CHENNAI: Soon after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the market landscape of hygiene products witnessed a drastic change. There was an influx of fragrant, alcohol-based hand sanitisers and disinfectants, which became omnipresent at homes, workplaces, restaurants and all other public spaces.
On the flipside, with excessive use, people started experiencing the ill-effects of these chemicalbased hand rubs and disinfectant sprays. A host of health hazards started manifesting in the form of dry skin, itching, allergies, infection and breathing difficulties.
Gauging the development, many existing players tried to play it safe by amping up their production of bio-based organic products to keep up with escalating demand. It was during that time when Ecoshield, a relatively new entrant, confidently stepped into the competitive market with a belief that its non-alcohol-based hygiene products and services had the potential to revolutionise the market.
Protection is priority
Officially launched in November 2020, the city-based start-up claims to be India’s first natural disinfection and fumigation company. Offering an overview of their concept, Sidharth Sivaram, co-founder of Ecoshield, says, “It was a wellthought- out decision for us to explore this area. My father’s company, Ecofab Private Limited, has been in disinfectants and sanitisers production for the last 25 years.
We use our proprietary product — a natural polymer-based disinfectant which is non-toxic, non-corrosive, biodegradable, human and pet-friendly. It’s tested to have antiviral and antibacterial properties. Our fumigation cycle protects the space for up to 15 days and owing to its longevity, there is better protection and cost is much lesser compared to the conventional alcohol-based disinfection process.” Headquartered in Chennai, Ecoshield extends its services across Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Puducherry.
The start-up boasts a clientele of 55 reputed brands such as The Shriram Properties Group, Dumbbell, LoCAL, Junior Kuppanna Group, IDBI Bank and Crimson Chakra. “We’ve priced our disinfection service at `1 per sq ft while other vendors may charge Rs 4 or Rs 5 per sq ft. In a larger area of more than 10,000 sq ft, we bring it down to 55 paise per sq ft. We have recently structured a subscription system for homes (independent houses and apartments) that can avail our services.
Our payment model is flexible. They can see how effective the process is and pay after the second service,” points out Sidharth. The start-up is run by a team of 15 green crusaders who ensure the services are executed with utmost efficiency. We’re told that the service person fumigates himself before entering the house. He wears a disposable PPE kit, face shield, gloves and shoes. “It takes hardly 20 minutes to complete the process (might vary slightly depending on the area), after which the family can confidently step in. The space is fragrant afterwards.
The disinfection process we follow is fume-based and completely safe on electrical gadgets. Fumigation is a different process from manual spray application. The area is completely disinfected when fumigated in a gaseous state but manual spraying can lead to uneven application of the material leaving gaps untreated and damaging electricals in some cases. After our process, you don’t have to spend time cleaning the house as it dries immediately,” he assures.
Taking the green route
With a spike in cases in the second wave, the team is working towards disinfecting as many private and commercial spaces as possible. Their latest project Disinfection on Wheels was kicked off on June 1. Starting from Chennai, the team will be travelling to select towns such as Tiruchy, Tirupur, Erode, Coimbatore and Salem. “We will be sending one car per town, with a driver and a service person. We’ve received a few bookings from these towns so they will be attended to one after another.
The police and Corporation officials have been supportive for us to do our work smoothly. The funds from this project will be used to purchase ventilators for hospitals in tier- 2 cities. As part of our CSR activities, we’ve also been using a part of our funds from all our sales to feed the homeless once a week,” he shares. To expand its clientele, Ecoshield has partnered with MyGate Apartment Management – Gated Society app and Apartment Society Management & Accounting Software.
“Once you book an appointment with us, we will intimate you immediately and provide the service the next day. Right now, we haven’t been able to disinfect restaurants due to lockdown. But we will be partnering with food delivery platforms so that our subscription model is introduced to the restaurants they’ve partnered with. We also have the bandwidth to disinfect bigger spaces such as theatres and malls,” says Sidharth. Besides this, the team is working on expanding its services to other fields, thereby hoping to provide employment opportunities to budding entrepreneurs.
“Our next step is to introduce natural pest control in farming. We will be collaborating with drone-based companies so that the spraying process can be carried out on large hectares and at an affordable price. We will be roping in first-generation graduates and engineers from these panchayats for the project. We are also mentoring students of VIT so that they can start their own company and channel our company. It will be a win-win. They get hands-on experience and we get business. We are only taking tiny steps,” he shares.
For details, visit: ecoshield.in To book an appointment, call: 9626701702
On a mission
Their latest project Disinfection on Wheels was kicked off on June 1. Starting from Chennai, the team will be travelling to select towns such as Tiruchy, Tirupur, Erode, Coimbatore and Salem.