Beco offers chemical free and sustainable alternatives to everyday consumables such as detergents, floor cleaners, bamboo tissues, and a lot more, and is backed by investors such as Climate Angels Fund, Titan Capital, Sequoia Sprout
(From left) Akshay Varma, Aditya Ruia and Anuj Ruia offer eco-friendly consumer products
Image: Mexy Xavier
Stylists: Juilee Borse And Nidhi Agrawal; Wardrobe: Aditya Ruia -Shirt, Trouser, Jacket: Rare Rabbit;
Akshay Verma – Shirt: Lotus Veda, Jacket: Rare Rabbit; Anuj Ruia - T-Shirt: Rare Rabbit, Suit - The Maroon Suit
Akshay Varma, 26
Aditya Ruia, 26
Anuj Ruia, 27
Co-founders, Beco
At times, you don’t plan to get into a business. You just stumble upon it. This is exactly what happened with three friends in Mumbai. On a regular weekend beach clean-up in 2019, Akshay Varma, Aditya Ruia and Anuj Ruia discovered a plastic wrapper of a chocolate brand. Well, nothing unusual about the litter. Right? But there was something alarming. The wrapper happened to be of a brand that stopped production in the 1990s.
The shocking fact triggered a haunting thought. Every plastic item used today will come back to haunt one day, the friends concluded. The harsh reality triggered the need to get into the business of eco-friendly and sustainable alternatives for daily essentials. Varma, an IIT-Madras alum, joined hands with Anuj who had worked at P&G, and BITS Pilani grad Aditya to start Beco in 2019.
(This story appears in the 11 February, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)