Leaders

Across the modern parenting landscape, the baby and toddler segment is witnessing a shift toward intentional, high-quality essentials. Backed by strong industry trust, customers are now presented with solutions which are made from more evolved and thoughtful design, clean materials, and offer meaningful utility offering support to modern caregiving challenges.

An accomplished researcher and founder from Tirupur, Divya Bharti T is spearheading innovation led-baby and toddler solutions through her brand, Bawse Baby. A serial entrepreneur, she founded Bawse Baby backed by a strong multidisciplinary academic background to lead with purpose and vision.

With a career spanning across teaching, research, and med-tech entrepreneurship, Divya brings expertise in engineering, biomedical science, and interdisciplinary innovation. Today, she proudly leads the brand creating essential, thoughtful solutions for babies and toddlers delivering conscious baby care.

How did the formative years of your life and early experiences shape your interest in innovation and entrepreneurship?

Reflecting on my journey, I recognize that entrepreneurship was always a part of my mindset. Growing up with parents who ran small independent businesses shaped my instincts early. During my undergraduate years, my friends, and I launched Posh the Artistry, selling handmade jewellery online and on campus.

This became my first real-world entrepreneurial groundwork. It gave me the platform to explore new ideas and potential opportunities.

Later on, winning India’s Top Five Student Startups in the 2014, during my undergraduate years validated that drive. This foundation strengthened my interest in consumer behaviour and product driven problem-solving, influencing my future med-tech venture as well.

How did your academic experience at IIT Madras contribute to your personal and professional growth?

As an interdisciplinary professional, I navigated a demanding academic journey, transitioning from Electronics to Biomedical Engineering and then into Mechanical Sciences for my PhD work.

The research environment, however, gave me the flexibility and independence to learn deeply, refine skills, and build resilience across diverse technical fields. This further allowed me to explore opportunities outside academics and eventually co-found a startup alongside my research.

My time at IITM Research Park was a defining chapter as it fundamentally gave direction to my entrepreneurial journey and mindset. It allowed me to function in spaces understanding regulatory frameworks, business planning, and product-market fit.

Introduce us to Bawse Baby. What inspired you to launch the brand, and what core vision drives the company?

Bawse Baby conveys ambition and confidence, with a distinct spelling to differentiate the brand. Founded in 2021 with ₹19,000 of personal savings, we started with sustainable muslin fabrics, trading products online and to a few stores.

Following a personal tragedy, the foundation of my venture became both a creative outlet and a way to redirect my focus. My affinity to muslin grew owing to its elements of being premium, expensive, and hard to find.

As a solution, I started sourcing the fabric myself to make quality muslin accessible to more parents. In 2024, I spotted a strong market gap in reusable diapers, launched the line, and soon we hit product-market fit and began scaling quickly.

As the Founder, what key responsibilities do you shoulder at Bawse Baby?

We started extremely lean and up till last year I managed almost every aspect of the business alone, supported only by a small stitching unit. Handling 150-200 orders per month became daunting task but never impossible. After achieving product-market fit, the brand quickly scaled from 2,000 to 25,000 orders monthly, eventually leading to formation of a proper team.

Today, my prime responsibility is to enhance product innovation. I focus on essential categories rather than seasonal trends, aiming to create everyday solutions for parents. For example, our reusable diaper range emerged from this philosophy.

What obstacles have you encountered while building Bawse Baby, and how did you address these roadblocks?

Coming from an engineering background, transitioning onto the garment sector was a complete shift. I started from zero, learning everything from scratch. Moments of resistance did not discourage me, rather motivated me to master the industry basics and essentials step by step.

The baby apparel market is crowded with new brands emerging daily. To stay ahead, innovation must be continuous. I constantly redefine our strategy and create solutions that genuinely meet parents’ and babies’ needs, ensuring the brand stays relevant and distinct.

What differentiates Bawse Baby in the market?

Product development at Bawse Baby is based on genuine user feedback and is non-negotiable. Today, we evaluate all feedback critically, determine whether it represents a wider section of society and then prioritize improvements accordingly.

What sets us ahead of our competitors is the commitment to ongoing learning and integrating genuine customer feedback to enhance our products and its safety standards. We view every constructive criticism as an opportunity to investigate, refine the formulation, and enhance safety.

Looking back, what professional achievements are the most special to you? What is the success mantra?

My entrepreneurial path began with a significant achievement; our undergraduate project being recognized among India’s leading student ventures. This validation set a strong foundation for my future. At IITM, the consistent pushback on the fundability of our idea proved rightfully meaningful. Early rejections made us rethink assumptions, improve the product, and built a more resilient proposition.

I am a firm believer that real progress comes from continuous learning and incorporating authentic customer feedback. Strong customer validation removes barriers; lack of it keeps you stagnant. Staying consistent, listening loosely, and iterating relentlessly are what ultimately move a business forward.

Divy Bharathi T, Founder, Bawse Baby

Visionary founder channelling interdisciplinary expertise into impactful baby-care innovation. A dynamic research-entrepreneur, divya bharathi t blends research expertise with purpose-driven product creation. Her professional journey spans across diverse sectors highlighting her expertise and leveraging years of experience and rigor, spearheading initiatives in product development and innovation