Prativa Pandey’s Vision: Building a Purpose-Driven Ecosystem in Nepal

31st July 2025, Kathmandu

Herveda Botanicals, founded by Dr. Prativa Pandey, creates natural skincare from Himalayan herbs. Explore how this award-winning brand champions sustainable growth & community support in Nepal.

Prativa Pandey’s Vision

(Only when my country is strong, does my existence flourish) – This powerful sentiment encapsulates the driving force behind Prativa Pandey, a distinguished social entrepreneur and researcher. Recently, Prativa Pandey delivered a keynote address at the Nepal Entrepreneurship Forum II, hosted by King’s College in Kathmandu, where she shared her profound insights on “Towards a Sustainable Entrepreneurship Ecosystem.”

Prativa Pandey recounted her inspiring journey of establishing Herveda Botanicals, an award-winning, 100% natural skincare, haircare, and wellness brand. She highlighted her return to Nepal with just an idea and no network, transforming it into a purpose-driven enterprise deeply rooted in Nepal’s rich biodiversity, local wisdom, and scientific innovation.

Core Principles for Sustainable Growth

During her address, Prativa Pandey emphasized three fundamental principles that have guided her entrepreneurial path:

Value the Ecosystem: She stressed that an enterprise’s growth is inextricably linked to the environment it cultivates around itself. This principle underscores the importance of nurturing collaborative relationships and responsible practices within the broader business landscape.

Build Trust: Particularly in what she described as “fragile systems” like Nepal’s, trust is not merely an option but a foundational pillar. Building strong, reliable relationships with all stakeholders is crucial for long-term success and stability.

Be Growth-Ready: Prativa Pandey highlighted that being ready for growth extends beyond just scaling operations. It encompasses mental, structural, and strategic preparedness to meet the demands and challenges that come with expansion.

Her reflections resonated deeply with fellow entrepreneurs, ecosystem enablers, and changemakers present at the forum, fostering a spirit of shared learning and inspiration.

Herveda Botanicals: Where Himalayan Herbs Meet Scientific Innovation

Herveda Botanicals is more than just a skincare brand; it represents a fusion of ancient wisdom and modern science. Its exclusive, luxurious, and highly effective products are scientifically formulated in Nepal, utilizing potent medicinal herbs found in the Himalayas.

The brand’s genesis involved over four years of intensive research and development (R&D) conducted by Catalyst Technology. This extensive work focused on Nepal’s medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), exploring their connections with traditional and indigenous knowledge, and uncovering skincare secrets embedded in alternative medicinal practices like Ayurveda and Amchi, practiced in the region for thousands of years.

From Research Scientist to Social Entrepreneur: Dr. Prativa Pandey’s Vision

Dr. Prativa Pandey, an internationally acclaimed research scientist and science entrepreneur, founded Herveda Botanicals in 2019 as an innovation spin-off of Catalyst Technology. Her impressive academic background includes a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry and leadership certifications from top-ranked US Universities, complemented by over a decade of research experience across academic and industrial settings in the US, Singapore, and Nepal.

Dr. Pandey’s journey to entrepreneurship began after she returned to Nepal in 2015, following the devastating earthquake. Instead of imposing pre-conceived solutions, she immersed herself in exploring various parts of Nepal to deeply understand the local context.

This exploration led her to discover the remarkable beneficial properties of Nepal’s MAPs and identify critical gaps within their value chain—such as poor coordination, excessive middlemen, unfair profit distribution, and a lack of value addition. Recognizing this unharnessed potential, she initiated extensive research on MAPs across diverse regions like Surkhet, Nepalgunj, Mustang, Myagdi, Mugu, and Birgunj. This also exposed her to rich traditional and indigenous medicinal practices.

Simultaneously, Dr. Pandey observed pressing issues within the cosmetic and skincare industry, including the prevalence of harmful chemicals, lax regulations, the promotion of unrealistic beauty standards, and a notable absence of ethical business practices and innovation. She also noted Nepal’s reliance on imported skincare products and the low prices at which valuable herbal raw materials were exported.

Driven by a desire to address these challenges and leverage Nepal’s natural wealth, Dr. Pandey officially launched Herveda Botanicals. Her goal was to add scientific and technological value to Nepal’s highly potent herbs, while simultaneously supporting the communities involved in their farming and collection.

Herveda Botanicals aims to solve various problems within the MAPs value chain and strengthen Nepal’s innovation ecosystem, bringing the best of nature to consumers through innovative and effective products.

Herveda Botanicals stands as a testament to purposeful entrepreneurship, striving to build an ecosystem where such ventures can thrive—quietly, boldly, and sustainably—contributing significantly to Nepal’s economic and social progress.

For more: Prativa Pandey’s Vision