How Two Friends Built a Rs 1.45 Cr Bamboo Brand With Local Artists

On a quiet morning in Banswara, Rajasthan, a pair of hands gently shape a sliver of bamboo into something most of us barely think twice about — a toothbrush.

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The bamboo is smoothened, measured, and carved with practised ease. There is no factory hum, no plastic moulds, and no conveyor belts. Just skill, patience, and a material that grows back faster than it is consumed.

This is where Bamboo Anna begins — not in boardrooms or big cities, but in the hands of rural and tribal artisans who are quietly reimagining how everyday products can be made without harming the planet.

Founded in 2022 by Sawan Vaishnav (31) and Anil Chauhan (30), Bamboo Anna is a purpose-led enterprise replacing plastic with bamboo while creating dignified livelihoods for artisans in Rajasthan and beyond. 

What started as an observation during travels across India planted the seed of a simple yet revolutionary thought — what if our everyday plastic could be replaced with bamboo? That thought has since grown into a thriving organisation supporting over 70 artisans while replacing tonnes of plastic waste.

From Mumbai sets to Rajasthan’s bamboo groves

Bamboo Anna was co-founded by two creative minds — Anil and Sawan. While Anil’s interests initially lay in theatre and content creation, Sawan came from an FMCG background, bringing with him a strong understanding of marketing and business. Long-time collaborators, the duo spent nearly a decade together navigating Mumbai’s creative ecosystem before embarking on a very different journey.

Before bamboo entered his life, Anil was a theatre practitioner and actor. He worked across television shows, short films, independent cinema, and corporate advertisements, and even appeared briefly in large productions like Sacred Games. 

Parallelly, he and Sawan ran a successful YouTube channel, Bollywood Jhamela, which went on to receive a silver play button with over two lakh subscribers.

“While we were earning on YouTube, there was still something lacking. We were quite attached to nature, and while travelling, we realised there was an urge inside us to give something back to nature,” Anil tells The Better India.

He shares how the post-COVID period brought a drastic shift in the industry and its working culture, quietly nudging them towards a path less travelled. While YouTube continued to provide income, it no longer brought fulfilment. What remained constant, however, was their shared love for travel and nature.

And it was during these travels that something unsettling became impossible to ignore — plastic. Everywhere.

“Mountains, rivers, roadsides — plastic waste was impossible to ignore. It started bothering us deeply,” Anil recalls.

These journeys not only heightened their discomfort with plastic pollution but also introduced them to a powerful alternative: bamboo. Through conversations with people on the ground and extensive reading, they began to understand bamboo’s potential — not just as a substitute for plastic, but as a material capable of transforming the larger environmental and economic ecosystem.

Discovering bamboo, India’s ‘green gold’

Bamboo is a material often called 'green gold' for its regenerative properties.

It grows rapidly, requires minimal water, absorbs more carbon dioxide than many trees, and decomposes naturally. Despite India being rich in bamboo resources, its commercial and systematic use remains limited.

Bamboo Anna’s story is rooted in Banswara, a small, strikingly beautiful town in southern Rajasthan. Spread across just a few kilometres, Banswara surprises you at every turn — walk a short distance, and hills rise into view; go a little further, and quiet rivers cut through the landscape, a sight rarely associated with Rajasthan or even with India’s bustling metros. 

Often called Banswara because of its abundance of bamboo, the region has long been home to wild bamboo groves — rich in potential, yet never truly commercialised.

When Anil and Sawan returned here to begin their journey, they didn’t carry a grand vision or the confidence to build something big. Coming from cities like Mumbai and other urban centres, they were acutely aware of the contrast. 

Banswara was a small town with limited exposure, and the people around them had little reason to believe that bamboo could ever compete with plastic — or that a business could grow from something so familiar yet undervalued.

“In the beginning, we didn’t have that kind of confidence that we would reach this point,” Anil admits. “But when you come back to a place like this, your first thought is not about scale. It’s about doing something good for the people around you — even if it’s just this much.”

That intent shaped Bamboo Anna’s earliest days. The focus wasn’t on expansion or numbers, but on the ground — understanding the community, earning trust, and exploring how the region’s natural abundance could translate into meaningful livelihoods.

For the founders, even the name Bamboo Anna was never just a branding decision — it was an emotion they wanted people to feel.

“We wanted people to feel bamboo. That’s when the word Anna (brother) came up — a name that, across India, instinctively evokes respect, trust, and the warmth of an elder brother.”

“In any region, if you call someone Anna, there’s a sense of familiarity and dignity attached to it,” he says.

By pairing bamboo with Anna, the founders hoped to shift perception — from seeing bamboo as just another raw material to regarding it with the same respect one would give a guiding presence. 

Starting small, struggling hard

The founders wanted to start with everyday products, and they realised how bamboo can actually be the right alternative for so many of the everyday products. Among all possibilities, one product stood out for its simplicity and impact: the bamboo toothbrush. 

“Every single person uses a toothbrush every day. If that one product could shift from plastic to bamboo, the impact would be massive,” added Anil.

That single insight became Bamboo Anna’s entry point into sustainable living. The early days were difficult. Anil recalls how the initial days were filled with fear, confusion and a lot of self-doubt. It was difficult for them to make people understand that bamboo can be better than plastic and why it was important for them to switch. 

Operating from a small town also meant limited exposure, limited networks, and limited trust in unfamiliar business models. For months, things barely moved.

In the early days, even investing Rs 40,000 – Rs 50,000 felt impossible. Most of their savings had already gone into starting up, and disappointment was setting in. Yet, they knew walking away wasn’t an option. “We had already sunk so much,” Anil recalls. “So we thought, if we’ve come this far, we might as well take one more risk.”

A turning point came when they first heard about IndiaMART and its paid package; doubt overshadowed hope. From a small town with limited exposure, trusting an unfamiliar platform over a phone call felt risky, but they took the leap and went ahead. 

“Within 15–20 days, we recovered the cost,” says Anil. “That’s when we felt maybe we won’t fail after all.”

Gradually, they began to understand the market, refine their approach, and move forward — step by step. Three years on, Bamboo Anna stands as proof that sometimes, finding your way forward simply means choosing not to give up.

Artisans at the heart of the story

The true impact of Bamboo Anna lies not just in plastic replaced but in lives transformed.

Today, Bamboo Anna is a team of 70 skilled artisans, many of whom began their journeys with deep self-doubt and little confidence in their abilities — from 22-year-old Himanshu, who once struggled with stammering and hesitated to speak, to Anil Atresh, a 56-year-old artisan who faced years of inconsistent income, undervalued skills, and broken trust, today stand more confident, secure, and hopeful in their lives and work.

“I joined Bamboo Anna two years ago, when I could not even speak properly. Today, I handle operations here. It is the positive environment here that transformed me into a better person, both personally and professionally,” Himanshu tells The Better India.

He shares how he once struggled to communicate his thoughts but feels deeply grateful to the Bamboo Anna team for recognising his challenges, training him patiently, and helping him stop underestimating himself.

Anil Atresh had spent years moving between projects and dealing with delayed and uncertain payments. After joining Bamboo Anna, he finally found steady work and a reliable income. 

“Now I am able to manage my home and my necessities,” he says, recalling how the shift has been not just financial but deeply emotional — from constantly struggling to get paid to being paid what he deserves, even before asking.

With that respect came renewed confidence in his craft. Working with bamboo opened up creative possibilities he had never explored before — from furniture to experimental products like bamboo speakers and moulded designs. 

“We can make unimaginable things,” he says with quiet pride. 

For many artisans, the biggest shift isn’t just financial — it’s psychological. A renewed sense of self-worth. The confidence to imagine, create, and believe.

Measuring impact beyond numbers 

Three years on, Bamboo Anna has grown into a profitable, impact-driven enterprise, working with over 70 artisans and team members, including women, all without external funding. 

The organisation clocked a turnover of Rs 1.45 crore in just the first quarter of the current year. Its product range has expanded beyond bamboo toothbrushes to include eco-friendly items like bamboo water bottles, shaving razors, wooden paddle hairbrushes, and bamboo tongue cleaners, all designed with a strong focus on quality, durability, and ethical sourcing. 

By replacing plastic with bamboo across its products, the organisation has helped prevent an estimated 39 – 43 tonnes of plastic waste from entering landfills, rivers, and oceans, turning everyday essentials into a growing nationwide sustainability movement.

Looking ahead: A bigger bamboo dream

Bamboo Anna’s vision extends far beyond consumer products. In the next decade, the founders aim to expand into bamboo tiles, furniture, energy, biomass, and large-scale bamboo plantations. Inspired by China’s bamboo-driven economy, they believe India can and should lead this space.

“Bamboo can support the environment, the economy, and employment, all at once,” Anil says.

For Anil, Bamboo Anna has completely changed what success means. “Acting was beautiful. But creating something that impacts lives and nature is even more powerful.”

His message to young Indians building purpose-led enterprises is simple yet profound: never give up and stay honest in your intent. He firmly believes that when we feel lost or stuck, nature quietly guides our path if we are willing to listen.

Sometimes, that path begins with something as small and as powerful as a bamboo toothbrush.

All images courtesy Anil Chauhan