FRUIT YOU CAN DRINK

A trio from Hyderabad in Class 9, 10 and 11 — Raghav YS, 14, Armaan Kumar, 15 and Pranavi Vegesna, 16 — won first prize in the Hyderabad leg of TiE Young Entrepreneurs with an idea called Juicerr.

“It’s a fruit powder mix that is 95% fruit and can be stored for six months,” says Raghav. “With diabetes and obesity growing, people will need a fruit mix that is actually healthy,” says Vegesna.

Raghav’s mother, Yogeeswari Perumal, a professor of pharmacy at BITS Pilani, helped them with the formula.

“The big challenge for us was time-management, because we had school assignments and exams. But that’s what entrepreneurship is all about, doing something different every day without disturbing your regular routine,” says Raghav.

The target group is health-conscious people of any age who don’t have the time to make fresh juice every day.

The team will now represent the state in an international competition to be held in California in June. So far, TiE has pledged Rs 50,000, but if they win in the US, they stand to win Rs 10 lakh.

“These three kids stood out with their focus on a physical product that brings tangible benefits to people’s health,” says Venkatesh Narasimhan, co-chair of TiE Hyderabad and senior VP at Advance Technologies – Redpine Signals.