Home / About us
Why Punarva Bio exists, how we work, and where we want to go.
Punarva Bio was founded by Avinash Ravi and Sumanth Karlapudi, who bring plant-building experience and financial and governance experience to the same problem. Steel and ferroalloy plants release carbon-rich gas, and gas fermentation can turn that kind of gas into ethanol. Our question is how to make that practical outside the largest mills.
As we understand it, the plants where this has been done are mostly large mills with capital and engineers of their own. Smaller plants have the gas but not the capital, the spare teams or the appetite for a new chemical process. We are building Punarva Bio for them.
The name comes from the Sanskrit punar, meaning "again". The idea is carbon put to use a second time, as a fuel, instead of being lost.
To turn carbon that smaller industrial sites release today into a useful fuel, with a deployment model that can be repeated from plant to plant.
A network of modular units across India's steel and ferroalloy clusters, making fuel ethanol from gas that would otherwise be wasted. We start with one site and earn the next.
Co-Founder
With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Avinash brings deep expertise in fermentation, chemical and food processing. Having successfully established greenfield manufacturing plants and led the design and construction of state-of-the-art fermentation facilities, his work has included collaborations with multinational companies on joint technology development and the commercial implementation of innovative products.
Co-Founder
A Chartered Accountant with 14 years of consulting experience at EY India and over five years in the pharmaceutical industry, Sumanth brings expertise in corporate finance, strategy, governance, fundraising and operational scaling. His financial leadership will be critical in securing growth capital, strengthening governance and executing Punarva Bio's vision.
The founders are supported by a skilled scientific and engineering team, and work with external technology and engineering partners.
