Zaara Biotech bags $10 million investment from UAE firm

Thrissur, Kerala-based student biotech startup Zaara Biotech has secured an investment of $10 million (Rs 72.4 crore) from Dubai headqutered  TCN International Commerce. 

The startup has received the funding for its project AlgaeSeaweed Technology under the brand B-lite Cookies. Zaara Biotech did not respond to TechCircle’s email regarding the funding round at the time of publishing this report.  

Zaara Biotech’s product was showcased in the GITEX 2020 international conference held in Dubai as the startup was part of the international startup delegation led by KSUM (Kerala Startup Mission), a nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.  

Zaara Biotech focuses on research in energy and food crisis using micro-algae. The company will use the fresh funding for its research and development, production, distribution and marketing under TCN International Commerce to reach the global arena, according to a statement.  

Fostered under the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (IEDC) scheme of Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), Zaara Biotech was founded in 2016 by Najeeb Bin Haneef, when he was a biotechnology engineering student of Sahrdaya College of Engineering and Technology in 2016. 

It was incubated in Sahrdaya Technology Business Incubator (Sahrdaya TBI), in collaboration with Indian Council of Agriculture and Research-CIFT and claims to have developed India’s first algae-seaweed food products. 

The team of Zaara had set up a ‘Mushroom Hub’ during their first year at the campus before foraying into their entrepreneurial venture.  

TCN International Commerce has its presence in multiple sectors, such as information technology (IT), business process management, trading, healthcare, education, FMCG, construction and engineering, defence, critical service providers, aviation, and oil and gas.