WOW STORY OF THE DAY: Two IIT Kharagpur Sisters From Hyderabad Turned Their Own Health Crisis Into India's Leading Plant Nutrition Brand

Deutsche Bank, ITC, ISB, Uber, and a Year of R&D Before Day One

Veda Gogineni and Sai Sudha Gogineni are sisters from Hyderabad, two IIT Kharagpur alumni whose educational backgrounds were as complementary as their later roles at Earthful. Veda pursued Biotechnology at IIT Kharagpur with a master's thesis in nutritional science focusing on gene editing. After graduation she joined Deutsche Bank in Mumbai where she worked with European stock markets, before taking a 3.5-year break to prepare for the civil services examinations. She then joined ecommerce company Meesho during its growth phase, gaining firsthand startup ecosystem experience.

Sai Sudha pursued Chemical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur and began her career at ITC through the company's prestigious AUT programme. She then pursued an MBA from the Indian School of Business and joined Uber India through campus placement during the company's early expansion phase in the country.

Together, their combined experience across finance, FMCG, tech startups, and business strategy gave them the foundation to build something that required all of it.

Before launching Earthful in 2020, they spent a full year in research, creating an R&D team, establishing and understanding ingredient synergies, and setting up a supply chain. That year of preparation became the most defensible asset the brand has: every formulation is built on genuine scientific rigour rather than marketing claims.

"Our main positioning is that nutrients have always existed in nature, and we have consumed them from fruits, vegetables and plants. We wanted to go back to the roots and source these ingredients. We don't add any colours, fillers, or excipients," Veda explains.

Nothing But Nature, Marine Algae Calcium, and India's First Menopause Multivitamin

The product philosophy at Earthful is built on one precise and powerful principle: Nothing but Nature. Every single vitamin and mineral is sourced from a scientifically validated plant source.

Iron comes from curry leaves. Vitamin C comes from amla. Vitamin A comes from moringa. Calcium comes from marine algae grown in seawater rather than oyster shells or synthetic lab production. Every decision in the formulation is grounded in traditional Indian nutritional wisdom and modern clinical evidence simultaneously.

The flagship product range includes 100% plant multivitamins for teens, adults, and the elderly, and a plant protein powder range made from just six to seven clean ingredients in natural Indian flavours including Kerala Vanilla, Alphonso Mango, and Dark Cocoa. Targeted supplements address skin, hair, sleep, PCOS, stress, and menopause. Earthful is confirmed as the first Indian brand to develop multivitamins customised specifically for menopausal women, combining vitamins, minerals, and herbs, a category that was historically underserved in Indian nutrition.

The brand generates 70 to 80% of sales through its own D2C website, an extraordinary metric of brand loyalty confirmed across multiple fundraising rounds, with a 40 to 50% repeat purchase rate that confirms genuine product efficacy and customer trust.

Ritesh Agarwal, Fireside Ventures, and ₹26 Crore to Scale Women's Health

Earthful raised ₹3.3 crore in pre-seed funding from Green Ivy Ventures in January 2023. Dr. Sindhura, Director at Green Ivy Ventures, said:

"I'm thrilled to partner with Earthful, founded by the incredible sisters Sudha and Veda. Their mission to fight undernutrition through 100% plant-based health supplements resonates deeply with me as a Doctor and Mother."

In February 2025, Earthful raised ₹5 crore led by Srinivasan Namala, who built Porus Labs and exited to Bain Capital for over ₹2,400 crore, with participation from Ritesh Agarwal of OYO Rooms following his investment commitment on Shark Tank India Season 4. By that time, Earthful had achieved 3x growth in the last 12 months, with over 1 lakh customers and a ₹15 crore annual revenue run rate.

In November 2025, Earthful raised ₹26 crore, approximately $2.9 million, in a pre-Series A funding round led by Fireside Ventures and V3 Ventures, with participation from Atrium Angels, bringing total funding to approximately $3.89 million.

Arjun Vaidya of V3 Ventures said:

"I believe India is going through an important moment in preventive supplements, and what drew us to Earthful was their pursuit of honest nutrition, simple labels, transparent formulations, and a mission rooted in Nothing but Nature."

Veda Gogineni said:

"Sudha and I started Earthful to challenge the unclean nutrition industry which was harming consumers rather than doing good. We want to build a movement where people know that their nutrition should have nothing but nature in it."

Scale and Real-World Impact

The Most Defensible Health Brands Are the Ones Built by Founders Who Were the Patient First

The sharpest lesson from Earthful's journey is this: the most trusted wellness brands are the ones built by founders who personally experienced the gap, spent a full year validating the solution scientifically, and then built the product they wished had existed when they needed it most.

Veda and Sudha were the target customer before they were the founders. They brought a Biotechnologist's precision and a Chemical Engineer's rigour to every formulation. They spent a year in R&D before selling a single bottle. And they chose to go back to nature when every market signal pointed toward synthetic convenience.

"We were conscious about having clean, plant-based products while marrying science to these ingredients to ensure they are efficacious," Veda says.

Two IIT Kharagpur engineers. One year of R&D. One personal health crisis. Nothing but Nature. Two lakh customers. Forty to fifty percent repeat purchase rate. ₹26 crore raised. And a mission to make India nutritionally whole, one plant-based supplement at a time.

Sources:YourStory HerStory, Business News This Week, CXO Today, Startup Story Media, Medboundtimes, Tracxn