Much before the Central Government’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) campaign, there was a young academician in New Delhi who lived by these tenets.
While pursuing a PhD in polymer nanotechnology at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Delhi, Dr Anasuya Roy decided to take her research beyond paper.
“India, at that point of time (2018-19), was importing all its anti-microbial technology from other countries. When we don’t have a dearth of brains, why should we be importing?” Anasuya shares with The Better India.
This thought gave birth to the entrepreneur inside the researcher. She decided to create an impact using her patented antimicrobial active copper technology.
But how to go about it? The answer to this question presented itself in the form of COVID-19.
The world was looking to make masks and there was a massive shortage in the beginning. The textile engineer used her patented technology and made ‘NSafe masks’ which turned out to be a gamechanger. The fabric-based antimicrobial face mask was made in India, reducing the need for imports.
With her concept validated, the 36-year-old Delhi resident then moved on to use her technology across different industries like polymers, textiles, and coatings, creating use cases in products like steel bottles, water tanks, construction chemicals, mattresses, leather upholstery; even the automobile industry!
So far, her company, Nanosafe Solutions, has created 40 products using their active copper technology. They also closed their maiden funding round of Rs 3.13 crore recently. This will give a fillip to their mission of preventing imports in niche material science products.
Making India Aatmanirbhar
Anasuya pursued an MTech in Fibre Science and Technology from IIT-Delhi, post which she enrolled for a PhD program in the same institution from 2014 to 2019.
It was during her PhD course that she had a significant realisation — she wanted to make an impact beyond academia.
“I was researching antimicrobial materials, focusing especially on polymers. The focus of my doctoral research was developing such materials. While we worked with different inorganic materials like silver, copper, our major focus was on the antimicrobial properties of copper nanoparticles,” says the scientist.
Her research focused on developing antimicrobial materials that could inhibit the growth of microorganisms. In her final year of doctoral research, she decided to develop indigenous antimicrobial technologies that would provide solutions across different industries.
She received a Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG) from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) in 2019, which helped kick off her venture. Besides spending time at the lab, she also spent an equal amount of time in the industrial area of Bawana in Delhi.
“Seeing the machinery helped me formulate the venture in an industrially-compatible manner. Beyond my work at the lab, it took me almost a year to understand the process on ground. In this one year of incubation, I understood how I wanted to produce the anti-microbial technology for different industries,” shares the engineer.
While she worked on her startup baby, she also became a mother. By March 2020, she had all the processes figured out and was near-ready to start production. And what set the ball rolling were the antimicrobial masks.
What’s the technology? Why copper?
Nanosafe’s patented technology is based on active copper and protects against the different microbes like bacteria, virus, fungi and algae in the environment.
“It is a micronutrient and has antimicrobial properties. This makes our technology safe and sustainable,” says the scientist.
Copper in India is generally used for disinfection because of its ‘purifying’ properties as per traditional sciences.
“We have developed technology which stems from the traditional science that advocates the use of copper for the purification of water. We have synthesised it to act against four different microbes — bacteria, virus, fungi and algae. While most companies act only against one of the four, we are the only ones working against all,” shares Anasuya.
The startup has four patents for the usage of active copper in different ways. The founder also shares that what makes the technology unique is copper, the core ingredient.
“There are many technologies based on silver. While nano silver is toxic for human consumption, copper is safe on all these parameters; is sustainable and is also an essential micronutrient,” she adds.
To put it simply, the technology harnesses the power of active copper to disinfect the product from microbes.
Nanosafe’s patented process synthesises source copper into active micro-size particles, which is then used to create formulations in powder, liquid and other forms, which then kill the microbes.
These particles are then combined with other materials to produce commercially-viable products. These products are used across different materials like plastic, foam, textiles, polymers, paints, coatings and cosmetics.
“All of our formulations are substantiated across different ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) and ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) testing standards with consistent 99.99% antimicrobial activity,” she adds.
Off the beaten track
While selling masks, she was introduced to her co-founder Nirav Mehta, who suggested pivoting to other industries. They diversified to plastic, polymer materials, starting with water tanks and pipes, which are prone to microbial infections.
After the water segment, they moved to foam used in mattresses, where there was a clear need for disinfection. They are now also working with automobile companies to make the frequent touch points inside antimicrobial.
Their customers include Astral Pipes, Supreme, LG and more. The scientist adds that they customise the technology based on the needs of the customer.
Nanosafe has won several awards for its pioneering technology including the National Start Up Award 2023 and the National Technology Excellence Award 2022 by the Department of Science and Technology.
Going ahead, Anasuya wants Nanosafe to become a powerhouse in the material science’s space.
“We are working on building other niche technologies to champion the cause of import substitution and export promotion,” she adds.
Edited by Padmashree Pande, Images Courtesy: Dr Anasuya Roy.
