HERALD: Your product is a shaving foam brush, why should I buy it?
VITTORIO VELHO: You should buy it because it is highly convenient and effective rather than using your hand. Application of foam for shaving is easier as this product has got traction and it grips the foam to the face and there is no waste. I have named the product as Apptor.
HERALD: Why did it take so long to come into this business?
VV: The idea emerged when I was in college and I was around 25 but at that time it was just a concept. In 2005, I filed for the first patent in USA and Canada and was back to India in 2010 and dedicated my time in 2011 onwards in this project. Then I further filed additional patents of the product as it developed in 2014. I am now in the process of developing further innovation in that same field of shaving equipment. Some of the innovations are actually in a very nascent stage, but are quite new and innovative concepts in that area.
HERALD: When did this idea of making this product start?
VV: The modern shaving brush may be traced to France during the 1750s. Until the early 20th century, bars or sticks of hard shaving soap were used. Later, tubes containing compounds of oils and soft soap were sold. Newer creams introduced in the 1940s neither produced lather nor required brushes, often referred to as brushless creams. The first can of pressurized shaving cream was Rise shaving cream, which was introduced by Carter-Wallace in 1949. Shaving brush is an in the area in which for last several decades no innovation has taken place and I feel there is a lot of scope in this area. I am now going to develop separate brushes for cream and gel. I am also working on the conventional shaving brush which will be a unique concept and will soon be out in the market and I am in the process of filing the patent for that.
HERALD: What is your production capacity and what is your marketing plan?
VV: I get it done by a third party from Mumbai and capacity right now for my moulds is 30,000 units per month. Right now the product is displayed on Amazon and it was successfully launched in December last year which was a test market. I am now planning to have a different strategy because I realise that basically the core competence of me and my team is to develop new products. What we are trying to do now is to license the IP (intellectual property) to bigger multinational companies like Gillette, Unilever, Nivea, Godrej etc. We are trying to get our products all across the globe through the medium of this larger companies reach rather than trying to do it all on our own, which is not my core competence.
HERALD: Which are the companies looking for your product?
VV: Right now discussions are on with the Hindustan Unilever and also we are trying to close one door before opening the other. So the next target will obviously be Gillette, Godrej etc. We are going with the whole portfolio of IP to them not just the product.
HERALD: Who helped you realise this dream?
VV: Initially I invested my own money whatever saving that I had, which was used for filing the patents and to make the moulds and get the product to a certain stage. Now CIBA has helped me in a great way and I have guidance from very senior mentor who guides me in my decision making. I was also able to tie-up and build a team from the other innovators who are engineers by profession, within the CIBA.
HERALD: Where do you see your company in next five years?
VV: I look at the company as being a leading innovator in this field of shaving foam brush and accessories. I want this brand and the company to be known all across the world for some of its highly innovative products and as you know shaving is an activity which is conducted every morning, all over the world. So the reach for this product is virtually everywhere. Once our products are licensed with larger companies then we will surely spread more and business is bound to grow leaps and bounds.
