: Duo Quit Jobs to Make Bamboo Their Bae, Earn Rs 70 Lakh in One Year #IndiaNEWS #Startup Sanchit Goyal, 25, and Anuj Sagar, 26, met at Delhi University, where the two studied hotel management. During

Duo Quit Jobs to Make Bamboo Their Bae, Earn Rs 70 Lakh in One Year #IndiaNEWS #Startup
Sanchit Goyal, 25, and Anuj Sagar, 26, met at Delhi University, where the two studied hotel management. During this time, Sanchit noticed the amount of plastic that hotels were using on a daily basis. “Hospitality is a big industry in India. Every hotel using a plastic toothbrush and other amenities accounts for a huge amount of plastic being used,??? he says.

The two also love travelling and often went on trips together. But everywhere they went, they noticed plastic littering the spaces. They realised that since plastic products are so easily available in the market, consumers naturally pivot toward them, choosing what’s most convenient.

“We saw that nature was wrapped in plastic. From mountains to seas, wherever we went, we found plastic,??? says Sanchit.

Since then, the two have wanted to work in sustainability and started looking for alternatives to things like plastic cutlery, straws and packaging.

This led to the duo founding Bamboo Bae in 2020. They say they’re on a mission to replace single-use plastic with eco-friendly, bamboo alternatives.

The company sells bamboo toothbrushes, razors, earbuds, stationery, and other everyday items, and all their products are handmade by the 20 artisans the company works with.

Starting with an investment of Rs 3 lakh, the bootstrapped startup clocked Rs 70 lakh revenue this past year. Besides supplying products to hotels, their products also reach major hotel chains.

The Bamboo Bae products

Why bamboo is ‘bae’

The idea for The Bamboo Bae came when the two were travelling around Assam, Shillong, and other parts of the northeast. “We saw a thriving handicraft industry there. They even had utensils made out of bamboo. So we were inspired to make everyday items using bamboo, which would reduce plastic pollution,??? says Anuj.

Through their research, they found that bamboo is an accessible and mouldable raw material. “We found that bamboo is a very versatile material,??? says Sanchit. They spoke with the local artisans there, learning how easily available it is in the area, and how it needs to be treated before it is used to make it antibacterial and antifungal.

Their initial experiments also taught the duo the importance of properly drying the wood so that the final product doesn’t bend or lose its shape. “We cannot have more than five to 10 per cent of moisture in a product,??? says Sanchit.

He explains, “Bamboo is readily available in the northeast. In just three years, it can reach a height of 30 feet. There’s already skilled labour there, we just had to guide them about the types of products we wanted.