The couple Divya Shetty and Vishnu Vardhaan help poor farmers by recycling waste materials. They operate three enterprises by recycling garbage and assisting farmers in making a living. They recycle tonnes of waste monthly and help eight thousand farmers.
When Divya Shetty was in class II, her grandfather passed away. He was a farmer from the Udupi district in the state of Karnataka. In addition to having throat cancer, he had many debts to settle. He didn’t want his family to suffer and hung himself in their farmhouse.
In 2015, Divya learned about farmer suicides in Mandya, Karnataka. She was particularly affected by the news of farmers’ deaths when she was a small girl. Her parents decided that she shouldn’t work in the agriculture field. They gave her a decent education and wanted her to choose a better job. She completed her engineering degree and started a job at an IT company. But that year marked a turning point in her life, and she decided to give up her work and undertake helping farmers.
The farmer suicides also affected Vishnu Vardhaan, a native of Chennai, who lives a few kilometres away in Bengaluru in the same city. He claims that his job in an American company caused him to reconsider his choices in life. These two young people met at a discussion of farmer issues held in Bengaluru. They later founded three successful start-ups together and got married in 2019.
Indian Superheroes
Their initial venture was ‘Indian Superheroes’ Which was established in Coimbatore before the end of 2015. It enables organic producers to avoid a third party and offer their products directly to consumers. With the aid of NGOs, they assisted approximately 800 farmers in this area.
Pepaa
Dealing with farmers, they used to talk about the water shortage. On the other hand, they encountered a problem of a huge amount of paper trash while working at enterprises. They discussed creating anything from scraps of paper. In June 2018, they developed a recycled paper pencil. They called it Plantcil (a plant in a pencil), which has been renamed “Pepaa.” The company currently provides a wide range of stationery and gift choices. However, one of the farmers they worked with gave the idea to embed a seed in the pencil so that it could grow into a plant after being discarded. Now a seed is included in all of their products.
A farmer from Tamilnadu said “Pepaa is an extra source of income for a lot of farmers. Many farmers were just growing flowers, and have now started selling seeds to the company. We can sell a variety of seeds and earn a good profit too.” Pepaa started in 2018 with an investment of Rs.1000 and has since grown into a business with annual revenue of Rs 2 crore.
Cercle-X
The cloud-based circular waste management platform Cercle X was established in January 2020. They enable businesses to achieve zero waste. 10,000 tonnes of waste are processed utilising their ScrapMarket App each month.
Through digital projects, Cercle X works with businesses and governments on waste management. By paying them fair prices, they have so far enabled 10,000 ragpickers and kabadiwallahs to use the site. The network of businesses and recyclers is linked. The two are related. Those who work in the unorganised sector, such as ragpickers and kabadiwallahs, do not get the proper support or compensation. They work closely with many women. They can give them better prices for their goods.
Cercle-X Team
Cercle X is currently soliciting money for a pre-series. Here comes the investing phase. They assert that their growth rate has increased from the previous year.
These couples believe” everything that happens to you is the best thing that ever happened to you”.They started from two organic farmers to eight hundred farmers over two and a half years. Hearing the death news of farmers they decided to put an end to these kinds of suicides by starting new ventures to help them. They quit their high-profile jobs, create start-ups based on environment-free ideas and help others in times of flood without caring about their financial status. The only dream they have is to work and empower farmers, build a network and make sure that no other farmer will commit suicide and they succeeded in it.
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