Mumbai/Bengaluru, NutrifyToday Academy has appointed Dr Balkumar Marthi as its new President, tasking the veteran foods leader with accelerating university-originated research into products that can be scaled and commercialised across the industry. The Academy’s Founder, Amit Srivastava, says, “Dr Marthi’s appointment is a turning point for the Academy. He is the best person to connect university labs with commercial markets because he has a unique mix of global R&D leadership, regulatory knowledge, and academic innovation. Our goal is still the same: to make the supply chain more open so that innovation doesn’t have to wait. With Dr Balkumar in charge, we’re ready to speed up that mission and turn groundbreaking research into products that can really grow.”
A microbiologist by training (PhD, University of Delaware), Marthi brings three decades of experience spanning global R&D, industry associations, and science-based regulatory engagement. He used to work for Unilever in senior research roles, such as an Expertise Director at the company’s R&D centre in the Netherlands. He has worked on improving food safety and innovation in many areas.
Most recently, Marthi held academic leadership roles at GITAM (Deemed to be University), including Dean of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, where he helped drive venture development and industry partnerships that brought student and faculty ideas closer to real-world application. Public statements and coverage from 2023 highlight his work mentoring student innovators and strengthening GITAM’s innovation ecosystem.
Marthi is a well-known figure in India’s food safety and regulatory scene, both in corporate and campus hallways. He chaired the Scientific Advisory Committee of the CII HUL Initiative on Food Safety Sciences (CHIFSS). This platform works with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to advance science-based risk analysis and training. He has also spoken on these subjects at CII’s Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory Summit.
At NutrifyToday Academy, Marthi will steer programs that knit together universities, researchers, and industry to fast-track new product development. The Academy has already convened senior faculty and industry leaders in courses such as New Product Development & Commercialisation, where Marthi has served as Head of Department and curriculum lead.
A central pillar of his mandate will be to leverage NutrifyGenie AI—Nutrify Today’s curated AI engine that maps ingredients, clinical evidence and multi-country regulatory guardrails—to help teams move from ideation to commercialisation with greater speed and compliance. The platform supports formulation design, claims architecture, and label/regulatory checks across key markets. It has also been profiled in industry outlets for its role in compressing go-to-market timelines.
Dr Balkumar Marthi, President of NutrifyToday Academy, says, “I’m excited to join Nutrify Today Academy when the nutrition industry needs faster, smarter ways to get research into the market. I’ve spent decades dealing with the complexities of food safety, regulations, and product innovation. I’ve seen how great ideas can go to waste without the right environment. The Academy is a one-of-a-kind place where researchers, industry partners, and regulatory experts can all connect. It helps innovators go from coming up with ideas to making money with both speed and scientific rigour. Our goal is to work together to get more people access to functional nutrition that tastes good, faster.”
Given rising demand for great-tasting functional products, the Academy under Marthi is also expected to emphasise flavour design and taste masking—a perennial barrier in nutraceuticals—by combining formulation science with vendor ecosystems spotlighted on the NutrifyGenie knowledge base. Industry literature points to techniques ranging from flavour modulators to microencapsulation to neutralise off notes without compromising efficacy.
About Dr Balkumar Marthi (at a glance)
• Former Unilever R&D executive, including Expertise Director at Unilever R&D, Netherlands.
• PhD (Microbiology), University of Delaware; long-standing practitioner across food safety, risk assessment and product innovation.
• Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee, CHIFSS (CII HUL), a platform that partners with FSSAI on science-based food safety capacity building.
• Dean – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, GITAM University; mentor and moderator at multiple industry forums on nutraceuticals and food safety.
About NutrifyToday Academy
Launched as an industry-linked education and translation platform, the Academy draws senior faculty and corporate leaders to deliver programs that bridge research, regulation, and commercialisation. Early cohorts list Marthi among key industry representatives.
About NutrifyGenie AI
Nutrify Today’s NutrifyGenie is positioned as a curated AI engine for nutraceutical product design and go-to-market orchestration. It integrates evidence mapping, regulatory guardrails, and supply chain connectivity to help teams cut development time while improving compliance.
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