- Pooja Apte, winner of Startup India Yatra, is now heralding a promising brand Nemital making footwear out of upcycled tyre scraps
- With an MBA in Renewable Energy, she designs a vast range of footwear
- Pooja feels that passion and dedication drove her to where she is and if she can any other woman can
Pooja Apte successfully runs a business of making footwear out of upcycled tyre scraps. A young woman entrepreneur, Pooja’s footwear brand Blink Green is a product of extensive industrial research and in-depth expertise about Recycling and Upcycling. Pooja’s entrepreneurial venture is an alternative to the landfills choking with discarded tyres.
A Start from Tyre Scratch
As a young girl based out of Pune, Pooja had set out to fulfil her aspirations and make a career in the IT sector, but the universe had other plans. Pooja Apte served a stint in the IT but decided to pursue her passion for sustainable and green products.
Since childhood, Pooja was conscious about the potentials of renewable energy, sustainability and recycling of waste products. She did her MBA in Renewable Energy and started reading up about recycling and upcycling of plastic, textiles and tyres. After quitting her 9to5 job, it was not easy for Pooja to deal with the unpredictability of a start-up business without her monthly salary to fall back on. This in itself was a challenge but she never gave up on the idea of aesthetic, durable and environment-friendly products.
Explaining the inception of Blink Green, Pooja says that tyres are a serious issue as they are non-degradable. Eventually, Pooja got the idea of upcycling tyres and using the scraps for making footwear. Being a young entrepreneur participated in Startup India Yatra and ended up bagging Rs 50,000 cash prize for her innovative venture.
This is when her actual journey began as she finally acquired the capital to launch her brand Nemital under her company name Blink Green. Eventually, she embarked on creating trendy footwear. Initially, she kept the designs simple and got the footwear made from local cobblers. She now with the help of her designer designs a vast range of footwear, from Kolhapuri chappals to Oxford shoes, bellies, mojris etc which can be worn by any individual of any age group.
Put Together Locally
Her journey began with local people in Pune and places which were filled with dirt and filth. To collect the tyre scraps she frequented dark and dingy places confronting security risks. Undeterred by the unpleasantness, she took up the challenge and persevere to work. Pooja mentions that an 80 yr old rag-picker who provided her with the scraps for free so that she could get her work started.
“If I could face challenges and begin to build a business on my own from the scratch then any woman can. You have to find the drive within you and where there is passion, there is no room for weakness,” says Pooja. Pooja says that in footwear manufacturing sector 80% of the output is for females and 5% is for men; however, the sector is dominated by men.
Pooja says, “I was lucky though, I never had to experience any gender discrimination in my journey till now”. She, in fact, said that initially, she had to travel alone to remote locations to get work done. That is where she met Noora Bhai in Mumbai who had a local shop that supplied footwear products. This individual helped her a lot and was like a father figure to her. He also was extremely helpful in terms of her work.
A Feisty Journey of Challenges
From those initial days to the present time, life has not always been easy for Pooja. The lockdown was quite a gruelling phase for Pooja and her business. In April 2020, Blink Green’s sales went down to zero, but Pooja would not stay down for long. This setback led to the launch of her company website www.nemital.com which has an array of footwear and can be purchased by anyone.
This platform gave Pooja the boost she required and she bounced back like never before. At present, she is concentrating on exporting her products in full swing by 2021. Pooja feels that where there is passion, there is no room for weakness. Now, she is a full-fledged entrepreneur and is striving for a cleaner and healthier future.
Machine Maker celebrating Woman in Indian Manufacturing is coming out with incredible stories of #Womanufactuirng. If you would like to recommend anyone among you to be featured write to us at info@themachinemaker.com
