When it comes to mushrooms, I trust Jashid Hameed and his wife Prithvi Kini from Kochi. It’s this trust, born from their personal experience, that led them to co-found his Nuvedo, an agritech startup investing in the purported medicinal properties of this humble fungus. .
Founded in 2021 in Bangalore, Nuvedo is engaged in manufacturing and selling exotic mushroom kits and kits for growing mushroom extracts. A promising but untapped market. The startup is targeting a turnover of Rs 50,000 crore this financial year as its unusual products are steadily finding a loyal market.
Mr. Hameed, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani and a PG Diploma in Business Management from Indian Institute of Management, Indore, worked at Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd for three years before making the jump into startups. . As an area operations manager.
Kini, who holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Delhi’s Lady Shriram College for Women and is also a yoga trainer, has co-founded a deep-tech startup. The couple shared a common interest in starting their own influential businesses. They wanted it to be in the food space or the wellness space.
“We spent a year volunteering at several farms in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. It helped us get exposed to different farming methods and crops. But this… The more we learned about the field, the more we realized that it would take years to launch the fully organic farm of our dreams. This realization led us to think differently. ” Hamed told Onmanorama.
The answer to their startup quest arrived in several packets from the United States. “After I moved to Bangalore, I started suffering from frequent allergies and got tired of taking antihistamines. Then a friend of mine brought mushroom extract, a popular dietary supplement, from the US. After taking it for about 3 months, my allergy symptoms were almost gone. When Covid started, it became difficult to obtain products. At that time, there was a brand of mushroom extract in India. I realized I wouldn’t,” Hamed recalls. Convinced of the healing powers of mushrooms, Hameed and Kini saw a potential market in India.
Nuvedo started by releasing mushroom kits that allowed anyone to grow and harvest mushrooms from a box. The idea was to exploit the existing market of mushroom lovers in an attractive way. He also served as an educational resource. For two years, the company only sold five types of mushroom kits. Nuvedo continued to tap into potential markets by regularly organizing awareness events in schools, universities, and NGOs. It also hosted the Mushroom Festival, the first event in Wayanad, Kerala.
Meanwhile, the startup has developed a unique extraction technology in collaboration with the Central Food Technology Research Institute in Mysuru. They have developed a sound wave-based technology and are awaiting patents. Nuvedo will launch his own mushroom extracts in September 2023, and the products include his five categories: one powder and four liquids. His 60% of the company’s revenue comes from extracts. Sales will also take place online and at select retail stores.
The startup recently gained a lot of attention when it was featured on the popular business reality show, Shark Tank India. Nuved has also secured a subsidy of Rs 2 million from the Karnataka government.
(Startup Saturday is Onmanorama’s weekend series highlighting promising startups from Kerala. Read previous articles here)
