Meet Shubham Singh from CRASTE (https://craste.co/), a company that turns rice straw into beer cartons and furniture! Who knew that something usually burned in the fields could become so useful? With his expertise in chemical engineering and his sister's unwavering support (because let's face it, who else would put up with his crazy ideas?), Shubham has turned agriculture waste into something way more exciting than just compost. Craste's proprietary technology removes the silica that prevents rice straw pulp from being used in a variety of applications, creating a huge opportunity to create value-added products.
It took Shubham nearly four years and some grant money to set up a pilot factory where he is building value-added products for furniture and packaging applications., These products have been used by companies such as Ikea and Nestle. Shubham and I had a fascinating conversation about the following
1. Origin story of Craste
2. How CRASTE rewards farmers for not burning their crops
3. Building differentiated products
4. Writing a winning grant proposal