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At simply 35, Nivedita Venkateish, founder and CEO of Aire, had the “perfect resume.” She holds an MBA from Columbia Enterprise Faculty, an undergraduate diploma from Singapore Administration College (SMU), and has labored for greater than a decade in a number of shopper model and tech MNCs, together with Diageo and Kraft Heinz.

Nivedita, also referred to as Niv, finally joined Meta for a couple of months earlier than getting laid off throughout the tech winter on the finish of 2022. She then took a leap of religion to launch Aire in 2023, creating and promoting grownup diapers or pampers.

Nonetheless, going from working in Meta to beginning your personal enterprise appeared like a giant soar. What led to that change?

Her grandmother’s expertise led her to begin Aire

At this level, now we have seen our fair proportion of tales the place one switches profession paths after getting laid off, however for Niv, it began from her shut relationship together with her paternal grandmother.

aire founder and her grandmother — Niv together with her paternal grandmother, Anasuya, 93 / Picture Credit score: Aire

Seeing her grandmother age up shut, she seen how she suffers from grownup incontinence—the situation that refers back to the involuntary leakage of urine.

Incontinence is difficult to handle each for the affected person and their major caregivers. In Niv’s case, her grandmother refused to put on incontinence merchandise for the longest time, describing them as “infantile, embarrassing, and uncomfortable”.

For 93-year-old Anasuya, the diapers and pampers usually bunch up and really feel tough towards her pores and skin, which is a nightmare given Singapore’s scorching and humid climate.

Nonetheless, it was not till her grandmother grew to become bedridden for months after experiencing a devastating fall when she was recognized with COVID-19, that she needed to put on grownup pampers.

Pushed to assist her grandmother and others like her, Niv began Aire.

My previous experiences at shopper manufacturers like Diageo and KraftHeinz confirmed me the quantity of thought that goes into designing merchandise and types, however a lot of the main target is on millennial and Gen Z prospects—why don’t we make investments the identical love and a spotlight in manufacturers for older adults?

1 out of 4 in Singapore can be over the age of 65 by 2030, and seniors will not be with out opinions—they’ve extra to their persona than being over a selected age—likes, dislikes, and extra, they usually deserve higher.

Nivedita Venkateish, 35, founder and CEO of Aire

Operating the enterprise alone was “irritating and lonely”

Earlier than beginning Aire, Niv spent months interacting with folks affected by incontinence and their caregivers to grasp their ache factors higher and stored them in thoughts throughout the firm’s R&D stage.

Nonetheless, the early days of Aire weren’t as clean crusing for Niv. She defined that she was questioned by friends and buyers round her on her determination and acknowledged the stigma of grownup incontinence.

Since she initially ran the enterprise independently, it was a “irritating and lonely expertise” for Niv. Nonetheless, her prospects helped her overcome her self-doubt, and their significant suggestions allowed the enterprise to progress additional.

“Spending time with older adults has been a means for me to reinvigorate myself—their curiosity, kindness, and quirkiness actually energises me,” she cheerfully quipped.

Niv invested a six-figure sum, which she forked out of her financial savings from her earlier jobs and the severance pay obtained from Meta, to launch Aire underneath SMU’s Enterprise Improvements Generator (BIG).

Coming into the patron packaged items (CPG) enterprise requires substantial capital, and regardless of the dangers, Niv determined to launch Aire solely bootstrapped.

“My considering was—I wanted to show our product-market match to myself earlier than bringing on any exterior buyers,” she defined, including that fundraising could possibly be very time-consuming and that she wished to deal with interacting together with her prospects and dealing on operations as a lot as she may on her personal.

Destigmatising grownup incontinence

With restricted capital, Aire launched its merchandise on its web site and on-line marketplaces as its “proof of idea”, which turned out to be the suitable transfer because the enterprise gained traction on-line, permitting it to work with grassroots and non-profit organisations.

aire grassroots events — Picture Credit score: Aire

“The objective is to not simply promote our merchandise, however really break down boundaries in the case of speaking about incontinence and understanding methods—be that by train or food plan—which you can really handle it higher,” defined Niv.

She added that incontinence is an under-reported situation, one which has profound impacts on one’s high quality of life and probably drives households aside, and he or she has since made it her mission to “break these boundaries” by these occasions.

Aire additionally raised S$500,000 in seed funding in March, permitting the corporate to evolve from a one-woman present to a lean workforce and enter the model into the brick-and-mortar house.

In keeping with Niv, the corporate has now bought a whole lot of hundreds of their merchandise in Singapore, and it’s at the moment bought at supermarkets and healthcare shops, together with chosen Fairprice retailers and, most just lately, the Nationwide Healthcare group’s e-pharmacy.

Adopting an omnichannel strategy has benefits, however it’s not with out challenges. Corporations can adapt their enterprise methods shortly by inspecting buyer opinions and day by day gross sales stories, however that very same information can’t be retrieved from retail shops.

aire fairprice — Aire workforce at a Fairprice outlet / Picture Credit score: Aire

As such, Niv and her workforce made a aware effort to go to the retailers two to a few occasions weekly, which permits them to collect buyer suggestions and keep model visibility. Whereas it may appear that Aire is about to achieve its peak, to Niv, the corporate is merely scratching the floor.

Wanting ahead, Niv plans to develop their presence in Singapore and is engaged on releasing new grownup incontinence merchandise. Along with supermarkets, the corporate has made its debut at Watsons and can hold its eye on different native impartial pharmacies and healthcare shops.