Startup The Moms Co aims global standards for toxin-free baby products made in India

Organic as a concept is catching up in the baby-care product category too. The latest to join this is a husband-wife duo – Malika Datt Sadani and Mohit Sadani – who set up a startup in March this year. Called The Moms Co, the startup claims to be India’s first Australian certified toxin-free and made safe brand, certified by the Safe Cosmetics Australia Toxin-Free Campaign. Like with most startups, the idea for the business came up with a personal experience of Mallika, who was in the UK during her pregnancy. “I moved to the UK when I was five months pregnant with my elder daughter Myrah. There, I was introduced to a new system of how pregnancy was approached. The National Health Service gives one a lot of documents to read. I got a diet chart and also attended a lot of classes that were focussed on the mother and the unborn child. I had to take a call myself on everything related to my health and the baby which was a new thing for me, considering how we have parents and relatives to reach out to in India,” says Mallika. At one of the new mothers and baby meetings, Mallika was introduced to the concept of harmful toxins in products that are used for babies. When she moved back to India, getting these products meant importing them which turned out to be very expensive. The idea for the startup was born when the baby got diaper rash which is common in India, and had to visit a pediatrician, says Mallika. [caption id=“attachment_4229641” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Malika Datt Sadani, co-founder[/caption] The Moms Company was created so that those who are seeking high quality natural and toxin-free products for their babies can get it here. “Ours is the company from India that has been certified toxin-free – by Australian firm. All our products are manufactured in India and we import ingredients,” says Mallika. The startup was funded from the savings of the duo amounting to Rs 25 lakhs. It has raised two rounds of funding. It has raised Series A funding led by Saama Capital and DSG Consumer Partners. Shripad Nadkarni, former head of marketing at Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola, is a brand mentor as well as investor in the company, says Mallika. Mohit Sadani says that the idea from the start was to come out with global products like an ‘established’ firm. “Our capital is allowing us to behave like a brand with a global ambition,” he says. The startup also has a presence offline in the form of kiosks inside hospitals. It has opened three such kiosks in hospitals in Delhi, NCR and Gurgaon and plans to move to other metros in the next few months. The company’s products are also available on all e-commerce platforms besides its own website. “We just launched in the Amazon in the US which is the last source of capital to test global market. We get a lot of traffic from international markets,” says Sadani.