Page 24 - Plastics News June 2021

FeAtures

Greenhive – The House of Greens

Two young undergrad entrepreneurs sets up portal amidst pandemic offering daily use sustainable products

he COVID 2019 has taught many a lessons and as we realised that people want to see and feel these products
Thave seen there are many-a starts up as well who have before they actually purchase them. Hence, we started
taken this in their stride. Following the PM ‘s mantra of putting up physical stalls at NT Supermarket and Rourkela
Atmanirbhar Bharat - turning crisis into Opportunity one Ambagan," informs Abhishek.
such venture is the Rourkela-based e-commerce portal
Greenhive offering sustainable, plastic-free alternatives “We have also distributed our products to various
for daily use items. environmentalists and social workers, and partnered with
NGOs to conduct various events for promoting sustainable
Founded in 2020 by childhood friends Abhishek Deo development in our society. We have also partnered for
and Gourav Sarangi, the duo launched Greenhive with a gifting event with Television Cricket League (TCL),
an initial investment of Rs 60,000 raised from their family which sees participation from Kannada actors,” he adds.
and friends. Greenhive sells eco-friendly and sustainable While Greenhive claims to have a modest volume they
daily use products. “Our mission is to offer sustainable sell through their own website and have the fire in their
and plastic-free alternatives for commonly used items. belly to grow. “We mostly sell through our own website
We aim to cater to the consumer-driven society with and Instagram DMs, and though we are still in thousands
sustainable alternatives and make this planet a better we are targeting a revenue of Rs 1 lakh per month for the
place to live in,” says Abhishek, while the duo is currently upcoming financial year,” admits Abhishek.
pursuing undergraduate degrees - Business Administration
in Odisha, Greenhive is mentored by Arijit Mazumdar, Greenhive competes with other notable players such
Founder and CEO of Northmist. as Rusabl, Bamboo India, and Bare Necessities. But,
Abhishek believes that Greenhive’s USP is that the products
Greenhive partners with are available at an affordable price range compared to the
local manufacturers competitors. Greenhive’s bamboo toothbrush and copper
to procure sustainable tongue cleaner are available for Rs 55. The steel straw is
products.The startup priced at Rs 40 and the eco-friendly bag is available for
claims to have record Rs 220.
transactions worth
Rs 30,000-40,000 per Speaking about future plans the duo plans to expand their
month with over 1500 market in nearby cities such as Bhubaneswar, Cuttack,
customers on their Jharsuguda, and Sambalpur among others. “We also plan
portal. to introduce new products and are looking to raise external
funding by July 2021,” quips Gaurav. All Greenhive
The idea of starting Greenhive originated amid the Essential products
COVID-19-led lockdown last year as we noticed most are retailed via
of us had a tough time staying shut indoors due to the their own website
pandemic. Abhishek explains that Greenhive was launched and they are up on
in Rourkela, their hometown, with an aim to help and Amazon India as
encourage people from his city to switch to sustainable well. They want to
alternatives. capture the offline

What they do is pretty simple — source first-rate products market soon and
like bamboo toothbrushes, copper tongue cleaners, cloth start being available
bags and steel straws. What they do to get the word in departmental and
out about not just their products but the concept of grocery stores as
sustainability as a whole is what sets them apart. "We well.

Plastics News June 2021 24