Ankita Jacob

Indian social entrepreneur pioneering eco-friendly sanitation solutions

Ankita Jacob (b. 1990) disrupted India's sanitation sector with her 2016 startup Bioclean Technologies, which produces affordable biodegradable toilet seats from agricultural waste. Her innovation addressed India's sanitation crisis highlighted in the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, where 600 million people lacked proper sanitation. By 2019, her products reached 150,000 households through partnerships with UNICEF and the Indian government's Swachh Bharat initiative. Jacob's work was showcased at the 2018 World Water Forum and earned her a Echoing Green Fellowship. She developed the first composting toilet system using banana fiber, reducing plastic waste by 80% in pilot regions. Her 2019 documentary 'From Waste to Water' on YouTube explains her sanitation solutions. The Fast Company magazine named her among Top 10 Social Entrepreneurs of 2019.