Influx Health Tech has scaled rapidly into a leading CDMO in nutraceuticals, cosmetics, and wellness, backed by strong regulatory credentials and a wide product portfolio. Founder & MD Dr. Munir Chandniwala highlights diversification, in-house capabilities, and capacity expansion as key growth drivers. Post-IPO, the focus is on nutraceuticals, veterinary nutrition, and functional beverages to support 2.5–3x growth over the next few years.
Karunya Rao: Hello and welcome to Small Cap Spotlight and today we’re joined by Influx Health Tech’s founder and MD, Dr. Munir Chandniwala. Munir, thank you so much for joining us today and welcome to Small Cap Spotlight. Thank you so much and thank you so much for giving time for us.
Influx Health Tech has scaled rapidly since its inception in 2020, becoming a notable CDMO player in the health and wellness segment. Give us some colour on the company’s journey and its key milestones so far, from founding to date. What do you think was the biggest turning point?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: It has been actually a long journey.
Our inception had happened in 2002-03 and slowly we have grown. Yes, over the last few years we have done a rapid expansion as the industry also is maturing. The nutraceutical, the cosmetic and everything has been showing very well and we are coping up with it.
In the last four years we have been able to do a lot of regulatory advancement at our end and due to that we were able to achieve a lot of certifications like NSF FSSA 22,000. We are one of the few companies in India to have this certification in our category. Then we have Nigeria approved, we are GMP, we just completed a Tanzania audit and we have a GMP plant certified.
So this all has helped us out to grow slowly and in future also we are planning ourselves for NABL and all this stuff. So slowly we have, it’s a long journey, milestone has been big but yes, rapidly the industry is growing and we are trying to cope with this.
Karunya Rao: Now, what drove you personally to this business from identifying the market opportunity to building manufacturing capabilities, scaling into different product segments, what drove you to it?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: One thing I have understood, diversification is very key and what I have understood that a big portfolio is always good for good success.
Few people won’t agree with it but I have, we have done this since over the years and I always believe that probability is very important. So the more the products you make, the more the variety or probability of winning is more. So over the years we have made sure that we have different lines added to our segments, to our capabilities so that we can offer, see as a CDMO our work is to give service and to offer the back-end support to the existing clients or the new clients.
So this helps to them to, you know like they have an opportunity there, there is a company which have so many lines to offer and in one window we can give them all the opportunity what they want to make as a new company or a new product. So this is where we think we are doing good and I agree that having a lot of big portfolio or offering variety of products helps us out because the probability of winning is more in this.
Karunya Rao: But you’re not worried about spreading yourselves too thin or are there still any strong pillars, any strong areas that will continue to be the core priorities for you?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: See it’s not about spreading, it’s overlapping of the industry.
So generally in a CDMO when a company comes, they come with the plan ideas where there are multiple projects actually. So we don’t want to become a company where we can only offer few of the products and few of the products are made by another company. So the spreading is limited, it’s not that we are going outside a boundary, it is only that within the boundary whatever we can do more is we are focused on.
So all the lines what we are adding is in Nutra, Cosmetic, they all are even the verticals what we are doing. Let’s say Ayurveda, PET, PET Nutrition, the Nutra or the Cosmetic, Cosmaceuticals, this all are overlapping. So when a client comes, they have this platter to see and we have a platter to offer which can help them out to make few cosmetics, few hair care products, few Nutraceuticals.
So they stay within the manufacturing area and they can choose a CDMO where they can get a complete solution from one they don’t have to roam to another manufacturing companies. So that helps us out. So we are spreading within the limit, we are not spreading outside our boundaries, it is just developing within our boundaries, I can put it that way.
Karunya Rao: Okay, interesting. You know, contract manufacturing, whether it’s Nutraceuticals, Cosmetics, Ayurvedic, Veterinary, Home categories, it’s all very, very intensely competitive. What have been the toughest operational challenges that you have faced, especially around quality control, regulatory compliance, or even scale for that matter?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: See, this industry is growing and it’s new also, it’s not like a mature industry like Pharma.
So mainly Nutraceutical is maturing slowly, we are governed by FSSI more and FDA is much mature right now. It’s not that FSSI is bad, they are definitely much, much better than what they were 10 years. So regulatory wise, yes, there are challenges where new laws are coming and new requirements are there.
And also global compliances are required. So that’s why we are upgrading ourselves. So challenges are there, but these are all within, we have our own regulatory team to tackle the regulatory challenges, we have our own QC and quality control team, which helps to develop the quality checks and everything.
So challenges are there, but this is all within the limits. And wherever there is challenges, we will definitely address that. Regulatory challenges can be more right now, because the industry is developing.
So we have to understand that still maturity has not come, still expansion is going on. The regulatory, the government side also are learning a lot of things and they are implementing. So we are coping with that.
So that is the challenges we can see, but it’s a process challenges. It’s not that it is going to stop us anywhere or is going to hinder anything in our operations. It is just improving or coping up with the challenges whenever it comes.
Karunya Rao: What about opportunity? I mean, where do you see the ecosystem? You know, how do you see it evolving going forward, especially CDMO in nutraceuticals and personal care? If you could talk to us about some opportunities as well, I mean, you know, what’s what lies ahead?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: If you see cosmetic, nutraceutical, personal care, all these industries, as I said earlier, is growing. So if I always I quote an example, I’ve read somewhere that India is only 2% market of the world share. So and with the growing market, the highest number of population we have.
So we are a great potential market ourselves. It’s not about the export. But if you see the internal market also, the two tier, three tier cities which are developing now.
So the market is huge. Slowly it’s penetrating into the deeper into the other segments of tiers of cities. So it is helping us out that way.
And we are definitely, you know, like complying with whatever we can do and we can offer.
Karunya Rao: You know, you’re serving a wide range of clients and categories. So if you could tell us what is your key differentiator, your USP, the edge that you bring, what sets you apart from your peers, if I have to ask you that?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: See, if I see the variety of products which we can offer to the client is one of the USP.
It is no doubt it’s difficult to maintain. But one has to understand we have developed this over the years. It’s not happened at once.
So generally people ask us, you are making 4,000 products or 3,500 plus products. So does not make it difficult. But you have to understand that this 3,500 products we have slowly added, keep on adding and understood.
The formulation lines also what we have. See, we can do powders, we can do protein bars, we can do capsules. We have pop chips line now.
So the variety is different. So the knowledge capability what we have in the nutraceutical is an advantage, I think, than the companies who are in competition with us. So the variety of products which we can offer, the variety of change parts, the variety of packaging options, the backend integration, what we have done of printing, you know, like the foil printing, the label printing, the canister manufacturing, this all makes us more competitive.
We have our in-house regulatory team, we have our in-house designing team. So this is the speciality which we can offer to the client when they come. So it’s a single.
And the clients also are a variety of clients as we have different segments. We have cosmetics, Nutra, we are starting with the beverage lines. So the variety, the spread of the clients also are there.
It makes us more safe as a CDMO because it gives us more chance to offer a variety of people. So that way, this is a USP actually, the number of products and number of variety of clients.
Karunya Rao: Okay. What about your investment priorities? Again, I want to go back to my previous question about operating in so many different categories. There’s veterinary, Ayurveda, cosmetics, home care, etc. So in terms of investments across all of these segments, where are the priorities right now? And which ones are central to your near-term growth strategy, maybe the next three to five years?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: See, Influx is basically known for its Nutra manufacturing.
And Nutra, we have Nutraceuticals, which we say we are doing since last 24 years, technically. So, and major investment as a 90% of our business is Nutraceuticals. We want to invest more into this.
So we are starting with a beverage line, which will be like a functional beverages or functional Nutraceuticals. So there, we will have a Retort, which is a pasteurising line. Very few companies in India have those We are having a canning facility where we can do functional beverages.
Then we will have Tetra packs, which can offer a lot of clinical institution supplies and all. So our major investment right now is into mainly two categories or three categories, that is Nutra. The second is veterinary and third is cosmetic.
So our main focus into this, because we see a lot of business opportunity and the clients which are moulded to our system are into this categories. So our major investment in IPO is in Nutra and veterinary. Yes, cosmetic, we did our expansion last year.
So we have not asked in IPO that much. But these three categories, we are more keen to develop.
Karunya Rao: In terms of your inputs or raw materials, what are your major costs? And are you also prone to volatility in the supply costs, etc.
And give us some sense on how you’re managing the fluctuations and the input cost volatility, if at all there’s any.
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: So major raw materials are vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids. Yes, few of them, we are dependent on international supply also like whey protein is there, amino acids there, but they are not the major contributor, let’s say they must be the 20% or 30% of the ingredients which we are buying.
We don’t do direct import from the clients, we are buying from the merchant importers actually. And there are many merchant importers. Let’s say in one geographical area, let’s say China, there is an issue, we have a supplier from European countries also.
So that way there is no such big challenge because as the industry or the world industry is growing in Nutra. The supply cost also if there is a fluctuation, it’s happening right now, the dollar rupee rate and all. So our rates are whatever we give to our clients is on order to order basis.
We don’t have long term contracts, neither we want to do that, so that we are bound with any rates and we do losses. Every time we get the orders, we give them the sales purchase, we make the sales order. And in the sales order, the new rates are given to them.
They confirm it, then only we take it to the production or we forward it, take it forward. So we work on our margins, whatever our margins we say gross margins are, we maintain that. The fluctuation is up and down, it goes down, we’ll pass it on to our clients also definitely.
But it goes up, we’ll pass it on again to the client. So we are not worried about the fluctuation in the market. And we are maintaining our margins as for our costings.
Karunya Rao: You also closed your SME IPO fairly recently in June 2025. So if you could tell us what the core intent was behind going public at this stage? Was it for brand positioning, capacity building, strengthening your balance sheet or anything else that really propelled you to go public?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: What I’ve understood is that this industry has grown before time. So this is a nutraceutical or wellness industry overall.
There’s always a growth. So this has been achieved before time, I feel. What was going to happen in 2028 has happened already in 2025.
So to cope up with that, we have to have infrastructure where I can manufacture the clients because clients are growing. So we also have to cope up with the capacity and all. So that is one of the reasons where IPO can help us out, the funds which we can utilise to build a world-class facility which is at par with the industrial standard or the global standards.
So this is the main, the CAPEX what we are going to use from the IPO is generally mainly for mainly two units. That is one is for nutraceutical where we’ll be having a PRC level. It’s a level like a WHO GMP plant we’ll have, which will be a clean room system where we can offer, we can match the global standards.
And one is the veterinary feed, which I feel this industry is going to grow boom suddenly. And like pet nutrition, kibbles, this is all the future. You see the companion animals growing in the market.
You see the basic stores coming up in your surroundings or the neighbourhoods. You can see that the market is growing. So the two major investment, what we are going to do is one in nutraceutical and in veterinary.
So this industry are going to grow and hope we’ll cope up, we’ll be market ready for it.
Karunya Rao: And what tangible changes have you seen in terms of, you know, at the company’s corporate governance level, investor engagement, funding access, et cetera, post listing, what has changed and for the management?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: See management, definitely our thoughts have been different. There is a definitely new direction where our vision, you know, like there is a, there is a target actually, which is there where we have to achieve.
So we have included our independent directors. We have added new CS, our team has grown, our new buddy managers have come into picture. So, you know, like the corporate governance or financial decisions, what we’re taking is all through logical conclusions.
So that way we have, we have been growing and definitely the mindset has, is different than what it was earlier. The IPO has helped us that to get a vision and a direction where we can, you know, like it’s more mature, I think. And slowly the internal governance or the corporate governance, what we speak about, we have taken proper actions, appropriate people have been employed to take the, you know, to maintain the financial disciplines, whatever we can.
So this whole thing has been done.
Karunya Rao: And now that the IPO is, you know, behind you, as an investor, what would, you know, what should be the parameters or any benchmarks that I should be tracking when it comes to Influx Health Tech over the next maybe two to three years? What should we be watching out for?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: See, definitely the basic thing, what we require is the sales and the path. We will be able to maintain it.
We are confident. If you are a long-term investor, definitely we’ll give you better, better results because the industry is CapEx orientated. And as a being a manufacturer, slowly we build up the capacity.
What we were doing 10 years back and what we are doing today is completely different. And definitely the coming years after three years, four years will be different. So you can look forward to our new divisions, what we are adding that will help us to, for the growth.
As I said, the beverage division, it’s completely different. The future is RTDs. I always say ready to drink market is going to grow amazingly well in India as it has matured in the Western, globally, you know, the Western countries, the RTD market has grown.
So same thing is going to happen in India. Whatever happens there is going to come back to India after a few years. So you see a lot of products, varieties, you know, like which the influx is going to offer and we are going to differentiate with our competitors.
So this is the thing which is going to happen inside and definitely we’ll maintain or definitely grow in our, the sales or the investor angles where we will give you more the output of a business.
Karunya Rao: Okay. But, you know, in terms of let’s say revenue scale, product makes, market share, etc.
Are there any numbers or targets that you’re kind of eyeing right now, whether it’s domestically or internationally, any numbers that we should keep a track of as investors?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: I don’t want to speak of any particular number, but capacity wise, you have to understand that we are going by, we will be having 2.5 to 3x capacity with the IPO funds very shortly in the first quarter of the next year. So that will help us to build the sales over the period. I don’t find any shortage of any parties or orders.
We are going to cope up with it. So definitely whatever figures we are doing, we have done till September or, you know, like this year, March we’ll do 2.5x in three to four years time, maybe two or three years time. So that when our capacity is utilised, we’ll reach 2.5 to 3x figures.
So it depends on the work. It depends how the surrounding external environment happens. But we see a lot of positivity in the scope, what we can offer.
Karunya Rao: You know, CDMO is a very technical and it requires a lot of technical expertise, operational talent as well, this segment. How is your leadership and execution team structured? If you could tell us, you know, a bit about that and what roles are most critical as you scale further from here on?
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: Yes, see CDMO is technical. So that’s why to enter in this space also is little difficult.
It’s not easily, you can copy the model. So we, let’s say myself, I’m a pharmacist. So requirement to understand the pharmaceutics angle of the business is also important.
We have very well-structured organogram where all the positions are defined well. We have a COO, CFO. We have just employed a head of staff, which is going to control all the, you know, like from the CEO office, they are going to control the strategic planning, coordination and all.
And we also realise that we have to fill the gaps also. Yes, we need more people at the C level where, you know, like the some decision making is taken. Right now, we have head of plants, we have head of QC, we have head of R&D, everything is well defined.
And whenever we are growing our IPO plant is ready. So that decision will take the business close. And we really understand that we require more people to fill the gaps and we are in search of that.
When and where it is required, we’ll fill that gaps. And over the years, maybe the right person will rightly join wherever required. Right now, at this stage, we have sufficient capability to run our business and we can do well.
But yes, as the business grows, whatever targets we are planning to achieve, we will require people. Yes, I agree to it. And that hiring will happen at the right time and the right whenever required.
Karunya Rao: Right now, who are the key executives or functional leaders who are sort of heading the various critical verticals and in charge of the execution? If you could give us some, you know, peek into that.
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: See, the key as a CDMO, we are a production house. So we have the COO chief operating officers.
So he’s a Mr. Moiz Palgharwala. He’s handling the all the units operational at his level. Below that also they have three assistants actually.
So we have the plant head for each company what we have right now production. And below that below Moiz also they have 12-15 coordinators actually to operate the parties and all. So COO is a head right now.
We have CFO who is handling a financial thing, Mr. Ashish Shah. We have a BD head, the BD manager or director we can say, Rachana Parab. She is there.
So it’s the major critical area wherever required. There are heads. They all are old employees.
They are with me since last, I think, a decade. So they know the system very well and they are operating in their own capabilities and building the team. Yes.
Karunya Rao: Great, Munir. Thank you so much once again for sharing all these inputs and insights with us about what’s happening at Influx Healthtech and what the way forward could look like. Thank you for joining us on SmallCap Spotlight.
Dr. Munir Chandniwala: Thank you so much for having us.