Envirochip: Safeguard yourself from harmful radiations
Envirochip: Safeguard yourself from harmful radiations

Established in 2007, Syenergy Environics Ltd provides radiation management and solutions in homes and workspaces to nullify effects of harmful radiations. The company is founded by Ajay Poddar, who graduated from IIT Delhi and has researched intensively on radiations and its effects for more than 25 years.
The company’s client portfolio includes many reputed companies and it provides its expertise across various sectors, but the challenge, Poddar says, is the effectiveness of the products, which cannot be demonstrated immediately, like the effects of radiation, which may affect a customer gradually. ‘Envirochip’ is an innovative product, and neutralises the harmful effect of radiation from electronic devices. Retailer caught up with Pranav Poddar, Director, Syenergy Environics Ltd and talked about the innovative product and its market in India.
Please share your background. Your education and whether entrepreneurship was something you always wanted to do?
I belong to a Marwari business family and we have been in business for over 110 years. Different members of the family have been involved in various diverse businesses ranging from Trading, Manufacturing, Mining, etc. As a student, I was always driven to do well in studies as well as excel in some co-curricular activity like Sports. I was fairly good at studies and took to playing multiple sports like Squash, Tennis and Cricket. After my schooling, I decided to pursue a degree in Engineering and went to the US. I graduated with a degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, USA in 2003. I was always clear that I wanted to be an Entrepreneur and run a business of my own. I had got exposed to a couple of ideas and business prospects during my college days and I had decided then that I would like to explore those ideas after moving back to India. However, I still chose to get a job and work in the US after graduating as I wanted to experience the working culture there and gain some experience. I worked there for a couple of years before deciding to move back to India and start my own business in 2005.
How was the idea of your start-up conceptualised? What is the need you are addressing in the market?
After moving back to India, I conceptualized and started a business in the field of manufacturing of Automated Multilevel Car Parking Systems, which I ran for almost 10 years. However, 5 years into this business, I got an opportunity to work on another start up idea, which is my current occupation. We are now in the business of manufacturing of Radiation Protection Products under the brand name of 'ENVIROCHIP'. This is a Radiation Protection Chip for fixing on Mobile Phones, Laptops, Tablet PC's and Wi-Fi Routers. The need we are addressing in the market is that every individual who is a consumer for any of the devices mentioned above is a potential customer as all these electronic devices emit Electromagnetic Radiation which is harmful for the health of the individual using these devices. Our product neutralizes the harmful effect of Radiation from these devices and helps in protecting the health of people.
Is there a story behind the name you have given to your business?
The name of our product - ENVIROCHIP is derived from the fact that we wanted to project that our product is connected to the Environment and does something good to the community. We shortlisted a few options and finally selected the name 'ENVIROCHIP' based on a poll amongst the employees in our own organization, friends and family, totalling a sample size of approx. 100 people and this name was by far the most unanimous choice. The 'Chip' part suffixed to 'Enviro' was a given as the product is meant to be fixed on Mobile Phones, Tablet PC's, etc and conveys that it's a technical product.
What is your business model and who is your target consumer? Please share details of the product/services offered and current business size.
Envirochip as a product is meant for all individuals using personal Electronics devices such as Mobile Phones, Tablet PC's, etc and for all organizations who provide all their employees with Desktop PC's and Laptops. Therefore, we are using B2B as well as B2C channels for selling our product. In the B2B space, we try to convince organizations to buy the Envirochip for all the electronic devices they have in their workplace so that they provide a Healthier and Radiation Free environment to their employees. In the B2C space, we have tied up with various Modern Retail Chains, and also listed our product on all major e-commerce marketplaces like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, Firstcry, etc. In addition the products, we also offer Radiation Management Services in Buildings, where the various sources of Radiation inside a Building (Home, Office, etc) are corrected through our solutions. Till date, we have offered our services in over 1,900 establishments, including Airports, Refineries, Corporate Offices, Hotels, Educational Institutes, Homes, etc. The current size of the business in Rs. 4 crores.
What is your current distribution in brick and mortar space? What are your future distribution plans?
In the brick and mortar space, we have tied up with various Modern Retail Chains like The Mobile Store (TMS), Reliance Digital, BabyOye by Mahindra Retail, Apollo Pharmacy, etc. We have also started appointing
Have you raised any funding so far? What are your plans to use this funding for?
We have not raised any funds from outside as of now. Due to our business background and multiple activities, we have managed to grow and sustain this business through our internal sources. However, the next phase of growth will require external funding and conversations with potential investors have just started. The funding that we will seek will be utilized for expanding the distribution channels on a pan-India level at present and then on a global level within 2 years. Funding will also be required for enhancing awareness on not only the brand, but the category of Radiation protection itself. Consumers today are aware that they are affected by Radiation, but are not aware of solutions like ours, which will help in protection against Radiation.
What is your team size? What is your office culture like?
We currently have a relatively small team of 40 people across New Delhi and Mumbai. We will be expanding to Bangalore by end-March 2016 also. We have established a Culture of Openness, Transparency, Trust, Listening and Communicating within the organization. We have also established a Value system, which we refer to as 'I-HEAR-YOU' (Integrity, Harmony, Excellence, Accountability, Respect, Yearning, Opportunity & Unity). We have established a system for conducting annual meetings with all staff where we invite all staff members to speak about specific cases and instances which demonstrate how they have imbibed the culture and practiced the values of the organization.
What has been your A-ha Moment in the business? (The high point.)
A-ha moments come when we receive amazing feedback and testimonials from our customers. The satisfaction we derive from reading what customers have to say about how they have benefitted from our products / services is unparalleled. We strive to ensure that these A-ha moments come very frequently. We have a system of inviting feedback from each and every individual as we well as Enterprise who has bought our products / services.
What has been your biggest challenge so far in scaling -up? How are you addressing it?
The biggest challenge we face in our business is that the effectiveness of our products / services can't be demonstrated to a prospective customer immediately. Since the harmful effects of Radiation can't be felt immediately, the positive impact from our solutions also can't be felt immediately. Our solutions are proven to have positive effects in the long term. Since ours is a new category in the market, consumers sometime wish to see an immediate demonstration on the effectiveness of our solutions, which is not possible. Since our product and brand is new, we need to establish more trust with our customers, which is a time consuming process. We are addressing this by conducting very innovative BTL activities and in-store promotion activities.
How do you see growth scenario is this business? What are your future scale-up plans?
The growth potential is enormous. Out of a population of 1.25 billion in India, more than 1 billion people in India are already owning and using a Mobile Phone. If we just take this segment and don't consider users of Computers, Tablet PC's etc, one can imagine the potential we have to sell our products within India. Expand this to a global scale and the growth potential is enhanced several times. Our plans over the next 2 years is to ensure that our product reaches atleast 60% of the Retail Outlets in the organized retail sector and atleast 20% of the outlets in the unorganized retail sector. In additon to this, we are also working towards creating linkages in some international markets like the Middle East, UK, etc.

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