BIOWEG GINSEP-Talk

algebraist
24 May 202458:07

Summary

TLDRThe video script features an insightful interview with Pranay Joshi, co-founder of BioW, a deep-tech startup focused on replacing petroleum-based ingredients with biodegradable alternatives. Joshi shares his journey from a neuroscience PhD to a strategy consultant at EY, and finally to entrepreneurship. He discusses the founding story of BioW, its mission to eliminate microplastics in cosmetics and agriculture, and the challenges and strategies involved in gaining traction with major industry players. The conversation also touches on the importance of networking, the role of incubators, and the unique aspects of doing business in Germany as a foreign founder.

Takeaways

  • 😀 The session is about Indo-German startup stories, aiming to inspire and guide founders with personal narratives and experiences.
  • 🌟 The speaker, Pranay, is the founder of a prominent startup that has been featured in major German newspapers and has partnerships with large corporations.
  • 🎓 Pranay's background is in biotechnology and neuroscience, having completed his PhD at a renowned institute, which provided a strong foundation for his scientific endeavors.
  • 🔍 Pranay transitioned from academia to business, leveraging his scientific knowledge and self-study in finance and economics to work in strategy consulting.
  • 💡 The idea for his startup, BioW, was born out of a desire to address environmental concerns by replacing petroleum-based ingredients and microplastics with sustainable alternatives.
  • 🌱 BioW is a deep tech company with a mission to create biodegradable polymers that outperform traditional plastics, targeting industries like cosmetics and agriculture.
  • 💼 Pranay emphasizes the importance of mindset shifts from focusing on technology to creating products that meet market needs and deliver value to customers.
  • 📈 The startup has grown steadily, with a diverse team and plans to scale up production and secure further funding to expand their impact.
  • 🤝 Pranay highlights the value of networking and incubator programs in establishing a business, especially for foreign founders, and the importance of selecting the right ecosystem for the startup's industry.
  • 🌐 The company is currently based in Germany, leveraging local resources and support, with plans to expand to Asia, focusing on India, where Pranay is originally from.
  • 🚀 Looking ahead, BioW anticipates product launches, collaborations, and continuing their mission to reduce microplastic pollution globally.

Q & A

  • What is the purpose of the Indo German startup stories session?

    -The purpose of the Indo German startup stories session is to share inspiring role models and individual stories of founders who can guide and inspire others who want to embark on a similar path. The session aims to provide firsthand experiences, dos and don'ts, and recommendations from the founders themselves, which are considered extremely valuable.

  • Can you explain the role of GINP in supporting startups?

    -GINP, which stands for German-Indian Startup Partnership, is a non-profit initiative that supports startups from India and Germany to enter each other's markets. It offers capacity building, promotions for visibility, and is considered the biggest startup initiative in the Indo-German context. GINP supports founders in various ways and organizes soft landing programs for Indian startups interested in entering the German market.

  • What is the background of the guest speaker, PTI Mahala?

    -PTI Mahala is the founder of a prominent startup that has been featured in major German newspapers and has collaborations with big corporations. He has a background in biotechnology and neuroscience, having completed his PhD at the Max Planck Institute. He also has experience in politics, having been a student president at the Max Planck Society and involved in lobbying during Obama's time for science policy.

  • How did PTI Mahala transition from academia to business?

    -PTI Mahala transitioned from academia to business by first working in strategy consulting at EY (Ernst & Young) in Frankfurt, where he gained experience in M&A and finance. This helped him to transform his thinking from a technology perspective to a product and market perspective, which was essential for his business journey.

  • What is BioW and what problem does it aim to solve?

    -BioW is a deep tech company with a mission to replace petroleum-based ingredients, specifically microplastics. The company has developed a biopolymer through fermentation, which is a substitute for microplastics and is fully biodegradable within 60 days. BioW aims to address the issue of microplastic pollution in various industries, including cosmetics and agriculture.

  • How did BioW manage to collaborate with big brands like L'Oreal and Louis Vuitton?

    -BioW collaborated with big brands by developing end formulations and products and presenting them to clients as ready applications. This approach allowed clients to experience the difference in functionality firsthand, which helped BioW to stand out and secure collaborations.

  • What is the current status of BioW in terms of team size, revenue, and funding?

    -BioW currently has a team of 19 people from 10 different nationalities. They have an office in Monheim and a production facility in Quakenbrück, Germany. The company generated more than half a million in revenue last year and is projected to exceed a million this year. They have raised funds from German high-net-worth individuals and received grants from the EU and German government, totaling around 3-4 million. They are in the process of closing a 20 million Euro round to scale up their operations.

  • Why did BioW choose to locate their production facility in Quakenbrück, a small village in Germany?

    -BioW chose Quakenbrück because of its relaxed environment and the support offered by the local community, including the German Institute of Food Technologies. The location provided access to necessary infrastructure and expertise without the high costs associated with larger cities, making it an ideal place for their pilot scale production facility.

  • What advice does PTI Mahala have for foreign founders looking to set up a business in Germany?

    -PTI Mahala advises foreign founders to focus on building a strong network, joining incubator programs for structured feedback and connections, and understanding the local culture and commercialization strategies. He also emphasizes the importance of hiring people with experience in the local industry and culture to facilitate business development.

  • What are some of the challenges and opportunities PTI Mahala sees in Germany as a business destination?

    -Germany offers a strong and stable economy, a growing initiative to promote entrepreneurship, and a welcoming environment for foreign founders. However, Mahala points out that the startup ecosystem and taxation structure could be improved. Despite these challenges, Germany's advanced technology focus, changing language openness, and improving visa structures make it an attractive business destination.

Outlines

00:00

📅 Session Introduction and Indo-German Startup Initiative

The session begins with a brief introduction to the Indo-German startup stories series, which aims to inspire and guide aspiring entrepreneurs through the experiences and insights of founders. The speaker highlights the importance of real-world experiences over theoretical knowledge. The session is organized by GINP, a six-year-old nonprofit initiative supporting startups from India and Germany. The speaker also mentions upcoming Soft Landing programs for Indian startups interested in the German market and encourages interested founders to reach out for more information. The session is structured with a Q&A at the end and is expected to last approximately 45 minutes, with a focus on an interview-style discussion.

05:00

👋 Welcoming the Guest and Background Story

The host welcomes PTI Mahala, the guest of the session, and requests him to share his personal story. PTI Mahala, originally from Meerut, India, shares his academic background in biotechnology and neuroscience, having completed his PhD at the renowned Max Planck Institute. He discusses his transition from academia to politics, becoming the student president at the Max Planck Society and engaging in lobbying activities during Obama's presidency. PTI Mahala then explains his pivot from a potential academic career to the business world, working as a strategy consultant at EY, where he gained experience in finance and business strategy. This diverse background led him to co-found a deep tech company with a mission to replace petroleum-based ingredients, particularly microplastics, with a biodegradable alternative.

10:01

🌐 Transition from Academia to Business and Founding BioW

The speaker elaborates on his transition from a scientific mindset to a business-oriented one, emphasizing the importance of understanding both technology and the market. He discusses the founding of BioW, a deep tech company with a mission to replace microplastics with a biodegradable alternative. BioW's technology involves using bacteria to create a biopolymer that is three times more functional than plastic and fully biodegradable within 60 days. The company is currently focusing on applications in cosmetics and agriculture, partnering with major brands and companies. The speaker also mentions BioW's R&D labs and a proof of scale plant in Quakenbrück, Germany, where they produce their innovative biopolymer.

15:02

💡 The Journey of BioW: From Concept to Market Leaders

The speaker discusses the challenges and process of developing a solution to replace microplastics, a pervasive environmental issue. He explains how BioW started with a focus on problem-solving and then identified suitable technologies from academia. The company's product outperforms microplastics in functionality and sustainability, which is a significant advantage in the market. The speaker also shares insights on how to approach clients effectively by offering end applications and demonstrating the tangible benefits of their product. This strategy has been instrumental in BioW's success in partnering with large corporations.

20:04

🌟 Current Status and Future Plans of BioW

The speaker provides an update on BioW's current status, including its team size, revenue, and ongoing fundraising efforts. The company is based in Germany with a diverse team of 19 people from 10 different nationalities. BioW has received grants from the EU and the German government, amounting to millions in funding. The speaker also discusses plans for growth, including a significant fundraising round to scale up operations. Additionally, he mentions the company's strategy to enter the Asian market, with plans to set up production facilities in India to address the region's microplastic issue.

25:05

🤝 Building Networks and Overcoming Challenges as Foreign Founders

The speaker reflects on his experience as an Indian founder establishing a business in Germany. He emphasizes the importance of networking and the role it played in securing funding and support. Incubator programs provided structured feedback and connections that were crucial for BioW's success. The speaker also discusses the decision to locate their production facility in Quakenbrück, a small village that offered support from the local community and access to the German Institute of Food Technologies. This strategic choice allowed them to grow their business in a cost-effective and supportive environment.

30:06

🚀 Lessons Learned and Advice for Foreign Founders

Drawing from his experiences, the speaker offers advice for foreign founders looking to establish their businesses in Germany. He suggests focusing on finding the right ecosystem that aligns with the industry and product, rather than just targeting major cities. He also highlights the importance of leveraging incubator programs for support and networking opportunities. The speaker shares insights on the benefits of being in a smaller community, such as access to resources and a supportive network, which can be advantageous for startups, especially in the early stages of development.

35:09

🛣️ Navigating Germany's Business Landscape as Foreign Founders

The speaker discusses the advantages and challenges of doing business in Germany as foreign founders. He acknowledges Germany's strong and stable economy, the growing support for entrepreneurship from the state, and the openness to English, which has improved significantly over the years. He also points out areas for improvement, such as the startup ecosystem and taxation, which are currently being addressed by various foundations and communities. The speaker is optimistic about the future, citing the influx of major tech companies and the evolving economic landscape as promising signs for startups.

40:10

🤝 Finding the Right Co-founder and Building a Strong Team

The speaker emphasizes the importance of finding a good co-founder, likening the relationship to a marriage due to the need for mutual trust and the ability to work through challenges together. He advises looking within one's network and considering someone with whom they have previously worked. The speaker also stresses the importance of complementary skills and the ability to listen and communicate effectively. He suggests a trial period to test the compatibility of potential co-founders and to ensure that they can work well together under stress.

45:10

💼 Adapting to Business Development and Networking for Startups

The speaker provides insights on how to build connections and expand networks for business development. He recommends attending events, participating in community or incubator programs, and offering one's expertise to other startups to build relationships. The speaker also addresses the question of a co-founder with plans to return to India, suggesting that it could affect fundraising if there is no clear business rationale or role for the co-founder in India. He advises discussing the co-founder's future contributions and considering equity adjustments in such situations.

50:11

💼 Fundraising in the Deep Tech Space and Investor Expectations

The speaker discusses the metrics that investors look for in the deep tech space, especially during the pre-seed stage. He highlights the importance of thinking big and demonstrating how the technology can significantly impact the world. The speaker mentions that deep tech investments are high-risk, and investors expect substantial returns, making the potential impact of the technology a crucial metric. He also emphasizes the scalability of the technology and the strength of the team, as investors are primarily investing in the team and the founders' ability to execute the idea.

55:14

🌟 Future Outlook for BioW and Expansion Plans

The speaker shares the future outlook for BioW, including upcoming product launches in Europe and North America due to the ban on microplastics. He anticipates the team will grow significantly, and the company is exploring expansion into the Asian market, particularly India, where they plan to set up production facilities to address the microplastic issue. The speaker also mentions potential collaborations and partnerships that will be announced in the coming months, indicating a period of growth and development for BioW.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Indo German startup stories

This concept refers to the narratives and experiences of startups that have either Indian or German origins or are operating in both markets. The video's theme revolves around sharing these stories to inspire and guide aspiring entrepreneurs. The importance of individual stories of founders is highlighted as a source of valuable firsthand experience, something that can't be fully captured by generic advice found online.

💡Inspiring role models

Inspiring role models are individuals who have successfully navigated the challenges of entrepreneurship and can serve as examples for others. In the context of the video, the speaker emphasizes the need for such figures to motivate and provide a relatable path for those considering starting their own businesses, particularly within the Indo-German startup ecosystem.

💡Capacity building

Capacity building refers to the process of developing abilities and competencies within individuals or organizations. In the script, it is mentioned that the speaker's organization supports startups from India and Germany by enhancing their capacities, which could involve training, mentorship, or providing resources to strengthen their operations and increase their chances of success.

💡Soft Landing programs

Soft Landing programs are services designed to assist startups in establishing a presence in a new market with less risk and effort. The speaker mentions that their organization is organizing such programs for Indian startups interested in entering the German market, indicating a structured approach to help businesses navigate the complexities of international expansion.

💡Microplastic

Microplastic refers to tiny plastic particles that are used in various products and can cause environmental harm due to their non-biodegradable nature. The video discusses a startup's mission to replace microplastic ingredients in products like hand wash, shampoo, and cosmetics, highlighting a significant environmental issue and the innovative solutions being developed to address it.

💡Biodegradable

Biodegradable describes materials that can be broken down by the action of living organisms, typically over a certain period of time. The video talks about a biopolymer developed by a startup that serves as a substitute for microplastic and is fully biodegradable within 60 days, emphasizing the environmental benefits of such innovations.

💡Deep tech company

A deep tech company is one that focuses on developing advanced, cutting-edge technologies that often require significant R&D and scientific expertise. The video features a deep tech company that has engineered a biopolymer to replace petroleum-based ingredients, showcasing the intersection of science, technology, and sustainability.

💡Fermentation

Fermentation is a biological process that uses bacteria or yeast to convert sugar into cellular energy, often resulting in the production of by-products such as alcohol, acids, or gases. In the context of the video, fermentation is utilized by the startup to produce a biopolymer, demonstrating the application of biological processes in creating innovative materials.

💡EIC funding

The European Innovation Council (EIC) provides funding and support to innovative startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU. The speaker mentions receiving grants and equity funding from the EIC, which is crucial for the growth and development of their deep tech company, illustrating the financial support available for promising startups in the region.

💡Product-market fit

Product-market fit is the degree to which a product satisfies a market need and is able to attract and retain a stable customer base. The video discusses the importance of achieving product-market fit with minimal capital, emphasizing the need for startups to validate their offerings in the market effectively before scaling.

💡Incubator programs

Incubator programs are structured initiatives aimed at nurturing the growth of startups by providing them with resources, mentorship, and sometimes funding. The speaker mentions joining incubator programs to gain structured feedback and connections, which helped in building the network and securing grants essential for their business.

Highlights

Introduction of Indo German Startup Stories session and the importance of sharing founder experiences.

GinP, a non-profit initiative supporting Indian and German startups, and its role in capacity building and promotions.

Announcement of soft landing programs for Indian startups interested in the German market.

PTI Mahala's background shift from biotechnology and neuroscience to business and politics.

PTI Mahala's experience in strategy consulting at EY and the transition to entrepreneurship.

The founding story of BioW and its mission to replace petroleum-based ingredients with biodegradable alternatives.

BioW's innovative use of fermentation and bacteria to create a biopolymer that outperforms microplastic.

Collaborations with major cosmetic brands and the application of BioW's polymer in the cosmetics industry.

The challenges of differentiating BioW's technology in a competitive market and the strategy to overcome them.

BioW's current status, team size, and plans for scaling up production and fundraising.

The role of personal connections and the importance of networking for foreign founders in Germany.

Strategic location choice for BioW's production facility in Quakenbrück and its benefits.

Fundraising experiences and the significance of grants and personal connections in the early stages.

PTI Mahala's insights on the importance of selecting the right co-founder and building a strong team.

Discussion on the future plans of BioW, including product launches and expansion into the Asian market.

Engagement with the audience, answering questions about co-founder dynamics, industry-specific advice, and fundraising metrics.

Closing thoughts and invitation for further connections and discussions on LinkedIn.

Transcripts

play00:13

so just letting people

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in with the delay of one and a half

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minutes

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and I've muted everyone and including

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predique so only predi needs to unmute

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himself um but I think we should get

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started then as well there will be

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probably a few more people um um joining

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over the next minutes but I suggest we

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get started so first of all welcome

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everyone uh to the session thank you so

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much for signing up and um to this

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series about uh um Indo German startup

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stories and why do we actually do this

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these kind of stories because we've

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learned over the years we need inspiring

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role models we need in individual

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stories of Founders that can tell the

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ones that also want to go um that Path U

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um about share their experience about

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the dos and don'ts um why they did this

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what they would change we really feel

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that these and firstand experience are

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extremely valuable um because you can

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read all these kind of things on the

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internet some 10 steps this some 10

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steps that but many times one feels that

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it's very theoretical so the best is

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really to hear from the founders

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themselves

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um how the journey went um and the

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recommendations that they have the dawns

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that they uh um that they have um as

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recommendations so um and this is why we

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want to want to do that story and a few

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sentences on ginp ginp is now uh six

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more than six years old uh as a

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nonprofit initiative to support startups

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from India and from Germany to enter the

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other markets in different ways so we do

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capacity building we do lots of

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promotions for for the for for the

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visibility um it's the biggest startup

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uh initiative in the indo-german context

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so pan India and pan pan Germany um and

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uh well with different ways we're

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supporting the founders um and we also

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have one thing that I wanted to uh

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wanted to highlight now here for uh

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Indian startups that are interested in

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um in entering the German Market we are

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organizing one possibly two soft Landing

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programs now for this summer again and

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there is a call um for application open

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so if there are Indian Founders uh there

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right now just send me an email reach

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out and um and if you want to re receive

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some more information about it then I

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can share you uh the details um

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accordingly now um before we uh before I

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PR take um our guest for today uh the uh

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the first questions that get straight to

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the to the interview few house rules so

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it's uh we have a Q&A at the very end if

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you have some questions in between uh

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put them idly put them in the chat later

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on we see how it is depending on the

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amount of question we you can also ask

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them in person um if there some of the

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questions are there that fit right into

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the um the the topic uh that we disc

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discussing then I might also take this

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up um but um else we we um keep it till

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the uh end of the of the session and the

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session will be roughly 45 minutes and

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we plan for roughly half an hour so 30

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minutes offer some some interview style

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and then we have some up to 15 minutes

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um there but definitely we want to round

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up until 12:00 or 3:30 Indian time so um

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that to all find to go for the next um

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uh meetings Okay cool so um uh let's

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start and I'm really excited to have PTI

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Mahala here today um which is not just

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any kind of startup story but I would

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say one of the most prominent one um um

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in various newspapers here the big

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German newspapers like H blood you have

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some uh cooperations with uh big

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corporates as well so it's really an

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impressive story but of course you've

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also started very very small so um um

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maybe to get a better understanding um

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of um who you are PR um first of all

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great that you're here thank you so much

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for taking out that time so um maybe you

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can share a few words about yourself uh

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your personal story uh and uh well the

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story The the question also how you

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ended up in Germany in the first place

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yeah so first of all thank you julan for

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the ation and I'm very happy to be here

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and sharing what we are doing and how we

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are doing this uh so I'm originally from

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uh from a from a city called Merit in

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India um I grew up a little bit in Delhi

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and I had a very clear research Focus so

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I have been a student of

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biotechnology uh but I had a very clear

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idea that I will do

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science and I came to Germany on a

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scholarship uh uh for to do my MERS in

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neuroscience and my PhD at Max blank

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Institute yeah which is the most

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well-known Institute here and I did my

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PhD at Marx Blanc with the lady who won

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a Nobel priz in medicine and published

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some great

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papers and then once during my PhD a lot

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of things changed in my life so I I had

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some extra time uh towards the end of my

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PhD I joined politics at Max Plum

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Society become the student president of

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the maxl society and there I get

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introduced

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to um German politicians a lot of

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lobbying stuff in the EU and I saw that

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there is a very big life outside the the

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lab uh Beyond being a scientist uh I did

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some lobbying at the White House as well

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during 2014 during Obama time on science

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policy and I decided when I came back to

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Germany I decided that I'm not going to

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pursue academic career I have to do

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something outside so I started from a

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really clean slate definitely I'm a

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science student uh but clean slate in

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terms of business zero idea of how the

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business is set up uh or what is finance

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what is financial model and then I uh

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landed up applying for strategy

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Consulting so I self-study finance

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economics business uh thanks to online

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education uh thanks to all the open

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source

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uh and books they help me and I landed

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up a job at strategy Consulting with e

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ponon as a strategy Consulting for a

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couple of years in Frankford where I

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have done a lot of m&as or hardcore

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Finance stuff which I have never done in

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my life before but I learned a lot and

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then once I know

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science I at towards three and a half

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years of this strategy Consulting I

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thought I know science I know business

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very well I have restructured business

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for bigger companies

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how can I join both of them and also mix

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a purpose next to it and that's where

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the whole idea of biow came in with my

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co-founder who is also from India so we

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are

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friends uh and that's how we started

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this whole thing uh in Germany yeah uh

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yeah yeah super super cool so what I

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find so interesting is that you are um

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you know usually have these bubbls you

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are from a proper science background so

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you really know what you're talking

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about um well it's also then uh it comes

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in handy let's put it that way for um

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for for what you're what you're doing

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with with b as well but you really know

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what you're talking about so really with

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the knowledge so not with a political

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background you went into politics and

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knew about the signs of it so right

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really um the the really had the

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knowledge and but then without any

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business degree um you went into to to

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to ey uh so into Consulting and I think

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this is also where where we met for the

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first time here in Berlin um and um um

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so so how did you um basically there was

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like some self-studied uh business

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understanding then of course through ey

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first of all great that you convinced

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them that you got in there uh without

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without an MBA or a business degree um

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and how did it prepare you for for Bio

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then how did you start

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this yeah so usually uh I think as a

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scientist or as a science person you

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usually see product uh you usually see

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technology right you are focused on hey

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this is amazing what Science and

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Technology like AI gen AI uh so I was

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doing neuroscience and that time neuros

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we were doing neural networks in

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Computing that is today called as gen AI

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uh and I'm talking about 2009 so we it's

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as a scientist you are very excited by

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technology but as a business person you

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are very excited by products and market

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and there's a big difference between

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technology and product so product is

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something which is useful for any use

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case or where somebody's using it and

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and paying for it right and that

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transition it's a mindset right you can

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study Finance you can study business but

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the mindset set of thinking in that way

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was something which eyi helped me so I

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have learned on the job while solving

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problems of bigger

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companies ranging from agriculture

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companies to um uh cosmetic companies to

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Pharma companies uh and that really

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helped me to transform my thinking from

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technology perspective to product and

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Market perspective and also going

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towards the problem perspective that why

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somebody's using this product why not

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that product or some other products

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right and what how big is the market so

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how you think in a money from

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prospective was a key here which is the

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mindset set shift and definitely rest of

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the other things were compliment right

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so how to do Financial models how to do

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business deals what are the key labers

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there how to negotiations and all these

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kind of things are all complimentary but

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the key part of doing business is the

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mindset cool cool really interesting

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really interesting I I really like this

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approach uh and and how you right how

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you learned all these things and build

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this uh put the disciplines together

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right in that way um about biow um maybe

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in a nutshell what did what do you do um

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what is the product there and how did

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you come up with it yeah so bio bio is a

play11:55

deep tech company uh uh we we we have a

play11:59

mission to replace uh any petroleum

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based

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ingredients we started this company with

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an overall idea that how we can replace

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microplastic right so uh just to give

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you an insight into it I think all of us

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are washing our hands every day with uh

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uh all kinds of hand wash or shampoo or

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shower gel we all of us are using hand

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creams face creams all of them have

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microplastic in it when I say

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microplastic the gel of your shampoo is

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a microplastic it's a nanoplastic by the

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way it's coming from petroleum and

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imagine it's never going to degrade in

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next 100 years what you are using in

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your bathroom and it's going go it's

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going to go to the Sea and settling down

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in the sea right uh and it's coming back

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in your drinking water so and some of

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your skin care and makeup products have

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Micro siiz powder which goes inside the

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pores the best example is when you use

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Foundation that everything is is looks

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nice because the powder goes inside the

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poe and and fill up everything and there

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you have a lot of functionality why

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people are using plastic but that's not

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the only place it's used in multiple

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Industries like uh agriculture all the

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seeds and fertilizers what we are using

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today are coated with synthetic polymer

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imagine how much microplastic we have in

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our soil and this microplastic goes into

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water carry some of the toxins back back

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in the drinking water in our stomach

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creating range of different diseases so

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that was the cycle which me and my

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co-founder was been talking about for

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some time and say hey why there is no

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alternative this is such a basic human

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problem that irrespective of the country

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irrespective of where you are located

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every one of us is facing this so this

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is a basic problem and that's how we

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started this so we are a platform we

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have developed a

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solution uh in bioag with the help of

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fermentation so we have a bacteria uh

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which make a biopolymer and this

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biopolymer we do some chemistry on top

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of that and we have created a substitute

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of microplastic which is three times

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better in functionality than

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plastic and fully biodegradable within

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60 days so that's what we do so we

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started using this polymer application

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in cosmetics so some of our companies we

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are working with is like L'Oreal Louis

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Vuitton um

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some other bigger cosmetic

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brands uh and on then we also have

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application of this in in agriculture as

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I mentioned the microplastic in

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agriculture so we work with biocop signs

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uh and also with K pluss uh that is one

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of a fertilizer company in Germany and

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there are multiple Fields where the same

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polymer has applications so we are

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exploring that but we are focusing on

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these two areas because there's a ban

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from the EU

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by 2032 so that's a nutshell what biow

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is doing we have our own R&D Labs uh we

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do hardcore R&D plus we also have a

play15:08

small um proof of scale plant in Germany

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um uh in a small city called quaken

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Brook uh where we are producing

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everything okay okay let's get let's get

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to that in a sec so that is really super

play15:22

impressive um um and um so basically you

play15:26

found that solution to an absolute

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fundamental essential problem out there

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and obviously how difficult was it to

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find that solution how many other

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players were there in the market so how

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was the competition at that point um and

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then what did it take you from the uh

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from the what s from the from the

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product from the solution to convince

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then some first uh maybe some first

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small clients or or Partners

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collaboration Partners to these big uh

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corporates that you've just mentioned so

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there must be something in between right

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so of course there's a lot in between

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right so no I think that's a very

play16:04

relevant question so we uh we started

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looking at the problem however my

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background is technology but I started

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from a problem scope and and then we in

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go back in reverse look at range of

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different Technologies in Academia so we

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ask this question to ourself that

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why this is such a basic problem why

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Academia is not able to provide any

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bigger solution there

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so we looked into all research papers

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around the world and try to understand

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some bigger bigger uh technology

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Concepts that what can solve this we

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have tried those technology Concept in a

play16:40

very early stage in order to understand

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what make more sense from a scalability

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point of view from a economic point of

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view and we started with one concept

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there which we think we can scale and we

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and it will be economic in future uh and

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luckily uh or uh

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by making a proper planning you can say

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both ways uh it both has to go hand in

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hand uh we were able to develop

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something uh and it SS that is basically

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three to four times more functional so

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than microplastic or any any other

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ingredients present in the market right

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uh so we were in the beginning try to

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just substitute but we end up having a

play17:25

better functionality which basically uh

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you outperform others in the market in

play17:31

the screens now coming back to your

play17:33

question in terms of that there are

play17:35

several direct and indirect competitors

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yeah there are I consider competitors

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for even companies who are not doing the

play17:45

same yeah same technology because they

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are the competition is more on the

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product level who is selling next to you

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for the same application uh so there are

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many different Technologies out there

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and we were able to Outcast some of

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these Technologies on the based of

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performance as I mentioned plus

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sustainability which is a very big Drive

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these days in in Europe and us um many

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companies are trying to change their CO2

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numbers uh and last but not the least on

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the also on the level of circularity and

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some other uh some of the other ESG

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criterias

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right coming back to the last question

play18:26

or last part that how we were able to

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pen trade or work with these bigger

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clients it was a big Journey we failed

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multiple times in this whole journey so

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we uh we tried to take our powder or gel

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to different clients and we used to talk

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about hey how great this powder is but

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everyone everyone's powder or everyone's

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Gel looks the same right and uh whether

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it's coming from technology a technology

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b or technology C or from different

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companies it's very difficult to feel

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but think about as a user right so when

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you go to a company or think put

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yourself in the user shoe that why you

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are buying certain Cosmetics or why you

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are buying certain food of certain brand

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because of feel and taste so what we

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have done is we have take we have

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developed end formulations and products

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uh and we usually go to the clients with

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the end appliation ready right so we say

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hey this is the cream with our

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ingredient and this is without test it

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what do you think about it uh and then

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they feel on the hand the difference or

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if it's a food application they eat and

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say wow this is totally different in

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taste as compared to this one or if it's

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a if you are in an it space you should

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already

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develop a use case for your client and

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say hey by the way if you put some of

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your product into this software this is

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going to look like this and this is you

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such kind of benefit that basically

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easen up the client to adapt your

play20:04

technology faster so that was one of the

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hack which I have learned in two to

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three years by failing couple of

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multiple times uh and always think think

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as your customer that what they need to

play20:18

deliver to the End customer and how you

play20:20

can bring a value to them from that

play20:23

perspective right jump in their shoes so

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that was one of the reasons we are yeah

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that's why one of the reason we are

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successful so we go to buyer because

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they sell seeds so we bring the seed

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rather than bringing the signs to them

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say hey this is the seed with our one

play20:38

and this is without and this is your

play20:40

seed from the market and now you can

play20:42

test it what you think about it right oh

play20:45

cool got it got it yeah really really

play20:48

interesting so um where do you stand

play20:51

where do you stand now with the company

play20:52

so how how big are you just that we we

play20:55

we can get an understanding of how big

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the team is and um number of clients do

play21:00

you have an office as well in India or

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is it purely German or anywhere outside

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Germany as

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well we are we have a we are currently

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100% Germany based company we have one

play21:13

office in uh in near to doff it's inside

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the

play21:20

monheim uh Campus of biop signs so

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biocop signs have a headquarters here in

play21:25

Germany we have signed a deal with them

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last year uh a collaboration uh to work

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with them to create more sustainability

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to their portfolio so we are working

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hand in hand so we are renting one floor

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in the R&D of bi crop science uh as a

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tenant uh and we are working hand inand

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with them and then we have a production

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facility in a little bit north of

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Germany near to a town called osab Brook

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uh and we are in a small village called

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quaken Brook uh and there we have the uh

play21:58

our pilot scale production facility uh

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where we are producing 6,000 lers in

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submerge fermentation and 60,000 lers

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and static uh solid state fermentation

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so that's where we are rolling out some

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of the some we are earning revenues uh

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roughly uh roughly more than half a

play22:18

million last year uh and we are going to

play22:20

touch roughly more than a million this

play22:22

year so we are on the path to grow uh we

play22:26

are 19 people 10 different

play22:30

nationalities uh and uh and we are we

play22:34

are on a path to scale this to the next

play22:36

level So currently we are fundraising a

play22:38

bigger check size uh we got we have

play22:41

raised previously from two German High

play22:44

net worth individuals uh in the in the

play22:47

early State seed round those guys I know

play22:50

for a long time while working at ey so

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it was much more of a personal

play22:54

connection MH uh and believe they

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believe in me they believe in the

play22:59

science and and after that we got a lot

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of Grants from the EU from German

play23:05

government so we got roughly uh three to

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four million in GRS uh so we got the EIC

play23:11

European Innovation conso money 2.5

play23:13

million in Grants we got 10 million from

play23:16

the EIC in the in the uh Equity part and

play23:21

we are matching another 10 million so

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we're going to close a 20 million plus

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round in this year by the end of the

play23:28

summar to grow further to the next level

play23:31

oh good really really nice well clearly

play23:33

tells that also the sustainability topic

play23:37

right so that is really something where

play23:38

there is lots of Grants and it kind of

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um shows me two things um so usually for

play23:45

foreign Founders in particular when they

play23:46

think like well Germany and Great there

play23:48

must be lots of money let's go there for

play23:50

fundraising and then well they realize

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when I go to VCS it's very difficult

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rather stay back in India and raise

play23:58

funds over there right at least that's

play23:59

my experience but there are many grounds

play24:02

and many opportunities over here to get

play24:06

some money in different ways obviously

play24:08

completely depends on what you're doing

play24:10

um and the other thing is that um you

play24:14

had you had these personal connects and

play24:16

this is why they they invested rather

play24:19

like in you and your product than just

play24:21

seeing it from outside without any

play24:23

knowledge so how was it um because

play24:26

mentioned you and your co-founder also

play24:27

Indian like and to set this uh to set

play24:30

this up and build the networks winning

play24:33

over the clients how how was it as two

play24:35

Indian guys doing this and why did you

play24:39

select quaren Brook uh which is for I I

play24:42

think I speak for every German out there

play24:43

you would need to check it on the map

play24:45

because we have no clue where that is so

play24:47

it's that small yeah yeah true so I

play24:50

think uh um we me and my co-founder both

play24:54

have been living in Germany for the last

play24:56

couple of years uh uh

play24:59

and we had a very good idea from

play25:02

different sources that how to set up the

play25:04

company what is required and so on so

play25:07

that was not hard right uh and but I

play25:11

think the key part is raising money uh

play25:15

in this ecosystem uh was a little bit

play25:18

difficult because we had no bigger

play25:20

connections so what I think what really

play25:22

helped us is joining some incubator

play25:25

programs uh so whenever you join an

play25:27

incubator program

play25:28

you get a lot of structured feedback lot

play25:32

of structured

play25:34

connections uh you built a network right

play25:37

in order to I mean I I have talked to a

play25:40

couple of Indian businesses and they

play25:42

want to apply for grants in the EU I

play25:45

mean it's very difficult without set I

play25:47

mean you will not get a grant if you

play25:49

don't have a setup here first of all you

play25:50

have to have a mother company here uh in

play25:53

order to get this Grant and second uh in

play25:57

order to get the Grant and things

play25:58

running you need to have a network and

play26:00

that is what because of this network

play26:02

which is developed while working at eyi

play26:05

or while being the student pres of the

play26:06

maxman society that's one of the major

play26:09

thing that we started this business in

play26:11

Germany right network plays a very

play26:14

important role uh for setting any

play26:16

business up right uh and running it in a

play26:19

in a in a proper way especially hard

play26:21

tech where you have uh production

play26:25

facility uh where you have grants in

play26:27

order to survive and some subsidies and

play26:29

so on right and regarding quacken brog

play26:32

uh so we we just got our first check

play26:35

from the

play26:36

investor in 2020 early and then suddenly

play26:40

covid hit right so we were sitting at

play26:43

home for one or two months and trying to

play26:45

do and think how we do how we move and

play26:49

and after the third month we gave up we

play26:51

said we cannot just put the money in our

play26:53

bank account and just run it and wait

play26:56

for covid to get over so we were looking

play26:59

for a location where we can move so city

play27:01

of quaken Brook uh which was part of

play27:04

again an in uh incubator program which

play27:06

is called EIT food we were part of the

play27:09

EIT food and it's a it's a well-known

play27:12

program and I if you are in food segment

play27:15

you should definitely look into this um

play27:17

they helped us uh we talked with them

play27:21

and say hey by the way we are looking

play27:22

for a location and I know everything

play27:24

else is closed in Germany and not even

play27:26

Germany all over the world and they said

play27:28

hey we had a small village uh things are

play27:31

a little bit relaxed here so why don't

play27:33

you come here and we have a building

play27:36

where you can set up your lab you can

play27:38

set up your production and there was a

play27:40

research institute next to it called

play27:43

German Institute of food technology so

play27:46

imagine a research company you need lot

play27:49

of expensive machines you need lot of

play27:52

expensive uh bigger tanks to try out so

play27:55

many things because in the beginning you

play27:57

don't know what's going to work and

play27:58

what's not so rather than investing a

play28:00

lot into capex we moved there and we got

play28:03

a lot of help from German Institute of

play28:05

food technology we tested some some of

play28:07

our experiments some of our production

play28:10

process in their in their different

play28:12

machines and understand what make more

play28:14

sense in terms of buying uh when we need

play28:17

to buy in order to scale up so that was

play28:20

the major idea and I'm so happy uh uh to

play28:23

go there uh it was very cost competitive

play28:27

and it was very welcome yeah so we know

play28:29

the mayor of the city we know the people

play28:30

of the uh different different people in

play28:32

the city and also other businesses they

play28:34

are very supportive and

play28:37

also this region is called Lower sexy so

play28:41

there we got a lot of support from

play28:43

politicians we got a lot of we

play28:45

definitely build the network over time

play28:46

we got a lot of support from the the

play28:49

regional Banks um and that's how uh

play28:53

that's how I think it's our home uh for

play28:55

now uh but we have another office now

play28:57

with a home uh in in uh in nrw uh uh and

play29:03

I think that's the place where we are

play29:05

going to grow even more especially in

play29:07

terms of our R&D okay really interesting

play29:10

talking about location right so

play29:11

basically you had no connection to uh

play29:14

well it and it's not right next to osnar

play29:16

Brook and osnar Brook is well also not a

play29:18

big city right so um but it's really

play29:21

literally in the middle of nowhere

play29:23

obviously through this let's say the

play29:24

cluster effects you have the you have

play29:26

the you have the uh

play29:28

access to the institutions the support

play29:30

the network over there and clearly as

play29:32

you said that was the determining factor

play29:35

for you to to do this um right but um um

play29:39

because usually that that that supports

play29:42

what my experience is also with with um

play29:44

Founders usually you would say like well

play29:46

let's enter Germany or do something in

play29:47

Germany and of course you would want to

play29:49

be in one of the fancy cities because

play29:51

there's the network there is access to

play29:53

to investors uh the corporates are

play29:56

usually there for you was completely the

play29:58

other way around yes sooner or later you

play30:00

would have to be in uh in or you have

play30:03

some kind of office because access then

play30:06

again right so proximity to to the

play30:08

networks there um but particularly for

play30:11

you it makes sense to see what helps

play30:13

what is the environment that helps to

play30:15

build your product right so the the the

play30:17

inputs there um that is why I always

play30:21

tell people don't well look Beyond

play30:23

Berlin and Munich and and and stutgart

play30:26

and dedov by see it as a bigger bigger

play30:29

picture infrastructure is decent so you

play30:31

can easily travel right so um how would

play30:36

you have done it um differently or what

play30:38

in terms of location but also um uh uh

play30:42

other things maybe would you have done

play30:43

differently if you could do it um once

play30:46

again yeah I would say uh uh there are

play30:50

two parts to it so I'm a big fan of this

play30:53

uh Sund P cockroach Theory right so you

play30:57

grow

play30:58

uh in a cocon or in a smaller area until

play31:01

you find the most favorable environment

play31:04

outside right so we we want we were

play31:06

looking for a cocoon or a smaller area

play31:09

where we can grow with without using so

play31:12

too much Capital uh without using our

play31:16

own infrastructure using someone else

play31:18

infrastructure and once we are sure hey

play31:21

we are we our product is matching we

play31:23

have clients then you can go other

play31:25

places you can set up offices in London

play31:27

or in Berlin wherever you think but in

play31:29

the beginning I think the key part is

play31:31

how to get a product Market fit with the

play31:34

minimum amount of money right uh and uh

play31:37

definitely uh as an entrepreneur when

play31:40

when you do a lot of things you fail

play31:42

couple of times so you learn a lot of

play31:44

stuff uh there and definitely you you

play31:46

will correct those things in the next

play31:48

time so definitely there will be many

play31:50

things which we will

play31:51

change uh where we have failed or where

play31:55

we have learned a lot uh

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um particularly I will I will very much

play32:02

keep uh uh understanding on the

play32:05

commercial level I think we could be

play32:07

even more faster on the commercial side

play32:09

so uh I think very important to hire

play32:12

somebody uh from different if you are

play32:16

going to France if you're going to

play32:18

Germany if you're going to uh

play32:20

Scandinavia if you're going to us in all

play32:23

these different countries the culture

play32:25

really beats the commercialization

play32:27

strategy

play32:28

so I think I would even hire depending

play32:31

upon where my clients are I would

play32:34

hire um either guidance or a BD manager

play32:38

specifically have experience from those

play32:41

uh Industries or those cultures uh for

play32:44

example cosmetic industry everything is

play32:46

very well localized in Paris so you need

play32:49

to go with the French uh uh supported uh

play32:53

team and so on so there are certain

play32:56

things which you can do always uh in

play32:58

order to do it better or faster and that

play33:01

is something which I will definitely do

play33:03

again if I do it again I will do it

play33:06

better got it um um you mentioned

play33:09

already some of the networks you

play33:11

mentioned like the how the the role of

play33:13

incubator so that um gets me to this

play33:16

particular as foreign Founders um well

play33:18

for anyone obviously the network for

play33:20

locals the network is extremely

play33:21

important but if you've come if you've

play33:23

stayed here um in Germany for for some

play33:25

time so you could build your network

play33:27

also so through this um but um but that

play33:31

these institutions or these different

play33:33

programs um helped you a lot right you

play33:35

said like L Saxony and this is very

play33:37

interesting because L Saxony is not

play33:39

really known as the uh startup

play33:42

destination right and also particularly

play33:44

not abroad right so in all over the

play33:47

world you half land city of Berlin or

play33:50

nrw or or B venberg uh Bavaria you have

play33:54

you have them uh them promoting

play33:56

themselves but L se you rarely see

play34:00

internationally right there although

play34:04

although strong economy right so you

play34:06

have lots of middle lots of corporates

play34:08

there as well right so they have all the

play34:11

reason actually to be also out there um

play34:14

but um which were the kind of programs

play34:17

of the incubators and you mentioned

play34:20

already um in low sex new as well then

play34:23

from the from from the mayor to the to

play34:25

the state to the banks there um that

play34:28

that helped you would you say in that

play34:31

way it's good to look at the um the the

play34:35

rather not so uh um not so big cities or

play34:40

programs out there because they would

play34:42

put in more effort so for example that's

play34:45

a reason why you should not go to berin

play34:47

because it's a little maybe overrated or

play34:50

saturated rather or um what would be uh

play34:53

what would be your approach there I mean

play34:55

I I would I I would say to go to the

play34:58

right ecosystem right so we we if you

play35:00

look at the agree so our the feed stock

play35:04

which we are using for fermentation

play35:05

comes from the uh food industry waste so

play35:08

we looked for where the right ecosystem

play35:11

for us if you look at lower sex is a

play35:13

home of food industry a lot of mle stand

play35:16

from meat industry to agroindustry is

play35:18

full uh not sugar is there and so on

play35:21

right uh so that's one of the reason to

play35:23

choose beside uh the

play35:25

situational uh situation during covid uh

play35:30

um but I would I think all the regions

play35:32

are great uh it's it's it's not that one

play35:34

is better or the other is not uh you

play35:37

have to find out depending upon your

play35:39

product or your industry which incubator

play35:43

program will suit you right so there are

play35:46

specific incubator programs like for

play35:48

food uh there is one called root Camp

play35:51

based out of Hanover amazing program one

play35:54

of the best programs uh then there is a

play35:57

uh uh lower sex has also started

play36:01

high-tech uh startup program uh there

play36:03

are eight locations of the Hightech they

play36:05

provide you 200,000 grant money uh

play36:08

initially to build the product um so

play36:11

there are again very much depends upon

play36:14

what kind of product you are which

play36:15

industry you are serving um and go to

play36:18

the right ecosystem there are multiple

play36:20

programs in different ecosystem there

play36:23

are a lot of programs in Berlin there

play36:24

are lot of programs in um if you're in a

play36:27

mettech there is a uh there is a program

play36:30

uh in Berlin uh I just it's just

play36:33

slipping from my mind uh but there is a

play36:35

lot of money rolled out in through these

play36:38

programs in the form of Grant where you

play36:40

can develop the pro product and do a

play36:43

little bit of a product Market fit as a

play36:44

Indian company you come here uh and

play36:49

probably register a small company and

play36:51

apply for these programs where you can

play36:53

get some

play36:54

scholarship and uh and to a product

play36:56

Market fit

play36:58

the thing which you are running probably

play36:59

in India will not be a super duper fit

play37:04

product here but mightbe you have to

play37:05

customize a little bit from either from

play37:07

a branding point of view or from a

play37:09

marketing point of view or might be from

play37:11

a whole user Journey point of view same

play37:13

thing here the the things which we are

play37:15

running here as an ingredient as bioac

play37:18

probably the same pricing and same

play37:19

product is not going to run in India

play37:21

that that's why we are not in India yet

play37:23

but we have plans to go to India and set

play37:25

up some bigger production facil fa ities

play37:28

there to tackle the Asian market to

play37:30

tackle India China China and the rest of

play37:32

the Asian market in terms of removing

play37:34

microplastic uh so I would strongly

play37:37

suggest to look what is your industry

play37:41

and what kind of ecosystem is it that

play37:43

ecosystem more in Berlin is it software

play37:46

do you have more finance-based startup

play37:48

the ecosystem is Frankfurt do you have

play37:51

more of um biotch uh or generative AI

play37:56

based structure then it's more Munich

play37:58

right so I think all of these are dled

play38:01

off uh so all of these infrastructures

play38:04

are amazing they these programs are

play38:07

going to give you strong Network and

play38:09

they are also going to give you a

play38:10

structure that who to talk to who are

play38:13

the main players what are the options on

play38:15

the table how you raise grants how you

play38:16

raise money and I think this is the key

play38:19

part uh in order to start uh some of the

play38:23

journey towards uh in any country yeah

play38:27

yeah yeah very nice no very very very

play38:29

insightful I really like this um look a

play38:32

little bit at the time um so now to um

play38:35

the uh audience also here to

play38:38

participants please uh you can either

play38:41

put any questions in the chat or also

play38:43

raise your hand um so then after now I

play38:47

have one last part that I wanted to ask

play38:49

you patrique so then we can take some

play38:50

questions afterwards so as I said either

play38:52

raise your hand so we can um then

play38:55

afterwards you can unmute I'll I'll I'll

play38:57

get to you or you can put your questions

play38:59

in the in the chat as well

play39:02

um basically you you predict you you you

play39:05

said why you ended up in Germany and

play39:08

that you could also build your your

play39:09

network um some say if they have like uh

play39:13

the the the the European comparison that

play39:16

some other countries might be uh more

play39:19

attractive or more business friendly

play39:21

let's put it like this well let it be in

play39:23

terms of um uh taxes let it be in terms

play39:26

of culture so we're talking about um uh

play39:30

language um here or open uh

play39:33

open-mindedness also um um also about

play39:38

bureaucracy when it comes to that so how

play39:41

what is your take on this um these three

play39:43

things um how uh like the the culture

play39:47

German language right so how do you do

play39:49

business development here to Indian guys

play39:51

and uh bureaucracy uh taxes or Germany

play39:55

as a business destination or Al for you

play39:58

keeping all these these uh aspects in

play40:00

mind yeah so I think you have to think

play40:03

from a different uh definitely uh you if

play40:06

you will compare head on head uh there

play40:09

are pros and cons right uh some things

play40:12

are good and some things are bad so I

play40:13

will just talk about uh couple of things

play40:16

which are good uh and start and move

play40:19

towards the things which needs to be

play40:21

improved uh I think one thing which is

play40:23

really good is that Germany is one of

play40:25

the biggest economy and and in Europe

play40:28

right so uh if you look at if you're

play40:31

trying to run anything uh in Europe the

play40:34

economy in general is very strong and

play40:37

stable right uh second part is there lot

play40:40

there's a lot of initiative coming up

play40:42

from the state uh uh lot of money

play40:46

flowing in from different different

play40:48

states in order to develop promote

play40:50

entrepreneurship right uh there's a lot

play40:53

of mdal stand here uh and it's easier to

play40:57

go and talk to Middle rather than

play40:59

talking to a bigger company and closing

play41:01

contract and running with them right uh

play41:03

and one more thing which is I think I

play41:06

have Germany I would put Germany on the

play41:09

upper side on the language uh Germany

play41:12

has changed a lot so I have been in

play41:13

Germany for last 12 13 years and when I

play41:16

came the German English was not uh uh it

play41:20

will be very difficult to to stay in

play41:22

Germany with English but today if you

play41:25

are living in Berlin I think you can run

play41:27

the business on English I run my whole

play41:30

business on English except couple of

play41:32

calls with uh different arms or

play41:36

different uh like Finance arm or or uh

play41:39

tax office or regulatory bodies

play41:41

definitely you need to talk to them um

play41:44

but still Germany has really open very

play41:47

strongly in terms of language uh

play41:51

currently they are also loening up the

play41:53

whole Visa uh structure as well but it's

play41:56

a it's a takebox boxes so I I have more

play41:59

than 50% of the people in my team who

play42:01

have uh who are whose Visa I have get it

play42:05

done through blue card or or some other

play42:07

processes so these are all thick boxes

play42:11

um the things are things are moving and

play42:13

improving in that

play42:14

perspective and you also have a very

play42:16

advanced technology country right so the

play42:18

technology is given a very topnotch

play42:21

priority here uh either it's it based

play42:24

technology or a hardware techn and so on

play42:28

um regarding things which needs to be

play42:30

improved I think uh uh the startup

play42:34

ecosystem or the taxation around the

play42:36

startup still needs to be improved uh

play42:39

and I think this is something I know

play42:41

there are couple of uh uh foundations

play42:44

and and and um I'm just missing the

play42:47

English word it's a uh communities of

play42:51

startup or startup foundations that are

play42:52

working on this yeah and with the

play42:54

government trying to improve the

play42:56

structure the taxation some of the laws

play42:59

and so on um so I I think in the coming

play43:02

years it will be it will be better right

play43:04

so uh from that point of view I think if

play43:07

you combine overall from a ecosystem

play43:10

openness uh and weather right so you

play43:13

don't have extreme weathers of extreme

play43:15

nights or extreme days uh and and and a

play43:19

connectivity to the whole world right in

play43:21

terms of business look at bigger if you

play43:24

look at bigger Google uh Microsoft all

play43:27

are trying to move uh Tesla just opened

play43:30

yeah uh in Berlin Microsoft or uh and

play43:33

some other of the chip companies are

play43:35

going to open something in backberg

play43:36

right so these moves are are also

play43:40

considering the economic situation as

play43:42

well as that the the the talent which

play43:45

will be available for your startup uh

play43:48

over the time uh will also be there

play43:50

right so the whole economic and

play43:52

ecosystem is is

play43:54

evolving I hope I answer the question no

play43:57

no like many aspects super interesting

play43:59

super interesting so yeah and and and

play44:01

well structured um in the meanwhile some

play44:03

of the questions um came in I also have

play44:06

a final one for you but let's take look

play44:08

into these questions here first um some

play44:11

short also looking at the time maybe

play44:13

some short uh answers starting from the

play44:15

top p is asking how do you look for a

play44:18

good

play44:19

co-founder I think that's a very good

play44:22

question I think that's a killer if you

play44:24

don't have a good

play44:25

co-founder uh you are not going to

play44:27

survive uh I it's a long battle uh

play44:31

having a co-founder is like having a

play44:33

marriage so you need to have all kinds

play44:36

of discussion survive the stress times

play44:38

also going to survive the so I think you

play44:41

first of all have to look um with

play44:44

someone you were able to work in past

play44:47

yeah uh somebody with whom you have

play44:50

worked right uh sometimes you try to go

play44:53

co-founding companies with your friends

play44:55

but you have never worked with them

play44:57

right a casual relationship is very

play44:59

different as compared to the working

play45:01

relationship so here you need to have a

play45:03

casual relationship uh also from uh uh

play45:07

from a thinking of that whether the

play45:10

somebody is uh able to listen to you and

play45:14

you are able to listen to that person as

play45:16

well uh so these are these are some

play45:18

basic things you for the co-founders you

play45:21

have to look in your

play45:22

network uh I think somebody uh who is

play45:26

compliment to you uh uh and somebody who

play45:31

is um able you think you can work with

play45:34

them and you can live with them imagine

play45:37

if you can if you have to live in the

play45:38

same house for a couple of months uh you

play45:42

definitely going to have some arguments

play45:44

but the most important is can you get

play45:47

over the arguments and go to the next

play45:48

level right so it's a test it's like

play45:53

it's more or less like finding a right

play45:54

partner right uh for for for your uh for

play46:00

living together so I think uh it's not

play46:04

easy but I think you have to look in

play46:06

your network friends of friends uh roll

play46:09

out a news among the people that hey I'm

play46:11

looking for a

play46:13

co-founder um go for meetings talk to

play46:16

them say hey why don't we have a test

play46:19

period for a month we just have a call

play46:21

every second day talk about different

play46:24

topics talk about exchange of

play46:27

viewpoints uh and I think this testing a

play46:31

little bit of a dating will help you to

play46:33

identify who's the right

play46:35

person cool

play46:37

cool Al many different aspects there

play46:40

yeah but I like it um David um is there

play46:44

also uh from from from Tha Germany

play46:47

thanks a lot for your um question here

play46:49

because he says he's with a new form

play46:51

into mic products currently for The

play46:54

Foundry and electrical Industries

play46:57

replace asbestos in the '90s and is BW a

play46:59

company that may help find an even

play47:01

better and more sustainable

play47:04

product so we are we have a replacement

play47:07

of Micah uh and but I we are not uh we

play47:13

are going to go on a Micah is produced

play47:15

in a very large scale right so currently

play47:18

we are we are doing replacement of pmma

play47:21

in the first go and and once we reduce

play47:24

the cost of this product in in a bigger

play47:27

production scale then we are going to

play47:29

run towards Micah but yes we have

play47:32

something which can replace Micah uh and

play47:35

especially in Germany it's a big uh it's

play47:38

a big top EG because of you see all the

play47:41

J&J is getting sued and now other

play47:43

companies are also scared that they will

play47:45

get the lawsuits so everybody's running

play47:47

away including all cosmetic companies uh

play47:50

so that is something which we we have in

play47:52

our mind and this is something which we

play47:54

are going to work towards the future not

play47:57

only the Cosmetic industry but 17

play48:02

industri

play48:04

yes definitely we have really not looked

play48:07

into the other Industries but mostly

play48:09

skin care Personal Care Health Care um

play48:12

uh we have looked at how much Mica is

play48:14

used uh and if you look at quantities

play48:17

it's it's crazy in terms of scale

play48:22

yeah okay so maybe David and and P you

play48:25

could you could also connect afterwards

play48:27

and take this further another question

play48:31

by Professor jaab um your comments

play48:35

what's your comments on microplastic

play48:36

fibers generated during washing of

play48:38

fabric doing washing of fabric what's

play48:41

your what's the development in this area

play48:44

yeah so there are two types of

play48:45

microplastic one is a primary

play48:47

microplastic that you are making a

play48:50

microplastic and then adding it to the

play48:52

products uh so primary microplastic once

play48:55

once you add them to the product they

play48:57

you lose them you will not be able to

play48:59

find them again uh because you

play49:02

cannot uh there is no how to say there

play49:05

is more or less no large scale machine

play49:09

which can filter microplastic uh so EU

play49:11

has announced a ban on primary

play49:13

microplastic uh the the washing microp

play49:16

plastic from fabric is a secondary

play49:18

microplastic there are we are in touch

play49:22

with couple of different other startups

play49:24

who have developed some filters in order

play49:27

to attach to washing machines or develop

play49:30

processes to stop secondary micro

play49:33

process secondary microplastic also

play49:35

comes from tires also comes from bottles

play49:39

uh plastic bottles in the fee and so on

play49:41

and there is a separate uh Solutions

play49:45

going on in the community uh who are

play49:47

trying to solve the issue of the

play49:48

secondary micr we have not done anything

play49:51

there but we are in touch with some

play49:52

other startups uh who are solving that

play49:55

issue

play49:58

okay great moving on um div asking um

play50:03

many individuals with business mindset

play50:05

wants to join startup wants to join a

play50:08

startup or a co-founder at early stages

play50:10

what did you adapt to how did you adapt

play50:13

to build connections and network uh

play50:17

expansion I think go to events around

play50:19

you right so if you are in a city uh

play50:22

like Berlin or in a Bangalore or Mumbai

play50:24

there are tons of events happening

play50:27

startups uh go to those networking

play50:30

evenings try to be part of the some

play50:32

Community or incubator program say hey

play50:36

uh you you I'm very sure that you might

play50:38

have some superpower either you are a

play50:40

finance person or you are a process

play50:42

person or you are a tech person offer

play50:44

your superpower for free to talk to

play50:46

other startups uh meet them regularly

play50:49

and you will find uh some startup where

play50:52

you say hey I really like to work with

play50:54

you can I join as a co- in team in the

play50:57

early stages and that is something where

play51:00

you will develop your network as well as

play51:02

you will find some other teams and

play51:04

co-founders as

play51:05

well cool like it um an is asking her

play51:10

co-founder with 50% Equity plans to go

play51:13

back to India would that affect the

play51:14

fundraising in Germany what's your take

play51:16

on it well if you are goingon to open

play51:19

Office in

play51:20

India uh it should not affect

play51:25

fundraising uh uh but if your

play51:28

co-founder uh is just going back to

play51:30

German India and there is no office in

play51:33

India or there is no business in India

play51:34

there is no relevance that he's going

play51:37

back to India it's going to be tough

play51:38

because you will not be able to explain

play51:41

to your investors that how this is going

play51:42

to work out right uh usually Equity is

play51:45

for future not for past so you should

play51:49

discuss with your co-founder that if

play51:50

you're are moving back to India what

play51:52

will be his role uh in terms of how he's

play51:55

going to contribute to the company

play51:57

and uh usually in such cases you

play52:00

downsize uh the equity um or you dilute

play52:04

that found a little bit

play52:05

more uh in order to create more to bring

play52:09

another co-founder uh or one of the

play52:11

leadership role in your team

play52:15

yeah okay great I see David also post

play52:18

that an a recommendation for any female

play52:21

co-founder wishing to pitch at the Tai

play52:23

women local pitch let him or me know of

play52:26

course that is um great um idea one last

play52:31

question from the chat and then I have a

play52:34

final one um Ashna is asking in terms of

play52:37

fundraising what sort of metrics are

play52:39

investors looking for especially in deep

play52:41

Tech space as there is no blue blueprint

play52:44

to follow more gear towards the preed

play52:47

stage I think there are a couple of

play52:50

things right to one uh especially the

play52:52

dtech uh so uh when you are dtech think

play52:57

about think like alen musk right so why

play53:00

uh I think the key one of the key

play53:02

metrics in the Deep Tech is are you able

play53:04

to think big uh what with your

play53:08

technology how this is going to change

play53:10

the world especially deep Tech right for

play53:12

example you say hey I'm going to do this

play53:14

and this is going to change the world in

play53:16

this and that way what will be the

play53:18

impact on the world how big that impact

play53:20

is going to be uh and this is usually

play53:23

deep Tech is a very highrisk area uh for

play53:27

the investors so they want to see uh

play53:30

imagine a deept investor in a preed with

play53:33

a very highrisk investing and expecting

play53:35

at least 40x return on their Capital so

play53:38

if the impact is big they can get 40x or

play53:41

50x return in the preed stage right so

play53:44

that is something which you have to

play53:45

think about the metrics is Trends there

play53:48

are high level Trends going on in the

play53:50

Deep Tech gen is one of the trend now

play53:53

for example U biotech is another trend

play53:57

uh blockchain is another Trend uh so how

play54:00

you are what kind of things you are

play54:02

doing in the trend in the deep deep Tech

play54:05

space and how this is going to change

play54:07

the world is the key part of the deep

play54:10

Tech is it a scalable technology is it

play54:12

going to change everyone's life or just

play54:14

50% people life or just 10% or 1% I

play54:17

think that how scalable it will be how

play54:19

big it will become so these are some of

play54:21

the metrics which you have to touch

play54:23

especially at the preed stage yeah and

play54:26

the team most important part is the team

play54:30

at the peace pre stage because whatever

play54:33

you are proposing do you have the right

play54:35

people to take this to the next level

play54:38

because at the PC stage investor is

play54:40

mostly investing in the team and the

play54:43

idea so idea is less than 25% but the

play54:46

team isn't 75 75% of the whole

play54:50

metrics okay cool cool I'm it's sful

play54:53

thanks so much now final my final

play54:56

question

play54:56

back um about biow um um what great what

play55:01

can we expect now in future you touched

play55:03

the Bonet a little bit but what can we

play55:06

really expect uh over the next um

play55:10

years I think

play55:13

um so you can expect that there will be

play55:16

some products coming up in the market I

play55:18

cannot talk about uh uh the products

play55:21

which will have our ingredients uh they

play55:23

will be launched in Europe and and in

play55:26

the North American Market first because

play55:28

of the ban on the

play55:30

microplastic um and you will see um

play55:35

definitely that the team will be getting

play55:37

bigger and bigger uh and we will be also

play55:40

we are currently discussing this is not

play55:42

finalized yet that how we expand to the

play55:45

Asia a market how we take an opportunity

play55:49

to remove microplastic in in India I

play55:52

mean this is something which is very

play55:53

close to my heart that how I take this

play55:55

same Tech and make sure that everyone uh

play55:59

in my country also have access to this

play56:02

technology and that is something which

play56:04

we are working on uh currently this is

play56:06

something which you will see in future

play56:07

some of the announcements from our side

play56:09

but definitely uh the ones which are

play56:12

coming up is uh we will be announcing

play56:14

some collaborations by towards the end

play56:16

of this year some bigger ones uh and

play56:19

some product launches will be there with

play56:20

some indie Brands uh and with some

play56:23

bigger Brands which will be coming

play56:25

announcing in

play56:27

25 awesome I see many things in the

play56:29

pipeline and I can't can't wait to hear

play56:32

the announcement so really really cool

play56:35

um and really cool to hear that you're

play56:37

also planning to bring it back to India

play56:39

back to meot right setting up a plant

play56:41

there and really exciting Pik it's it's

play56:44

been um really wonderful and lovely and

play56:46

speak to you hearing about your inside

play56:48

that's has been great fun and I see

play56:51

we're touching one minute before we

play56:53

we're 1 minute before 12:00 now also so

play56:56

uh thank you so much for joining also to

play56:58

prct and to everyone else and really

play57:01

good and hope to stay in touch and um

play57:04

yeah wish you all the best and um I will

play57:07

see you

play57:08

around yeah no thanks a lot julan again

play57:11

for inviting me and talk for I'm happy

play57:14

to share my my experience here yeah feel

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free to connect me on LinkedIn uh uh

play57:20

pratique Bahar and happy to happy to

play57:24

stay in touch if you have f

play57:26

questions uh I think I will I'm mostly

play57:30

active on LinkedIn so happy to answer

play57:32

where if I can help somewhere and

play57:34

looking forward to see some of you here

play57:36

and there in some of the events cool

play57:38

thanks for being so open and also um

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well ask everyone to connect and uh um

play57:45

um yeah connecting to you for more

play57:47

further

play57:49

questions thank you thank you so much

play57:52

take care

play57:53

everyone byebye

play57:56

e

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