These women-led baby care startups ensure you care for your baby and also the environment
Meet four women entrepreneurs who are giving a sustainable spin to India’s babycare industry that is poised to grow at CAGR 15 percent in the next five years.
Eco-friendly and organic products have become popular alternatives to commercial and mass-produced products. It’s a sweeping trend in the Indian baby care products sector that has long been dominated by brands like Pampers and Johnson & Johnson.
Entrepreneurs in India are helping mothers to take care of babies but also care for the environment by opting for eco-friendly products in different areas, from food, diapers, and bedding, among others.
The Indian market for baby care products is expected to grow at a CAGR 15 percent between 2020 and 2025.
Here are four women entrepreneurs who are helping mothers provide the best for their newborns.
Shruti Tibrewal, BebeBurp
Shruti Tibrewal wanted the best for her newborn but did not wish to compromise on her work. The Surat-based marketing specialist then turned to her grandparents for advice on multitasking as a parent as well as healthy traditional recipes for her baby. Shruti teamed up with her husband Bharat Tibrewal and brother Chirag Gupta to start BebeBurp, an organic and ready-to-eat food brand for babies.
Founded in 2017, BebeBurp offers healthy and organic food like oatmeal mix, khichdi mix, millet mix, barley mix, ragi cookies, and oats and raisin cookies, priced between Rs 109 and Rs 239.
Bootstrapped so far, the products are available on ecommerce platforms like , , Mybabycart, Eazelly as well as several department stores in Surat.
Started with an initial investment of over Rs 1 lakh, BebeBurp clocks Rs 35 lakh in revenue annually.
Rishu Gandhi, When a working mother shared how polyester wipes were causing skin rashes, Rishu Gandhi took the long, entrepreneurial way to tackle the issue. The former Infosys employee saw a huge need for organic and eco-friendly baby care products and founded Mother Sparsh in 2016.
Based in Mohali, Punjab, the bootstrapped brand forayed into the market with eco-friendly and biodegradable wipes as its first product.
During a previous interaction with , the entrepreneur said that jumping into the retail segment and spending Rs 1 crore on marketing was a mistake. However, it began sampling products and educating target consumers and now clocks a turnover of Rs 3.5 crore.
With its presence on platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and FirstCry, the startup records monthly sales worth Rs 40 to Rs 45 lakh.
(From L to R clockwise) Payal Karumbia, Founder of The Baby Atelier; Rishu Gandhi, Founder of Mother Sparsh; Amrita Vaswani, Founder of BumChum; Shruti Tibrewal, Co-founder of BebeBurp
Payal Karumbia,
Payal Karumbia was looking after the children's furniture section at her family business when she noted an utter lack of organic and clean furnishings for children. She said most products were laced with dyes and chemicals.
In 2016, she started The Baby Atelier specialising in eco-friendly and hypoallergenic children’s bedding that are organic and pesticide-free. The Bengaluru-based startup offers fitted crib sheets, bibs, pillow covers, hooded towels, blankets, washcloths, and bedsheets, priced between Rs 550 and Rs 1,800.
It sources cotton only from Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified vendors in India and sells in retail markets across the Middle East, the US, the UK, Australia, and Europe. Parents can also avail its interior design services to do rooms and spaces for children up to 15 years old.
Amrita Vaswani, BumChum
Former marketing professional, Amrita Vaswami who has worked with global brands like Microsoft, American Express, and Colgate, acted on her entrepreneurial instincts when she saw a huge opportunity for diapers and baby care products.
Amrita is the founder of BumChum, a Bengaluru-based startup that offers eco-friendly and chemical-free baby care products like hybrid diaper covers, T-shirts, muslin cloth nappies, among others.
The hybrid diaper, which has a fashionable outer shell and a disposable bio-soaker are manufactured in China. The brand started selling through online marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon before contacting distributors to sell at boutique stores.
Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan