At just 35, Nivedita Venkateish, founder and CEO of Aire, had the “ideal resume.” She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, an undergraduate degree from Singapore Management University (SMU), and has worked for more than a decade in several consumer brand and tech MNCs, including Diageo and Kraft Heinz.
Nivedita, also known as Niv, eventually joined Meta for a few months before getting laid off during the tech winter at the end of 2022. She then took a leap of faith to launch Aire in 2023, creating and selling adult diapers or pampers.
However, going from working in Meta to starting your own business seemed like a big jump. What led to that change?
Her grandmother’s experience led her to start Aire
At this point, we have seen our fair share of stories where one switches career paths after getting laid off, but for Niv, it started from her close relationship with her paternal grandmother.
Seeing her grandmother age up close, she noticed how she suffers from adult incontinence—the condition that refers to the involuntary leakage of urine.
Incontinence is challenging to manage both for the patient and their primary caregivers. In Niv’s case, her grandmother refused to wear incontinence products for the longest time, describing them as “childish, embarrassing, and uncomfortable”.
For 93-year-old Anasuya, the diapers and pampers often bunch up and feel rough against her skin, which is a nightmare given Singapore’s hot and humid weather.
However, it was not until her grandmother became bedridden for months after experiencing a devastating fall when she was diagnosed with COVID-19, that she had to wear adult pampers.
Driven to help her grandmother and others like her, Niv started Aire.
My past experiences at consumer brands like Diageo and KraftHeinz showed me the amount of thought that goes into designing products and brands, but so much of the focus is on millennial and Gen Z customers—why don’t we invest the same love and attention in brands for older adults?
1 out of 4 in Singapore will be over the age of 65 by 2030, and seniors are not without opinions—they have more to their personality than being over a particular age—likes, dislikes, and more, and they deserve better.
Nivedita Venkateish, 35, founder and CEO of Aire
Running the business alone was “frustrating and lonely”
Before starting Aire, Niv spent months interacting with people suffering from incontinence and their caregivers to understand their pain points better and kept them in mind during the company’s R&D stage.
However, the early days of Aire were not as smooth sailing for Niv. She explained that she was questioned by peers and investors around her on her decision and acknowledged the stigma of adult incontinence.
Since she initially ran the business independently, it was a “frustrating and lonely experience” for Niv. However, her customers helped her overcome her self-doubt, and their meaningful feedback allowed the business to progress further.
“Spending time with older adults has been a way for me to reinvigorate myself—their curiosity, kindness, and quirkiness really energises me,” she cheerfully quipped.
Niv invested a six-figure sum, which she forked out of her savings from her previous jobs and the severance pay received from Meta, to launch Aire under SMU’s Business Innovations Generator (BIG).
Entering the consumer packaged goods (CPG) business requires substantial capital, and despite the risks, Niv decided to launch Aire entirely bootstrapped.
“My thinking was—I needed to prove our product-market fit to myself before bringing on any external investors,” she explained, adding that fundraising could be very time-consuming and that she wanted to focus on interacting with her customers and working on operations as much as she could on her own.
Destigmatising adult incontinence
With limited capital, Aire launched its products on its website and online marketplaces as its “proof of concept”, which turned out to be the right move as the business gained traction online, allowing it to work with grassroots and non-profit organisations.
“The goal is not to just sell our products, but actually break down barriers when it comes to talking about incontinence and understanding ways—be that through exercise or diet—that you can actually manage it better,” explained Niv.
She added that incontinence is an under-reported condition, one that has profound impacts on one’s quality of life and potentially drives families apart, and she has since made it her mission to “break these barriers” through these events.
Aire also raised S$500,000 in seed funding in March, allowing the company to evolve from a one-woman show to a lean team and enter the brand into the brick-and-mortar space.
According to Niv, the company has now sold hundreds of thousands of their products in Singapore, and it is currently sold at supermarkets and healthcare stores, including selected Fairprice outlets and, most recently, the National Healthcare group’s e-pharmacy.
Adopting an omnichannel approach has advantages, but it’s not without challenges. Companies can adapt their business strategies quickly by examining customer reviews and daily sales reports, but that same data cannot be retrieved from retail stores.
As such, Niv and her team made a conscious effort to visit the shops two to three times weekly, which allows them to gather customer feedback and maintain brand visibility. While it might seem that Aire is about to reach its peak, to Niv, the company is merely scratching the surface.
Looking forward, Niv plans to grow their presence in Singapore and is working on releasing new adult incontinence products. In addition to supermarkets, the company has made its debut at Watsons and will keep its eye on other local independent pharmacies and healthcare stores.
- Learn more about Aire here.
- Read more stories we have written about Singapore startups here.
Featured Image Credit: Aire