Founder Spotlight: Dinesh Tadepalli (incrEDIBLE by Planeteer)
Meet Dinesh Tadepalli
Company:
incrEDIBLE by Planeteer
incrEDIBLE reinvents the way we eat our food by replacing single use plastics with edible cultery. Did you EAT your SPOON today?
When did you launch your business?
February 2019
Startup Stage:
Bootstrapped, pre-seed
Location:
Milpitas, CA, USA
What led you to where you are today?
By 2050, there would be more plastic than fish in our oceans (by weight). As young parents we are concerned about future generations. With a strong passion and enduring research, along with our manufacturing partner Kruvil Patel (India) we innovated machinery to manufacture edible cutlery at scale. We thank our first customers, mentors, food industry professionals we met at various tradeshows and friends for their support and belief in our product.
What do you wish you knew before embarking on your entrepreneurial journey?
Sailing from an engineering background with super fast schedules and process, stepping into food based entrepreneurship taught us how to be more patient and be more enduring. Being an impact-first, margins-next based company, finding an impact based investor without expecting returns in multiples has been another challenge for us.
What is the most difficult decision you've had to make regarding your business so far?
We had to sell our home in the US to build our facility and cover our initial expenses. I sincerely thank my wife and co-founder, Sudheshna for being fully supportive during this life changing decision. We invested all of our savings and to help with operating costs, we took part time jobs to sustain our personal life.
What can you help the VEGPRENEUR community with?
incrEDIBLE would love to work with emerging and existing startups in the vegan community to find or source the best sustainable packing, tableware as needed. We are happy to share whacky marketing strategies to foster great ROI with the least amount of ad spend. Together, we can make the change we would like to see!
How can the VEGPRENEUR community help you?
88% of consumers are looking for brands that can help them make a change. We are looking forward to connecting with other brands to help meet their sustainable tableware needs with edible cutlery. Investors looking to have a sizable impact on plastic pollution can help us scale. Individuals who are looking to make their next party or hike more fun with edible cutlery can try our product. Let your favorite ice cream shop or take-out spot know that the best alternative to single use plastics is now as fun as eating your spoon (straw and sporks are coming soon!)
Fun fact about you:
I can speak five languages. I also love to spend time outdoors hiking the mountains and reading about ancient philosophy and mythology.
Anything else you would like to share?
In a heartbreaking article, micro plastics were found in the placentas of unborn babies. So I kindly request the readers to think a few minutes before they pick up the next single use plastic utensil. Don't we all strive to leave a better future to our kids?
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