Diabetes is a major health issue across the world. However, the love for sweets among the Indians is next to endless. Cracking this prospect, a husband-wife duo launched a sugar-free sweet brand which also claims to have no spike in sugar levels after consumption.
Aarti Laxman and Sumit Rastogi are the founders of this sugar-free ice cream and sweets brand. Artinci claims to make delicious desserts with zero sugar, that are science and evidence-backed. Artinci–a name born out of the collaboration of Sumit and Aarti’s name, serves sweet products that are made with a lab-tested, low glycemic index sweetener with an added natural stevia blend.
This stevia blend is an Artinci innovation formulated for a near-sugar-like taste with none of the carbs, as stated on its website. However, you will be shocked to know that the founders left their high-paying jobs in a bid to start this business. The idea which took birth from their craving for sweet dishes has now made them a millionaire. They became famous after pitching their product on Shark Tank Season 3.
Both Aarti Laxman and Sumit Rastogi have diabetes in their families from three generations. They were diagnosed as pre-diabetic in 2012. But their love for sweets knew no bounds. So they started searching for sugar-free sweets but were disappointed with the limited options in the market. After this, they decided to make diabetic-friendly sweets which gave birth to the Artinci sweets brand.
Aarti, who is an HR by profession, started experimenting with sugar-free desserts and making a variety of sugar-free products. She is also suffering from a hearing disability which prevents her from listening to sounds which come from a long distance. In 2012, they bought a countertop ice cream machine. Aarti started making sweets with the recipe available online. By 2015, Aarti developed a recipe without using sugar. Then she did this experiment with cakes and cookies which are now also sold as extensive products by the company.
After realising the potential of the idea, the couple decided to leave their jobs and adopted this business as their source of income. Both Sumit and Aarti had experience of working in big multinational companies. Living in Bengaluru, the couple started Artinci in January 2020 with an investment of Rs 25 lakh.
Sumit and Aarti also came to Shark Tank with their business idea. With this, Artinci got recognition at the national level. In contrast to their initial pitch of Rs 50 lakh for 1.75 per cent equity, they accepted an offer of Rs 50 lakh for 5 per cent equity plus 1 per cent royalty from Sugar cosmetics founder Vineeta Singh.
After appearing in Shark Tank, there was reportedly a huge increase of 700 per cent in orders within just 24 hours. He said that people started inquiring for orders from many countries including Britain and Australia. Artinci, which started with a savings of Rs 25 lakh, had a revenue of Rs 4.4 crore in the financial year 2022-23.
Comments
0 comment