It was during his days with the Indian startups, especially the defence sector, that Puneet Gupta, a sales and marketing graduate from IIM Calcutta, observed the hygiene difficulties of soldiers working in extreme weather conditions in places such as Siachin, Kargin and Drass. Gupta who gave up a career at the US-based technology and manufacturing company Honeywell to venture into the Indian startup scenario put his thinking cap and launched Clensta in 2016. Clensta has a waterless body bath and shampoo that can be used by defence personnel, patients, elderlies, and adventure enthusiasts to take baths without water while maintaining proper hygiene. Since these products don’t have alcohol, SLS, and other harmful ingredients, they can be directly applied to hair and body, massaged, and dried off using a towel. There is no need to use water. He did it with the help of Prof (Dr) Anurag Rathore (Department of Chemical Engineering – IIT Delhi) who serves as the Scientific Advisor for the brand.
All of Clensta’s products are US FDA approved. The brand with patents for its products in about 152 countries has acquired CE certification, ISO:9001, ISO:1400, and GMP compliance certificates. Puneet says Clensta’s mission is to be an affordable and sustainable healthcare provider across India. More than that, it will significantly reduce the dependence on water. “The average household uses 250 litres of water per day per capita. By using waterless technology, the estimated usage of households and hospitals would be over 25 million litres of water a year, saving Rs 1,500,000 annually,” Puneet says adding that the products are available across pharmacies, mainly in Delhi. DRO, Indian Army, and Indian Navy use Clensta’s products.
During the Covid-19 period, Clensta launched hand sanitisers, as well as Clensta – COVID-19 Protection Lotion to safeguard people from infection. A 100 ml lotion is priced at Rs 298 and is available in both retail stores and on e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart. According to Puneet, the product is developed based on Prolonged Antiviral Protection Technology (PAP technology) and provides longer protection from pathogenic microorganisms like COVID-19, flu virus, MRSA, and Candida albicans for up to 24 hours, he claims.
Although Clensta faced a tough time setting up an R&D unit, it finally received support from IIT Delhi’s Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT). Puneet believes that Clensta has a bright future as there is a growing concern over healthcare facilities, personal hygiene products, and environmental concerns like water scarcity, plastic wastage, and water conservation. And, the company is working towards its goals. It is planning to launch new products such as waterless, safe to swallow toothpaste, waterless pigeon repellent, anti-mosquito body bath, and waterless intimate wash. This will further focus on the reduction of plastic as well.
