LEO MAVELY, 

Leo Mavely’s Axio Biosolutions makes single use bandages with a material obtained from crustacean shells. His customers include the Indian Army and a few private hospitals. Mavely is the founder-CEO of Axio Biosolutions, a Bengaluru-based company that makes these shrimp bandages. Axio’s customers include the Indian Army, the Border Security Force (BSF), and security forces in West Asia and Europe. Though the BSF was among his early customers, Mavely says a major milestone was when the army ordered his bandages—called Axiostat—as India and Pakistan confronted each other in 2016. “After that, we became the de facto product for all the Indian armed forces in the country,” says Mavely. That a 22-year-old Mavely, fresh out of college with an applied biotechnology degree from Rohtak’s Maharshi Dayanand University, had the conviction to start a venture such as this in a country with many big pharma companies says a lot about him. That he persisted with it despite the necessary clearances coming his way only in 2011 only adds significance.