Rashmi Prakash, CEO of Bio-manufacturing Start-up, Aruna Revolution

S2 E1 ARUNA REVOLUTION

Season 2 of the Frontier Entrepreneurship Podcast is finally here, as we begin an exploration of Canadian ag/biotech and agri-food innovation with Co-Hosts Braden Kemp (Bioenterprise Canada) and Tracy Morningstar (Canadian Council for Indigenous Business).

Did you know that period pads can contain heavy metals and carcinogens, and that they sit in landfills for hundreds of years? Meanwhile, in favour of plastic, gigatons of agricultural residuals are wasted. Useful natural fibres are being left behind in fields, season after season. But our first guest, Rashmi Prakash (CEO of Aruna Revolution) is working with farmers to reclaim this biomaterial, using it to create natural menstrual products that will help make the circular economy a reality.

Themes we encounter in this conversation:

• Aruna company overview, mission and vision (1:44)
• The problem with menstrual pads on the market today (2:18)
• On traditional and Indigenous practices vis-à-vis menstruation (5:23)
• On the lack of environmental responsibility in the industry and consumer demand for natural products (7:09)
• Revolution, eco-feminism and social change, and the meaning of Aruna (10:34)
• Gardening and entrepreneurship (15:30)
• Aruna commercialization and production timelines (17:50)
• Transforming agricultural residual feedstock into natural fibre (19:09)
• Going up against major competitors (25:22)
• The Aruna team (29:00)
• Aruna fundraising strategies (30:38)

Quick Links and References

• Aruna Revolution – Bioenterprise Canada
• Aruna Revolution Wins 2024 Green Pursuit Challenge (Dairy Farmers of Canada and Bioenterprise)
• UC Berkeley Public Health – Study on toxicity of tampons (2024)
• Who are the Cattails? Stories of Algonquin Anishinaabe Food Systems, by Kaitlyn Patterson, Canadian Food Studies (2021). See also: Medicine in your backyard: How Indigenous peoples have used medicinal plants | CBC News, NativeTech page on cattails, Indigenous Goddess Gang on ‘feminine hygiene’ industry.
• Rashmi Prakash – University of British Columbia (UBC), School of Biomedical Engineering, Capstone project innovations.

Acknowledgments

The Executive Producer of the Frontier Entrepreneurship Podcast is Robert Washburn. Special thanks to Daniela Scoppa, Heather Cannings and John Hayden. This project is made possible with the support of FedDev Ontario and the Government of Canada.

For more information on our podcast, including co-host biographies, click here.

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