LESS : This Bangalore based Startup brings to you an environment friendly alternative solutions for skin, clothes, food and homes

• ByStartupStory     |    August 8, 2021

“I wanted to work on something that would connect us closer to nature, which would be planet and people friendly and to work towards creating self-sustaining communities in the Country.” says Shibani Shetty , Founder of LESS, in a hearty conversation with Startup Story.

Education and Background

Shibani did her undergrads in Business Management, and went to Singapore to do her Masters, and then came back to Bangalore, to work in the advertising agency, Ogilvy. There she worked for two years before giving her 100% time for in-depth research in Hemp. That was around in 2016. During her travels to hemp cultivating regions in Northern India, Nepal, China and Italy, she expanded her knowledge on plant extracting and technologies to bring out the best quality Hemp products with maximum benefits, as its also one of the sacred Ayurvedic plants of India.

She started her hemp journey with her first company with three other friends, to closely work with farmer communities and to take hemp nutrition to every corner.

In 2018, Less started with a vision to grow, share & curate products that are completely plastic free and almost zero waste just like the crop. As a mission, they want to eradicate malnutrition from India. They want to utilize Hemp to its full potential. Hemp seeds have high protein, omegas and people can use it as an alternative for staple food. This superfood is vegan too.

They started with clothing made from the fibers of Hemp plants, which are durable, breathable and can be better than even linen. This Skintrepreneur has also created an entire natural skincare range having hemp seed oil as the main ingredient. Hemp seed oil has anti-inflammatory, anti-aging and has been solution to many skin care problems like breakouts, acne and even Eczema for a few.

Less is soon opening a collaborative spa in one of Goa hotels – Probably Asia’s first all Hemp spa! All services infused with Hemp and their best selling, one of a kind ‘melt and massage’ candle.

Reaching out to customers

“Initially when we started, nobody was willing to work with us, there was a misconception that this might get you high” It took them time to move around the stigma. They launched their first collection at a festival called “Echoes of the Earth”, which invites people to be more mindful. When they started their fabric line, most people started appreciating the quality. In terms of food, they’ve made a vegan friendly, ready to bake hemp brownies. “We experimented a lot in terms of food with the help of friends and Chefs across the globe. There has been a lot of learnings and collaborations in the last year.”

How Pandemic has affected Less

“Since we are responsible for a few underprivileged women, and as they get paid on project basis, we concentrated on getting them all the basic necessities and healthcare at their homes.” In terms of sale, however, Less suffered a 40% hit. They were still producing small batches and connecting with returning customers. They also make sure that women are getting paid on priority than the management team. Previously, they were so busy running the business that they couldn’t focus on their medical and education projects, Pandemic gave them that window of time.

Team

Everyday basis there are 6 people, divided into business development, operation and design. Other than that, Shibani sometimes creates small teams of women who make b2b skincare products, which depends on demand.

Future Plan

Working on priority to eradicate malnutrition from India. For a country that has been struggling with hunger, water crisis, unemployment, unhappy farmers- hemp could be the solution to many current issues. They want to empower Indian farmers, work together as an industry to create a rising circular economy for India. “We aim to tie up with the governments to facilitate to feed the children with daily hemp milk and rotis improving nutritional value and to create low cost housing and replace concrete with Hemp especially in cultivating regions”. They also hope for more cultivation across all draught prone areas in the country.

Funding

Less is a bootstrapped company, invested in Food, Fabric, Skincare, Paper and now from the profits they expand into Spa-Care, Furnishings and blockchain technologies. “Hoping for funding from ethical channels, as we’re closely working with doctors for full spectrum CBD, made from the leaf and flower to cure conditions like epilepsy, anxiety, pain management to name a few.”

Name Game

Hemp is a plant which needs very little to grow, but gives it all. It is giving more, and taking less, hence the name -”Less”

Inspirational Word

“ Be conscious and be comfortable, and be self aware of things you do. We need to be kind to all living things, and be passionate about why we are here. The earth has given us a lot to explore not exploit, Forget about the materialistic side and be a bit more mindful inwards, and think about the bigger picture. Most of my life lessons have been from the Mother Nature & adventure.” Shibani Shetty, Founder,  Less.

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