Saathi has been selected XTC Healthcare Category Winner and is selected as one of the Top 7 World Changing Startups at the Extreme Tech Challenge 2020, United States.
Extreme Tech Challenge is the world’s largest startup competition for entrepreneurs addressing global challenges. The goal of XTC is to connect game-changing innovators with a network of investors, corporations, and mentors to help them raise capital, launch corporate collaborations, and scale their startups.The theme of the 2020 XTC competition is ‘Pitch for Hope’. Inspired by the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the XTC supports and showcases the innovators harnessing the power of technology to address the greatest challenges facing humanity and our planet.
This year’s competition kicked off in May 2020 with 2,419 applicants from 87 countries all with a common goal to leverage technology to address the greatest challenges facing humanity and to make the planet a more sustainable and prosperous place for everyone. The applicants were then narrowed down to 52 finalists in July 2020, which recently pitched their solutions to a panel of more than 80 leading investors and industry experts. The finalists include some of the great startups EcoAct-Tanzania, Spice for Life - Hope for Madagascar’s Rainforests and many more.
About Saathi
We at Saathi, are a worldwide UN-recognized sustainable manufacturing company in Gujarat, India. We are making the first completely biodegradable and compostable sanitary pads from waste banana tree fibre. We have our own manufacturing facility in India. Our vision is to be a leader in sustainable manufacturing as our technology can be used not just for sanitary pads but also other adsorbents as well to ensure they are good not only for the earth but our bodies as well. Our business is innovative and sustainable and is built on the foundation of being a green business ready for the circular economy and all the government policies that are now shifting towards greener manufacturing. We have a multi-layered impact throughout our supply chain: banana farmers receive additional income, consumers are able to use an all-natural product which doesn't cause irritation or rashes, and finally we have a product that is compostable and therefore doesn't have any negative impact on the environment either through plastic waste or CO2 emissions which traditional pads have, Saathi's team consist of 85% women employee and we are dedicated to supporting women empowerment. We have employed low-income women in our production team and also running an initiative called #ONEMILLIONPADS partnering with NGO to distribute pads among underprivileged rural women in Jharkhand.