Zaara Biotech, an Indian campus start-up, has struck a joint venture deal with UAE-based multi-sector business group TCN International Commerce for the company’s micro-algae-based new age lifestyle food products.
The Indian outfit has also finalised a $10 million funding deal with TCN, which is to be used for Zaara’s proposed research and development projects in bio and nanotechnology areas with some of the leading universities in the UAE.
“We will be foraying into the Middle East market in a big way by setting up an equal partnership company – Zaara Biotech International – in Dubai with TCN International,” Najeeb Bin Haneef, founder of the start-up, told Arabian Business.
“The joint venture will undertake the entire manufacturing, marketing and distribution activities of our B-Lite brand of cookies, which are made from micro-algae using our proprietary process technology, for the Gulf market,” added Haneef, who founded the start-up when he was a biotechnology engineering student at Sahrdaya College of Engineering and Technology, Kerala, in 2016.
Haneef is currently working towards his masters programme in India, while steering the maiden international foray of his biotech start-up.
The joint venture-cum-funding deal between the two was finalised at the recently held Gulfood expo, where the Indian venture showcased its innovative cookies, which are being marketed as easy, tasty and nutritious breakfast replacements for busy employees and professionals.
Zaara Biotech also participated in Gitex 2020 as part of the start-up delegation of the Kerala Start-up Mission (KSUM), the nodal agency of the state government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities.
Najeeb Bin Haneef, founder and CEO of Zaara Biotech.
TCN International Commerce has its presence in several sectors including IT, healthcare, education, FMCG, construction and engineering, defence, aviation and oil and gas.
Zaara’s B-lite cookies, currently marketed in several big cities across India, are available in three flavours – Indian spice masala, chocolate and nutmeg. The cookies, available in 140g and 190g packets, are marketed in basic and premium categories.
Haneef collaborated with India’s premier agriculture and fisheries research bodies – Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) for developing the micro-algae-based cookies on a commercial basis.
He revealed the proposed joint venture in the UAE will be looking for a May launch – post-Ramadan – for its marketing operations in the Dubai market.
“We will ship the products from our Kerala-based manufacturing centre in the initial months, till the production facilities in Dubai, which will be set up in accordance with the international FDA (food and drug administration) guidelines, are ready.
“We also plan to use the Dubai facility for exporting to other international markets,” he said.
Haneef said the joint venture will initially focus on the Dubai market, before gradually expanding to other cities in the UAE and into other GCC markets.
“We already had started exporting our cookies to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and were currently in the process of registering with authorities in Kuwait. So, our products are already test marketed in these countries,” he said.
He added that the company’s marketing strategy in the Gulf region will involve focusing on high-employee industrial and commercial clusters, which will involve hard working jobs.
“We will be looking at entering into B2B agreements with companies in the mining, oil & gas and education sectors to market our cookies,” he said.
Zaara’s B-lite cookies, currently marketed in several big cities across India, are available in three flavours – Indian spice masala, chocolate and nutmeg.
Regarding the $10 million funding deal with TCN, Haneef said the company would deploy the money for its proposed research and development projects, mainly in the energy sector in the bio and nanotech areas.
He said the Zaara team is currently engaged in designing and developing photo-bioreactors using micro-algae and proposes to enter into tie-ups with some of the leading universities in the UAE for further work on these projects.
Al Ain University and New York University Abu Dhabi are among the universities which Zaara will explore to enter into tie-ups for its R&D projects, he added.
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