After completing his engineering from Nirma Institute of Technology, Gujarat; Mr. Panara started his professional journey at Tech Mahindra. He decided that it was time to walk on a different path after contributing to its growth for almost over a decade.
TURNING A NEW LEAF
The day he left the job to start his own company was one of the most crucial points of his professional life. A techie at heart, Mr. Panara wanted to make use of technology to make the world better, greener, and more prosperous. He wanted to focus on technology and use it to solve some real world challenges. It is this focus on people, communities, and the places they work and live that lies at the heart of everything Nest Group does.
Mr. Panara founded Nest Group in 2014 along with ex-Indian Army officer – Arun Kar and Pradip Butani, a chartered accountant. Nest Group is made up of five subsidiary companies, each with its own focus. Xpertnest offers technology implementation and development in fields ranging from insurance and medicine to agriculture and transport; GameNest creates 2D, 3D, augmented reality, and virtual reality games and applications; EarthNest is using disruptive innovation to rid the world of single-use plastic; CineNest produces original videos for distribution on Over-The-Top platforms and HomeNest uses technology to build affordable, green housing for social communities.
What is one big commendable feat of Mr. Panara and his team is that all of these companies have been created without any external investments or VC funding. It is Mr. Panara’s innovation that led him to bring to life such novel concepts and ideas. He led his team to successfully expand and cultivate each of these group companies. Not only that, he has managed to create a platform for other budding entrepreneurs so that they can also try their ideas and give their dreams a shot. He is truly one of the leaders who believe in creating more leaders and not followers.
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
Under his leadership, his companies have won many awards and accolades from the industry. Mr. Panara is an official member of the Forbes Business Council – which is an invitation-only business community. Being a part of such a community is an honour and mark of respect as well as a testimony to the work that he has been doing.
Xpertnest has won several awards for its pathbreaking solutions. In 2021, it won the title of ‘Most impacting Company Year 2021 Dot.com by the United States Magazine. It was also chosen the ‘Company of the Year – Smart Solutions’ in the year 2019 by CIO Review India. In 2020, they were also finalists at the UK’s National SME awards – Business Innovation Category. This is not it, Xpertnest has received a lot of applause from the world over for its innovative use of technology. During the pandemic, in the UK, Xpertnest made an app that helps in notifying people if the beach they’re headed to is overcrowded and thus helped in maintaining social distancing. This was hailed as a new level of innovation in technology and the international media praised the app makers for this.
A LEADER WITH PANACHE
At the core of his leadership lies a vision for a better tomorrow. It is this people-centric approach that drives Mr. Panara and his businesses. He has built such a culture at all his companies where people come first – his employees as well his customers, everyone gains. All his ventures have been developed by keeping the customer in mind and merging technology with utility. “We relentlessly focus on creating standout customer experiences,” he shares. Mr. Panara and his team have built these businesses with a strong foundation of integrity, trust, responsibility, and excellence. He ensures that everyone involved in Nest Group plays fair and is ethical in their conduct. Consistency and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles are of prime importance to him. Secondly, he believes in building trust and collaborative relationships based on mutual respect. It is his passion that drives him to build the best and achieve the highest possible standards of quality for their customers.
VOICE OF CHANGE
It is Mr. Panara’s strong belief that technology should be leveraged to make the world better, greener, and more prosperous. “We need to focus not on technology for technology’s sake but on how to solve the needs of real people and their communities. It is that focus on people, communities, and the places they work and live that lies at the heart of everything Xpertnest does,” he shares. To further this belief, he built Earthnest which is an organization that helps consumers achieve a more sustainable future. The company produces sustainable bags and sheeting made from starch and other natural products. These products are 100 percent plastic-free, containing no polyolefin plastic at all. But at the same time, these bags are waterproof and oil-resistant. Importantly, they also provide an oxygen barrier. They have built the product in such an innovative manner that the bio bags have all the advantages of plastic without causing any damage to the planet. They cost no more than plastic bags to manufacture, which makes them nothing less than revolutionary for the packaging and retail industries.
It is his vision and foresight that have enabled Earthnest to bring this disruptive technology to consumers.
LOOKING AT A BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD
Mr. Panara has a focused vision where he sees Nest Group bringing innovative and revolutionary solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems. So far, he has envisioned some great initiatives from combining data analysis with satellite imagery to help farmers improve their outputs to imagining how cities could function more efficiently with smart technology and artificial intelligence.
