Due to environmental sustainability and plastic waste issues, the government is demanding alternate packaging alternatives. Several alternative packaging options are gaining popularity in the packaging business.
Biodegradable packaging is becoming more popular, but compostable packaging, made from renewable sources like plant fibers, breaks down into compost, making it an ecologically acceptable choice for packaging diverse items.
In 2020, Anand Bodh and Arpit Dhupar created Dharaksha Ecosolutions to meet demand. Faridabad-based B2B firm turns paddy straw stubble into biodegradable packaging.
We seek to eradicate pollution and replace it with sustainable alternatives. Dhupar believes everyone should have clean air.
BTech roommates Bodh and Dhupar. After 13 years of working together, the couple decided to produce an eco product.
The Punjab Pollution Control Department reported 650 field fire occurrences in September and October 2022, double the number from 2021.
Farmers burn stubble to prepare their land for harvest since they have no other options. What if there was a cost-effective way for farmers to dispose of stubble without burning it? The co-founders tell YourStory that Dharaksha began here.
According to them, Dharaksha is formed of two Hindi root words—”Dhara” meaning earth and “Raksha” meaning saving—which means rescuing the earth from pollution. Biodegradable packaging. Dharaksha turns paddy straw into packaging using mycelium, a fungal root.
It has produced a stubble-feeding mushroom species for this. It is biotechnology-multiplied and internally trained.
“We don’t buy mushroom strains from the market because they don’t have the right mycelium,” says Dhupar.
These materials are natural, which is our focus. “We grow, not make,” he says.
Dharaksha’s packaging materials disintegrate in 60 days in typical soil and endure over three years, offering them an eco-friendly alternative to plastic and thermocol.
The goods can be used as supplemental packing between cardboard boxes and fragile items. The startup designs personalized products.
The packing materials are thermally resistant, fireproof, waterproof, and anti-static.
The business wants to make thin-film polymers from mushroom metabolites to replace MDF wood and plastic bags.
Dharaksha uses aggregators to bail stubble from farmers. Bailing allows for cost-effective transport.
Chop, steam, and prepare the raw material into packaging in 10 days.
We buy stubble from Punjab and Haryana areas within 200 kilometers. We buy from crop-burning hotspots. Dhupar said they bought 750 tonnes from 250 acres last season.
Dharaksha wants to reduce stubble waste burning by 40% in six to seven years.
The manufacturing task group and 50-person manufacturing team include 40% women.
The startup pays farmers and aggregators.
Business model
The founders bootstrapped the firm with Rs 45 lakh from their savings.
The organization charges per-piece volumetrically based on product form and size.
A 6-inch container for a little plant costs Rs 30. Glass jar packing costs between Rs 10 and Rs 250 for large pieces.
Dharaksha can produce 20,000 pieces each month and expects to ramp up 5X in four months and 10X by the end of the year.
Dhupar says, “We would be stepping into distributed and franchise manufacturing, setting up 200–250 odd plants all over India, and trying to curb over 23 million tonnes of stubble waste.”
Revenue statistics were withheld by the founders.
Dharaksha partners with The Gourmet Jar, BioQ, Fyllo, Kyari, Son of Soil, Bonomi, V-Guard, and Havells. White goods, FMCG, and ceramics industries use it.
The firm faces local thermocol, paper, and plastic packaging makers. It competes with US-based Ecovative, which makes packaging alternatives to plastics and polystyrene foams.
Precedence Research estimates that the worldwide sustainable packaging market will develop at a CAGR of 7.62% from 2023 to 2032, reaching $211.51 billion by 2032.
Nithin Kamath of Zerodha, Anshuman Bapna (ex-CPO, MakeMyTrip), IIMB, and other angels have invested in the business.
Investors in India are learning about sectors other than IT and SaaS. “So, building biotech or manufacturing companies still requires a lot of hustling to attract the right capital,” the founders said of the hurdles.
Dharaksha is now seeking Rs 16 crore from fresh investors. It wants brand alliances to launch consumer goods. “We want to stay as a material science company and be at the forefront of innovating new materials and commercializing them,” Dhupar adds.
He says, “We also want to collaborate with other brands and companies to grow the story and show how much pollution our product is reducing. We like being in the background.”
