Innovation Case Studies

At 49, she left her high-paying executive job to build India's first beauty unicorn. Today, Nykaa's market cap is ₹52,806 crore. Here's what most missed about Falguni Nayar's vision...      In 2012, Falguni Nayar made a bold move. She left a high-flying career in investment banking to start something completely new. Back then, buying beauty products in India was a hit-or-miss experience with limited choices, no guarantee of authenticity, and no single go-to platform. Instead of taking on e-commerce giants, she built a beauty destination people could actually trust.     I remember my first Nykaa order back in 2015. skeptical but intrigued. I got a lipstick that was always out of stock elsewhere. Now, I can't imagine how we shopped for beauty products before! What I find crazy about her journey from banker to billionaire is: → She stocked products while others built marketplaces: By owning inventory instead of relying on third-party sellers like Amazon and Flipkart, Nykaa ensured authenticity, pricing control, and trust in a market flooded with counterfeits.   → Started online but didn't stop there: Nykaa Luxe stores elevate beauty shopping with premium interiors, exclusive brands, and personalized consultations, creating a Sephora-like experience unlike typical Indian retail.           → Her twins work in the business, and they've eaned their spots: Falguni Nayar’s daughter, Adwaita Nayar (CEO, Nykaa Fashion), expanded Nykaa into fashion and offline retail, while her son, Anchit Nayar (CEO, Beauty E-commerce), strengthened its digital presence. → Strategic partnerships fueled Nykaa’s growth: Falguni Nayar secured investments from Harsh Mariwala (Marico) and Shantanu Banga (ex-Mastercard CEO), leveraging her banking expertise to attract industry leaders who brought both capital and strategic value. In just few years, Nykaa's customer base has grown to 40 million customers.(Financialexpress) After following her story for years, I finally get it that Falguni understood something profound about India. In a market where you can't always trust what you're buying, controlling everything from warehouse to doorstep isn't just smart, it's absolutely necessary. Which other Indian founder do you think has most successfully identified and fixed a broken customer experience? #Ecommerce #Startups #Innovation

First time I saw Ragy Ramadan, REP® speak, the CEO of IKEA was sitting beside him — quietly pouring him a glass of water and giving him space to share the story of NoorNation. A small gesture, but one that spoke volumes. It was at COP28 UAE. Ragy was passionately sharing the mission of NoorNation, a climate tech startup from Egypt bringing clean energy and safe water to underserved communities across Africa and the Middle East. I was fascinated — not just by the innovation, but by the real, measurable impact. Two years later, he’s finally on Impact Talk with Nadine Zidani. And this conversation was worth the wait. In this honest and powerful episode, Ragy opens up about: 📌 How NoorNation is transforming access to clean energy in remote rural areas 📌 Ragy’s personal journey from corporate life to full-time purpose 📌 The funding journey — and why choosing the right investors matters 📌 Why innovation should come from within the region 📌 The emotional and financial toll of building a startup 📌 Advice for aspiring climate and impact entrepreneurs 🎧 Watch the full episode now on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/dHpYQ_Cn Don’t forget to subscribe and let me know what resonated most with you. #ImpactTalk #ClimateTech #CleanEnergy #Sustainability #MENAImpact #PurposeDriven #Podcast

Day 20 of Women's History Month: Dr. Iman Abuzeid's Billion Dollar Vision Today, I'm celebrating a visionary founder who embodies what's possible when exceptional talent meets unshakeable determination - Dr. Iman Abuzeid, the 38-year-old CEO who built Incredible Health into a $1.65 billion unicorn. Her achievement places her in an extraordinarily exclusive club, she's one of only four Black women in history to create a billion-dollar company. Born to Sudanese parents in Saudi Arabia and raised in a family of medical professionals (her father and two brothers are surgeons), Iman earned her medical degree from University College London before moving to the United States at 24. She recognised that transforming healthcare required business innovation, not just clinical expertise, leading her to pivot from practicing medicine to earning an MBA from Wharton in Healthcare Management. After gaining experience at McKinsey and as a product development leader in startups, she identified a critical inefficiency in healthcare, the nursing shortage crisis plaguing American hospitals. In 2017, she co-founded Incredible Health, developing algorithm-based technology that slashed the national average nursing hiring time from 90 days to just 20 days. When the pandemic hit, rather than faltering, her company accelerated, ultimately securing an $80 million Series B round by August 2022 that catapulted its valuation to $1.65 billion. When asked about her breakthrough in an industry where less than 2% of venture capital goes to women founders (and a microscopic fraction to Black women), Iman's response was unflinching, "It's probably not a good idea to overlook female CEOs or Black CEOs. Because they're driving an enormous amount of value in business. And you overlook it at your own expense." What's particularly striking is that while Iman's achievement puts her in the same elite category as Rihanna (another Black female billionaire founder), her name remains relatively unknown to the public. In my work with premium brand founders, I've observed this pattern repeatedly, that revolutionary value creation often happens outside the spotlight, led by visionaries solving complex problems rather than chasing attention. Iman's success reinforces a core principle I explore in The Luxpreneur: exceptional value comes from addressing genuine market inefficiencies with innovative solutions, not from following conventional wisdom. #WomensHistoryMonth #WomenFounders #HealthTech #BlackExcellence #TheLuxpreneur

How to turn LCA results into design insights Many companies run an LCA, get the carbon footprint and stop there. The report goes into a slide deck and the product moves on unchanged. But LCA is a goldmine for product innovation. Let me show you how. Case study: “Consumer Electronics Product” Objective: Reduce carbon footprint without compromising performance. Baseline impact: • Carbon footprint: 14.1 kg CO₂e per unit • Hotspots: virgin plastic housing, large PCB, air-freight logistics Design changes based on LCA insights: Switched to 75% recycled ABS → 22% CO₂e reduction → Cost: +6-8% increase in material, partially offset at scale Reduced PCB size by 15% → 6% CO₂e reduction → Cost: unchanged (smaller PCB=less material, but minor redesign cost) Shifted from air to sea freight → 10% CO₂e reduction → Cost: Lower, but trade-off in lead time Overall result: • Carbon footprint reduced by ~38% • Cost impact: +2-3% per unit after optimization • Payback achieved within 12 months through logistics savings and volume pricing If you're sitting on LCA data and unsure what to do with it, that's where the real opportunity begins. 💡 I help teams translate sustainability data into smart design decisions. Curious what this could look like for your product? Let’s connect! #ecodesign

🌊 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗶𝗱𝗲: 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 🌊 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: - 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: Marty Odlin (CEO) and a team of 12. - 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 2017 - 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: June 2024, due to financial challenges and low demand for carbon credits. - 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: Raised $54 million, including a notable Series B from Lowercarbon Capital in early 2022. - 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: Major backers included Lowercarbon Capital, Microsoft, and Shopify. The recent shutdown of Running Tide underscores the challenges of carbon removal startups. Founded in 2017, it aimed to leverage ocean power for carbon sequestration, claiming over 25,000 tons of CO2 removed in 2023. Yet, despite strong partnerships, they faced insurmountable hurdles. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗶𝗱𝗲’𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆: 1. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: A lack of demand for carbon credits was pivotal in Running Tide's fall. Startups must work to develop a stronger market for carbon solutions. 2. 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹: Initial funding isn’t enough. Consistent financial backing aligned with growth is key for survival. 3. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: Confusion around ocean biomass sinking raised concerns, highlighting the need for clear, trusted methodologies to attract investors. 4. 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗩𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀: Startups must build resilient business models to weather market shifts and regulatory changes. 5. 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: Innovations must meet economic realities. Founders need to be ready for operational challenges as they scale. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 Running Tide’s journey cautions and inspires climate tech innovators. Let’s collaborate to foster a supportive ecosystem that champions carbon removal solutions. What are your thoughts on the future of carbon removal technologies? How can we better support startups in this vital sector? Let’s discuss #ClimateTech #Sustainability #CarbonRemoval #LessonsLearned #Innovation

Some impact doesn’t show up on dashboards. During a recent internal review, in the middle of performance updates and metric tracking, a CSM quietly shared something that stayed with me: “In the last few months, we helped recover and rebuild lives post-disaster via one of our large insurance customers.” I wasn’t expecting that. And I haven’t been able to forget it. I started repeating this story in meetings. Not because it was part of a presentation, but because it reminded me “why” we are building Whatfix. And it made me realize something: while we often talk about solving real problems, those stories rarely make it beyond a meeting room. So today, I am sharing one with you. The world today feels increasingly unstable. Crises, natural or human-made, hit systems that are already stretched. And often, it’s in the aftermath where the real work begins. But often, what comes after the headlines is the hardest part. The customer I was referring to, was managing disaster response after a major hurricane. Hundreds of insurance claims came pouring in. Agents were doing everything they could, but the systems meant to help were slowing things down. While fast-track processes existed, they only worked if claims were tagged with just the right event name or catastrophe code & other required details. And in moments of stress, that context often got missed. It is not because someone forgot. But because the system wasn’t designed to hear things the way people say them under stress. So we added a layer of guidance with nudges, to surface the right signals with the right context. With those nudges, disaster-related claims were more accurately flagged and routed. As a result: - Victims receiving accelerated support increased by more than 30%. - Over 50% more auto and property claims reached the right teams instead of getting stuck in loops. | Whatfix helped get the most urgent claims into the right hands faster. It wasn’t about chasing efficiency, but about being there for people when they needed it most. Since then, more stories like this have started to emerge internally. And I will keep sharing the ones that stick with me. #WhatfixMakesAnImpact #CustomerStory #PurposeDriven #MakingADifference #Whatfix #DigitalAdoption #ClaimsTransformation Vara Kumar Namburu

Singapore is showing us what true climate innovation looks like. 🌱🚗💨 Instead of seeing traffic pollution as an unavoidable cost of urban life, the city is transforming it into an opportunity. Along its highways, slim vertical panels filled with microalgae are quietly working to capture CO₂ from passing vehicles—absorbing carbon up to 50x faster than trees while releasing fresh oxygen in real time. This is more than a science experiment. It’s a glimpse of how cities can rethink infrastructure to double as climate solutions—using road medians, noise barriers, and other “dead spaces” to actively clean air, cool streets, reduce noise and raise public awareness of sustainability. Singapore’s approach fits into a larger playbook of solar power, green architecture, and waste-to-energy—proof that a clean-energy future isn’t a single technology but a system of innovations working together. If a dense, high-traffic city can make this real, what could be possible in fast-growing countries like India? The lesson is clear: decarbonisation doesn’t have to be hidden away in far-off plants; it can happen right where we live, drive and breathe. #Technology #Carbon #Singapore #Energy #Algae #Solar #WasteToEnergy #Photosynthesis #Microalgae #India

This woman managed to turn pollution into jet fuel. Dr. Jennifer Holmgren has spent her career doing what most people thought was impossible: turning waste into fuel, carbon into textiles, and emissions into raw materials for the future. After earning a PhD in chemical engineering, an MBA, and a BSc from Harvey Mudd, Holmgren rose through the ranks at Honeywell’s UOP. She led the renewable fuels division and helped build the first low-carbon jet fuel systems adopted by the military and commercial airlines. Then she became CEO of LanzaTech. The company developed a bacteria-powered gas fermentation system that turns carbon monoxide from steel plants, landfills, and waste into ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). It reduces lifecycle emissions by up to 98% compared to traditional fuels. Then she spun off LanzaJet. A profit-driven SAF company, with its first plant in Georgia—making the U.S. a leader in carbon-negative jet fuel. Holmgren argued for “numbering up,” not scaling up. Deploying small, distributed decarbonization tech globally, especially in the Global South. She pushed carbon capture utilization (CCU), not just storage. Because in her view, carbon isn’t just a pollutant. It’s an untapped resource. Under her watch LanzaTech avoided emissions equal to removing 110,000 cars from the road. Every year. She was awarded the EPA Green Chemistry Award, Rosalind Franklin Award, and Edison Achievement Award. She co-authored 30+ scientific papers, filed 50+ patents, and became a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She sat on advisory boards for Princeton, Argonne Lab, Halliburton Labs, MIT’s The Engine, and India’s Bio Energy Research Institute. But the road hasn’t been smooth. After going public via SPAC in 2023 and raising $240M, LanzaTech faced a brutal climate tech market. By 2025, the company’s revenue dropped 47% YoY, it laid off up to 15% of its workforce, and posted a $32.5M Q2 loss. One investor even offered to buy the company for 2 cents a share. A tenth of its stock price. Holmgren didn’t flinch. She refocused the company, away from R&D and toward deploying tech in high-impact commercial SAF projects. She launched a $30M cost-cutting plan and pushed for profitability, not just possibility. And she’s not stopping until every factory, landfill, and exhaust pipe becomes part of the supply chain for a cleaner, circular carbon economy. Her message to the world? You’re not paying a “green premium.” You’re enjoying a “fossil discount.” 💡 Follow Justine Juillard for daily #femalefounder spotlights and tap the 🔔 at the top of my profile to not miss a single story.

Colgate-Palmolive ran everything through SAP - from factory floors to dentist offices. When I led their migration, one thing was clear: this wasn’t just about moving systems. It was about keeping a global supply chain alive. Back in the early 2000s, I was consulting on one of the most high-stakes SAP migrations I’d ever faced. Colgate’s global operations depended on a single truth: If SAP goes down, so does everything else. Toothpaste doesn’t show up on shelves. Distribution centers stall. Orders to Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS? Delayed. The supply chain goes silent. I remember thinking, “This isn’t about software anymore. This is a logistics problem with a technical disguise.” So before we moved a single bit of data, we did what most teams skip. Here’s what our playbook looked like: 1. Inventory the unknowns We scanned every system — not just for size, but interdependencies. You can’t move System A if B, C, and D are chained to it. 2. Model the risk How much data? How long would each copy take? Where were the bottlenecks — disk IO, network bandwidth, or just legacy bloat? 3. Rank criticality by impact, not size Some “small” systems had outsized business value. Like the one tracking global SKUs. Touch that wrong, and orders get lost in translation. 4. Simulate the move — multiple times We did dry runs. Timed every process. Tweaked our scripts. Even ran scenarios for “What if this breaks mid-flight?” 5. Coordinate like air traffic control Every migration phase was mapped like a flight plan. Timelines, dependencies, failovers. No guesswork. No egos. That project worked. No disruptions. No delays. No headlines (which, in IT, is a win). It also planted the seed for what would eventually become IT-Conductor Inc. Because I realized: Migrations aren’t about tools or timelines. They’re about orchestration. And orchestration starts with a brutally honest assessment. If you're facing a cloud migration and feel unsure where to start — start there. That’s what separates a clean cutover from a career-defining disaster.