Indian startup Biya offers an online sales platform for India’s as yet undiscovered artisans and their way of life.
Biya sells plant-based and chemical-free merchandise and is founded by Pooja Singh and Prateesha Malik. The company sells Manipur’s world-famous Longpi pottery products. “It is one of our bestsellers and it’s not available in any other part of the world,” said Pooja.
Not only does the sale of these products create a revenue stream for artisans from the Manipuri village, the items themselves can be used to cure the iron deficiency, but she also added. “We are also looking at selling linen clothes made out of plant and fruit waste and we used dried flowers to dye the cloth.”
Biya eliminates the middlemen in the process by working directly with India’s cottage industry entities. “A lot of manufacturers in Indian claim that they are sustainable when they are actually not-we need to ensure that our processes are completely plant-based.”
“One of our main agendas is to make people aware of sustainable living practices and we are happy to meet investors that are really interested and believe in our concepts.”
“Looking at the way the market is going, you may see us manufacturing out of India because a big part of our supply comes from there,” said Pooja. “We don’t have a competitor here in this region, so the opportunity is tremendous. There is a high level of awareness-they know about organic hemp and the difference between plant-based lacquer and chemical lacquer.”
“We reach out to them using our network and we start production with people whom we can trust-before signing up, we take a sample of their work. We visit their manufacturing unit located in whatever remote and we see if the process meets our standards. These are artisans who put their heart and soul into making these products. So we pay them a sum at the time of purchase-I don’t want them to keep waiting.”
