This MBA graduate launched a B2B marketplace for sellers and buyers of biofuel, clients include ITC and TVS - earns Rs 25 crore yearly.

Founded by Kishan Karunakaran in 2020, Buyofuel is a Coimbatore-based startup that facilitates the buying and selling of biofuel between various sellers and buyers from across different areas. 

Today, Buyofuel has garnered an esteemed clientele that includes the likes of ITC, TVS, UltraTech Cement, and JSW Steel.

The journey

As far as Kishan's educational qualifications are concerned, he finished his Bachelor's in Engineering and then completed an MBA degree from the National University of Singapore.

In 2008, Kishan took the first step in the biofuel industry. He established a biofuel manufacturing unit. This was a time when there was very little awareness about the same. Here, he worked with second-generation biodiesel production technology.

However, he faced many difficulties in aggregating wastes for conversion to energy or biofuel and knew that a tech-enabled streamlined biofuel ecosystem was needed to make the difference he was aiming for.

In 2020, Kishan Karunakaran established Buyofuel to address the above gap.

What is Buyofuel?

Buyofuel is a Coimbatore-based online marketplace. Here, biofuel commodities can be easily sold and purchased. It is tech-heavy and includes a wide network of raw material aggregators, manufacturers, consumers, and waste generators.

On the platform, sellers can register and upload their offerings. They have the option to set their prices and delivery terms and conditions as well.

On the other hand, buyers can view these listings. They can then select and make their purchases if they're aligned with and agree to the price, volume, terms, and delivery times.

If a buyer wants to list specific requirements, they can create a new Request for Quote (RFQ).

Buyofuel also offers a secure payment gateway through which buyers can pay the sellers and carry out transactions.

Issues plaguing the biofuel sector in India

Despite statistics showing that the growth of this industry has been significant, there are certain problems that haven't allowed the industry to realize its potential.

One of these is the lack of accessibility to biofuel raw materials. This puts a stop to production itself. There are concerns regarding regulations, transparency, and quality assurance as well.

Apart from this, there still needs to be a lot of work done on building public awareness and technological knowledge in the biofuel domain.

Buyofuel: A Hopeful Solution

As a startup, Buyofuel helps every stakeholder in the field do business and get increased returns. The system is robust, and there is no worry about the quality of biofuel as well. 

This is because Buyofuel has NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories)-approved test laboratories around India.

The difference brought about by Kishan, and his startup is significant.

Buyofuel sells more than 10,000 metric tonnes of biofuel every single month. It has 1,300+ verified regular users on its platform.

Buyofuel has monthly revenue of Rupees 2-3 crore and has already made Rupees 25 crore this year.

For the near future, Kishan Karunakaran and his team's goal remains to encourage sustainability, reduce carbon emissions, and generate annual revenue of Rupees 2,000 crore in the next five years.

To know more about the startup, visit its website https://buyofuel.com/.