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Engineering duo turns crop waste into eco-friendly leather
Two tech-savvy graduates are shaking up the leather industry with their vegan startup, ‘Avinya’, using agricultural waste to create durable, biodegradable leather and attracting major interest before hitting the market
puneletters@hindustantimes.com
Two tech-savvy graduates are shaking up the leather industry with their vegan startup, ‘Avinya’, using agricultural waste to create durable, biodegradable leather and attracting major interest before hitting the market
Two young boys, one studying to be a Civil engineer and the other a Computer engineer, are allocated a room in the dorm at Ahmedabad University. As luck would have it, both students were deeply concerned about the stubble burning and the pollution it causes in Punjab, Haryana, and UP. Their daily conversations became increasingly focused on stubble burning and the dangers of leather industry pollution. It got to a point that the two of them, Jenil Gandhi (22) and Manan Vyas (23), decided that they should start a business that would be able to tackle these two problems at least.
The duo began working on their idea right after graduating in 2023, setting aside their engineering degrees to pursue a greater purpose. “Since we knew nothing about leather, we had to start from scratch,” says Jenil. “We got in touch with some leather experts in Germany, and it was their encouragement and our persistence that helped us get the initial knowledge.”
They soon connected with the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) in Chennai. “We told them what we had in mind, and they were very helpful,” recalls Jenil. To formalise the collaboration, they signed an MoU with CLRI, which assigned two scientists to assist in their research and development.
Their first step was to explore materials that could form the basis of their vegan leather.
Jenil says, “We initially considered mushrooms, but they turned out to be too expensive and not scalable.” Eventually, they turned to wheat and rice straw, readily available agricultural byproducts that also addressed the stubble-burning problem. Initial tests were promising—both in strength and availability.
The proof of vegan leather
Armed with a small machine for making sample-sized vegan leather, Jenil and Manan began experimenting alongside two senior scientists from CLRI. After rounds of trial and error, they succeeded in creating a biodegradable material. They then applied for REACH compliance—a key EU regulation ensuring safe chemical use.
“To be REACH-compliant, we had to register our chemicals with the European Chemicals Agency and prove that our product is safe for both humans and the environment,” Jenil explains. In 2024, they joined Pune-based Venture Center’s incubation program, which provided them with technical feedback and a grant of ₹4 lakhs.
Venture Center was set up as an initiative of the National Chemical Laboratory under CSIR’s scheme titled “Scheme for setting up incubation centres in CSIR laboratories”. “Initially, our leather lasted only two years,” Jenil admits. “We went back to the lab, tweaked the chemical formulation, and eventually increased its durability to five years.”
When the mountain moves to Mohd
Unlike most start-ups that have to devise a strong marketing plan, Avinya got really lucky. Even before they had started building their commercial-scale production unit, they had enquiries from “at least 100 companies,” says Jenil. “We had been participating in several events organised by different start-up incubators, and the word got around that we were making vegan leather. So now we have different companies, exporters, and leather product manufacturers all interested in our product.”
So how will they tackle the demand, but lack of ability to supply? Says Jenil, “We are now in the process of building our factory in Gujarat. We have worked out the cost, and it should be around ₹5 crore. This we will raise through debt and not equity.”
Setting up to scale
Now it is clear that the incubation days are over. Jenil says, “It is imperative for us to set up a commercial unit. We have done some research and found a machine manufacturer who can supply us with machinery that can be scaled up depending on our needs. We do not want to be in a position where supply cannot follow demand.”
What about workers at the factory? Jenil approached VC, which is an offshoot of the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune. “We asked them if we could approach their workers,” says Jenil. Quite impudent, one might say? “Well,” explains Jenil, “we were told that NCL sometimes has people who either want to shift to the private sector, or are looking for other avenues, or whose term has expired, so we plan to approach such workers. We want to sell them our story and motivate them to come work with us.”
Investment:
So far, the duo has invested ₹50 lakhs in their start-up. “Of this ₹15 lakhs is our own savings, and the rest is a mix of grants from Venture Center, Startup Seed Fund, iHub and IIT Ropar. We are not interested in VC funding as of now. We will seek debt money for our factory.” No market is complete without competition. Jenil admitted that. “In India, our competitor, I would say, is Bio Leather and globally it is Desserto, a Mexican company.” And how do they aim to compete with them? “Bio Leather uses tomato waste, and Desserto uses cactus to make leather. Moreover, they have a tray method of production. This means that it may lack consistency. And scaling up with tray production is not easy. Also, getting tomato waste is not as easy as wheat and rice.”
The future
At 22 and 23 years, it seems hard for the duo to look too far ahead. Jenil says that by the first quarter of 2026, they will have their factory up and running. “In this period, we want to meet the existing demand. We make it a point to stay connected with the companies that have set us up with enquiries and keep them posted about our progress. We plan to attend as many expos abroad as possible and let the world know that we in India have developed vegan leather that is durable, consistent and scalable.” Cheers to that!
