Young Gorakhpur woman featured in Forbes under 30 list

Gorakhpur: Gorakhpur, the home district of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has just added another feather to its already crowded cap.

Shriti Pandey, 29, has been selected among the 30 under 30 achievers from Asia in the 2021 list by Forbes, a leading American business magazine focusing on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle.

Forbes magazine had informed Shriti through e-mail on Tuesday that she figures on its 30 under 30 Asia list class of 2021.

The Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list features 30 bright and innovative millennial and Gen-Z leaders in 10 categories who have preserved and thrived despite global uncertainty.

Shriti has been selected in the Industry, Manufacturing & Energy category.

Her father M.N. Pandey told reporters that his daughter is the founder and CEO of Strawcture Eco, which is registered in Gorakhpur and has an office in Delhi.

The enterprise makes panels made from agri-waste that are environment-friendly, low cost, sustainable and non-toxic. The eco-friendly boards are used in house construction

Strawcture Eco is one of the first 'Make in India' companies committed to manufacturing carbon negative products.

Shriti's innovative idea also resolves the problem of stubble burning that leads to air pollution in the country and offers an eco-friendly housing model.

An elated Shriti said: "It was a real surprise for me when I received an email from Forbes regarding my selection in the 30 under 30 list from Asia. We make eco-friendly boards with compressed agri fibres that are then used in house construction and making furniture. The boards are acoustic, thermal, termite and moisture resistant."

Shriti has done her schooling from Gorakhpur and then from Delhi. She has done her masters in construction management from New York University.

She returned to India and founded Strawcture Eco in 2018.

She had earlier won SBI youth fellowship and worked in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh. In 2018, during the UP Startup Conclave at IIM, Lucknow, her innovative idea was acknowledged by the UP government and her project was accepted.

The UN also appreciated her work in 2019 and honoured her as her technology aims at reducing pollution by compressing crop waste into agri-fibre panels for industrial and commercial builds.

Last year, Shriti was named a climate fellow by the New York-based non-profit Echoing Green and received $90,000 in seed funding.

Shriti has about a dozen employees working for her and wants to bring in more women into her business.