Ramya Ahuja
Founder
An alumnus of IIT-Delhi, Ramya Ahuja is one such technology leader who has created a niche for herself in the Indian tech ecosystem through her exemplary work in the material science vertical through her firm Ramya Materials. Passionate to solve societal problems since her childhood, Ramya realized material science held the answers for problems across almost every industry while pursuing her bachelor’s degree at Columbia University in New York. During her summer internship with Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, she started working on projects and internships pertaining to use of waste materials and alternatives to plastics such as biopolymers for packaging. “My days at IIT-Delhi exposed me to a large alumni network comprising of brightest scientific minds from across India who have contributed significantly towards Ramya Materials as board members, partners, and even team members. The IIT alumni network has played a pivotal role even in my company acquiring customers through word-of-mouth publicity and referrals”, says Ramya Ahuja, Founder.
The Accidental Entrepreneur
Coming back to India, she took up PhD in Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Delhi and was actively carrying-out R&D for using and developing new materials. When it was time to take a call on her career, she realized that there were no such organizations working on materials science R&D across sectors and stakeholders back then. Since she wanted to work in India and solve the world’s problems, through her research she realized that many entities needed relevant experts who could help them ideate and test their ideas on different use cases of materials such as biopolymers. Initially, she started working as a freelance consultant for such organizations on material science & product development, but then setup her own firm, Ramya Materials by 2021 to meet the growing demand that the material sciences and deep science /translational research had begun to garner.
“It is difficult for the scientists to get recognition and value, as they are not as
valorized like the CEOs or CXOs. Thus, despite offering ground-breaking services to our customers, ensuring that my company and my team members get the deserved recognition and value for their hard work was a constant challenge during the initial days of my entrepreneurial journey”, says Ramya.
Enhancing the Entrepreneurial Spirit
Founded in 2021, Ramya Materials is a nextgen deep tech startup and an entrepreneurship support organization primarily engaged in researching new materials, especially in the areas concerning environmental sustain-ability, circular economy, public health and medical technologies. Some of the major practice areas of the company include R&D Consulting, Technical Due Diligence and Knowledge Products. Today, the firm has garnered the reputation of spearheading IP-led innovation and product development among Indian startups and larger MSMEs as well.
“Except in niche sectors such as pharma, industrial innovation is a very recent development that is slowly gaining traction in India lately. Although many entrepreneurs wish to explore this area, they find it extremely challenging to find the right talent and acquire the required resources. On the other hand, there are a lot of underutilized assets such as testing and prototyping equipment with academic institutions that are seldom used. As an ESO, we enable such innovators and entrepreneurs to access these underutilized resources and accelerate their product development process”, explains Ramya.
Secret Recipe to Success
As an entrepreneur with a scientific mind, Ramya was always intrigued about the material sciences space. Through perseverance and persistence, she gradually built-up the necessary resources including Patent Analysis & Landscape Mapping, Bioprocessing, Industrial Chemicals, Pilots & manufacturing, and Net-Zero Construction to focus her skills towards facilitating entrepreneurs and R&D teams in product solutions and innovation through translational research. This focused approach has been one of the primary factors that have led to the successful entrepre-neurial journey of Ramya, especially in the deep tech vertical.
“I believe working backward from clear end-user pain points while staying in tune with these problem statements as they evolve is a core principle that must guide every entrepreneur or business professional. Twice every year, I make sure to go outside the scope of my projects, immerse myself with other sectors and get to understand the current happenings within those industries. Members of our team regularly participate in conferences, seminars and exhibitions from across almost every industry that has use cases for material science as well, which has helped me immensely in identifying new business opportunities and broadening our scope of work ”, adds Ramya.
Owing to her vast industry expertise, Ramya is also actively involved with young entrepreneurs and is currently mentoring with a global climate tech fund named Third Derivative. She also won the Investigator Award at an international conference for artificial organ research in Japan, which she cherishes as the proudest moments where she could also represent India. Further, she was even invited to speak at events like the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) National Stakeholders Workshop on the Plastic Life Cycle this June (2024).
Going forward, Ramya plans to engage more deeply to support larger and more mature organizations around the world in their product innovation efforts by advancing her firm’s services and helping accelerate the flow of capital into climate tech, health tech, and similar deep tech verticals which demand concerted efforts and resources towards innovation. Additionally, she envisions building her firm's investor & partner base to create awareness about the potential impact and exponential returns of these work areas as she continues to explore the inter sectionality of material sciences.
Enhancing the Entrepreneurial Spirit
Founded in 2021, Ramya Materials is a nextgen deep tech startup and an entrepreneurship support organization primarily engaged in researching new materials, especially in the areas concerning environmental sustain-ability, circular economy, public health and medical technologies. Some of the major practice areas of the company include R&D Consulting, Technical Due Diligence and Knowledge Products. Today, the firm has garnered the reputation of spearheading IP-led innovation and product development among Indian startups and larger MSMEs as well.
“Except in niche sectors such as pharma, industrial innovation is a very recent development that is slowly gaining traction in India lately. Although many entrepreneurs wish to explore this area, they find it extremely challenging to find the right talent and acquire the required resources. On the other hand, there are a lot of underutilized assets such as testing and prototyping equipment with academic institutions that are seldom used. As an ESO, we enable such innovators and entrepreneurs to access these underutilized resources and accelerate their product development process”, explains Ramya.
Ramya's days at IIT Delhi exposed her to a large alumni network comprising of brightest scientific minds from across India who have contributed significantly towards Ramya Materials
Secret Recipe to Success
As an entrepreneur with a scientific mind, Ramya was always intrigued about the material sciences space. Through perseverance and persistence, she gradually built-up the necessary resources including Patent Analysis & Landscape Mapping, Bioprocessing, Industrial Chemicals, Pilots & manufacturing, and Net-Zero Construction to focus her skills towards facilitating entrepreneurs and R&D teams in product solutions and innovation through translational research. This focused approach has been one of the primary factors that have led to the successful entrepre-neurial journey of Ramya, especially in the deep tech vertical.
“I believe working backward from clear end-user pain points while staying in tune with these problem statements as they evolve is a core principle that must guide every entrepreneur or business professional. Twice every year, I make sure to go outside the scope of my projects, immerse myself with other sectors and get to understand the current happenings within those industries. Members of our team regularly participate in conferences, seminars and exhibitions from across almost every industry that has use cases for material science as well, which has helped me immensely in identifying new business opportunities and broadening our scope of work ”, adds Ramya.
Owing to her vast industry expertise, Ramya is also actively involved with young entrepreneurs and is currently mentoring with a global climate tech fund named Third Derivative. She also won the Investigator Award at an international conference for artificial organ research in Japan, which she cherishes as the proudest moments where she could also represent India. Further, she was even invited to speak at events like the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) National Stakeholders Workshop on the Plastic Life Cycle this June (2024).
Going forward, Ramya plans to engage more deeply to support larger and more mature organizations around the world in their product innovation efforts by advancing her firm’s services and helping accelerate the flow of capital into climate tech, health tech, and similar deep tech verticals which demand concerted efforts and resources towards innovation. Additionally, she envisions building her firm's investor & partner base to create awareness about the potential impact and exponential returns of these work areas as she continues to explore the inter sectionality of material sciences.
