Mumbai/Bengaluru, India, October 2025 – NutrifyToday Academy, a leading education and industry platform focused on accelerating innovation in the nutraceutical and functional food ecosystem, has announced the appointment of Dr. Balkumar Marthi as President. With this leadership move, the Academy aims to strengthen its mission of transforming university-originated research into market-ready, compliant nutrition products through collaboration, AI integration, and science-driven entrepreneurship.
Announcing the appointment, Amit Srivastava, Founder of NutrifyToday Academy, stated, “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 with a Ph.D. from the University of Delaware, Dr. Marthi brings over three decades of global experience spanning R&D, regulatory affairs, and food innovation leadership. He previously held senior positions at Unilever, including Expertise Director at Unilever R&D in the Netherlands, where he worked on global initiatives in food safety and product innovation.
Before joining NutrifyToday Academy, Dr. Marthi served as Dean of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at GITAM (Deemed to be University), where he played a pivotal role in venture incubation, industry partnerships, and mentoring student innovators. His work was instrumental in strengthening GITAM’s innovation ecosystem and helping academic ideas transition to real-world application. He also chairs the Scientific Advisory Committee of the CII HUL Initiative on Food Safety Sciences (CHIFSS), a platform that collaborates with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to promote science-based risk analysis and training across the food ecosystem.
Speaking on his new role, Dr. Balkumar Marthi, President, NutrifyToday Academy, said, “I’m excited to join NutrifyToday 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.”
At NutrifyToday Academy, Dr. Marthi will lead initiatives that connect universities, startups, and industry stakeholders to accelerate new product development. A major part of his mandate includes leveraging NutrifyGenie AI—NutrifyToday’s proprietary AI-powered engine that maps ingredients, clinical evidence, regulatory pathways, and formulation data across multiple markets—to support innovators from ideation to commercialization. NutrifyGenie has been widely recognized in industry media for helping teams compress go-to-market timelines while ensuring global compliance.
Additionally, under Dr. Marthi’s leadership, the Academy will place special emphasis on flavour design and taste masking, a key barrier in nutraceutical adoption. By integrating formulation science, sensory innovation, and the vendor ecosystem featured on NutrifyGenie, the Academy aims to improve product palatability without compromising efficacy—addressing one of the biggest consumer experience gaps in the industry.
About Dr. Balkumar Marthi
- Former Unilever R&D executive, including Expertise Director at Unilever R&D, Netherlands
- Ph.D. (Microbiology), University of Delaware
- Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee, CHIFSS (CII HUL)—a platform partnered with FSSAI
- Former Dean – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, GITAM University; mentor and moderator at multiple industry forums on nutraceuticals and food safety
About NutrifyToday Academy
NutrifyToday Academy is an industry-linked education and translation platform that bridges research, regulation, and commercialization in the nutraceutical sector. Through specialized programs like New Product Development & Commercialization, it brings together academia and industry to accelerate innovation and scale evidence-based nutrition solutions.
About NutrifyGenie AI
NutrifyGenie is Nutrify Today’s AI-powered innovation engine, designed to integrate clinical data, regulatory frameworks, ingredient sourcing, and compliance protocols to help companies and research teams move from concept to commercial launch efficiently and responsibly.
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