The empowerment and support of women leaders are crucial to our continued survival as a planet. I feel very proud as a female entrepreneur who has navigated her own way through the challenges of adversity and come out on top despite the odds.
Priyanka Srinivas, founder of the Live Green Company - Chile, 2022 WE Empower Finalist, Latin America and Caribbean
Priyanka Srinivas started Live Green in 2018 with the vision to provide sustainable alternatives to the mainstream products of the food industry. She experienced the challenge of finding truly nutritious food first-hand due to so many concerning ingredients and practices behind much of what is available on grocery store shelves. In the last four years, the Live Green Company has been working to create a growing variety of plant-based, healthy products, and is now ready to start eliminating all of the synthetic ingredients and processes.
Local food from local wisdom
The Live Green Company is setting a standard to enable our planet to support the growing global population into the coming decades. Srinivas knows it's not enough to buy the healthy food options available now - a sustainable alternative is necessary for the future. “By 2030, we will have to feed 10 billion people, while facing severe problems like climate change, resource crunch and immunity & lifestyle diseases,” Srinivas says. “Democratizing access to health-sustaining plant-only food is the best way to go.” The simple search for nutritious food for her niece sparked the change Srinivas is driving. Now she has a vision for everyone to have access to affordable, healthy plant-based food by using science and technology to find natural solutions. “For me, that combination of Nature + Science is what Live Green is all about.”
Healthy people, healthy planet
Offering substitutions specifically for animal and processed ingredients is a major way that Live Green directly supports SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being and SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production. According to Srinivas, “We use 450 thousand plants and 10 million compounds to replace the 7000+ additives the industry currently uses to help reduce the risk of immunity, life-style & heart diseases, cancer, etc.” Live Green not only offers a way to find healthy food from local sources, but also contributes to a circular economy by using compostable packaging and collaborating with Todos Reciclamos to keep waste from polluting the environment. The company structure also supports SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth by working under the Fair Trade label with local farmers and businesses. Live Green is proudly B Certified with a majority of leadership roles in the business represented by women. Through presentations, articles, and trailblazing food technology, Priyanka Srinivas and Live Green are committed advocates for sustainable living and development.
Leading the way to a sustainable future
Live Green is structured with well-being in mind. Srinivas saw a need for more nutritious food, more sustainable production, and more ethical workspaces. Inspired by the practicality of cultural traditions, she sought a way to bring our collective global knowledge together. Charaka is the proprietary technology that allows Live Green to do just that. As Srinivas describes it, “We’re using technology to recapture and reappraise the wisdoms our ancestors gained about the unique, health-supporting and functional benefits of their native plants, to create plant-only solutions with the same functionalities as today’s food additives.” Businesses are using Charaka to identify ingredients available locally to wherever foods may be produced. The technology is leading to healthier food, as well as reducing the need for shipping and intensive farming.
When it comes to fixing the gender divide in the startup world, there’s no silver bullet. Closing the gap requires a concerted effort from all sides of the industry, from founders to investors. Only by leaving behind inclusivity lip service and taking decisive actions to bring women into funds and encourage them as founders will we start to achieve gender equity in the startup world
By Forest Burdette