE kits

As India and the world continue its fight against coronavirus pandemic, there is an ever increasing demand of safety equipment for the healthcare professionals as well as the general public.

Vadodara-based startup Sure Safety is working towards making the safety equipment available in a big way.

Founded by Nishith Dand, Sure Safety offers a complete solution in the field of industrial fire and safety. The e-commerce platform offers equipment such as Industrial Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) from head to toe, healthcare PPE, fire detection and protection, fall protection, electrical safety system, consulting and training. These include face masks, booties, face shield, gloves, and protective eye wears.

The startup is among the first few companies engaged by the government of India to manufacture PPE to fight coronavirus. The company has so far manufactured more than 70,000 kits.

Sure Safety, which has so far delivered 60,000 disposable kits to the Union health ministry, had delivered India’s first space suit to ISRO in 2015.

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The reusable kits

Sure Safety has manufactured several unique products in the past for manufacturing industries, and defence and space applications. It offers its products through its website and ships across the world.

“Our growth since inception is from selling 10,000 units to currently selling one million units per year and we are planning to double the production if required,” says Nishith.

The reusable PPE kits (a set of 10) comes with a decontamination chamber and the one-time cost of installation, including piping, is about Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh. In case additional reusable PPE kits are to be purchased, it costs around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. The disposable kit costs around Rs 2,000.

“What differentiates the reusable PPE kits from the disposable ones is the raw materials used, such as multi-laminated fibres and anti-static materials with exhalation valves,” says Nishith.

He observed that such suits can be of great use as India and the world have been witnessing disasters and pandemics every two to three years. He cited examples of Bird Flu, SARS, Ebola and Zika virus apart from COVID-19.

“We have made the kits user-friendly for medical professionals and the decontamination process too has been made simpler. Breathing air quality equipment has been added in it, making it convenient for use even when the air quality is poor,” says Nishtish.

Passion for safety

Nishith is a technocrat with a penchant for innovation and has many firsts to his credit in his zeal for providing safe work environment to stakeholders in various segments such as oil and gas, petroleum, chemicals and fertilisers, pharmaceuticals and textiles or any manufacturing facility challenged with hazards.

Nishith is also an acclaimed speaker on matters of personal and environment safety and has many published papers in this field in both national and international journals to his credit. He also has participated in various national and international seminars and exhibitions and has accredited himself in several international certification programmes as an instructor.

He is a naturalist and is the founder member of PAGDAND – a bio-diversity campaign at Vadodara in Gujarat, besides being an active participant in government initiatives for social cause.

This passion for safety led him to eventually venture into aerospace and defence, sectors that have clearly defined hazards. Sure Safety as a company under his leadership grew from a small trading firm in 2004 to a global manufacturing company.

This became possible due to his extensive interaction with large players globally during his long travels both in India and abroad which widened his vision and helped him learn, adopt and introduce newer technology in pace with global developments and bring to our country the best technologies in shorter time and at economical price.

Today, Sure Safety has around 200 employees.

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The way forward

According to a recent report by TechSci Research, the personal protection equipment (PPE) market in India is forecast to grow at a CAGR of over 14 percent between 2015 and 2020. While there are global players such as David Clark Company, Nishith says their products are more expensive when compared to his.

Sure Safety currently claims to have a revenue growth rate of about 40 percent. The company claims to be a debt-free one with investments from banks. The team however is looking for an equity partnership in future.

However, when asked about the future plans, Nishith says,

“We are planning to triple our existing production capacity in Vadodara with an investment of Rs 50 to 60 crore, given the surge in demand. We are also aiming to develop Global Safety Centre in Gujarat with state of the art infrastructure to be future ready to face any kind of pandemic, introduce new innovative products in safety segment as well as expand exports to the US, Europe, Africa and Middle East regions.”