Custom Specialty Chemical Formulations

Atanu Agarrwal is the Co-founder and CEO of Distil, the Mumbai-based specialty chemicals platform he helped launch in 2024. An IIT Bombay alumnus, Atanu brings deep expertise as a seasoned private equity professional with significant experience managing control deals at a $1 billion New York-based fund. At Distil, he leads the company's strategic direction, investor relations, and North America expansion, having helped secure a $3 million seed round and a $7 million Series A. Atanu is committed to enabling global brands to diversify production and accelerate sustainable sourcing while protecting intellectual property. His financial acumen and global perspective are central to Distil's mission of delivering high-performance specialty chemicals engineered at scale.

Viraj Shah is the Co-founder and COO of Distil, playing a pivotal role in shaping the company's operations and growth since its founding in 2024. An IIT Bombay alumnus, Viraj is a consummate operator with a proven track record of scaling high-growth technology and supply chain ventures. At Distil, he oversees day-to-day operations, supply chain execution, and partner network management, helping build a base of 20+ suppliers and 100+ customers within the company's first year. Viraj's hands-on expertise ensures seamless delivery from lab to commercial scale, embodying Distil's commitment to end-to-end partnership and flexible, asset-light manufacturing for global specialty chemicals clients.

Kiro Rizk serves as Head of Personal Care at Distil, leading the company's specialty chemicals offerings for the personal care segment. With deep domain expertise in personal care formulation and application-specific chemical development, Kiro is responsible for driving customer engagement, technical solutions, and product innovation within one of Distil's core verticals. He works closely with the R&D and operations teams to ensure that brands receive tailored formulations that meet their precise performance and sustainability requirements. Kiro's industry knowledge and customer-focused approach reflect Distil's broader commitment to delivering high-performance specialty chemicals through an integrated, expert-led platform that scales reliably from development to commercial production.

Dr. Leema Joseph is the Vice President of R&D at Distil, where she leads the company's research and development function across its specialty chemicals portfolio. With advanced academic credentials and industry expertise drawn from a team background spanning organizations such as Dow, BASF, L'Oréal, Huntsman, and Reliance Industries, Dr. Joseph oversees application-specific formulation, technical trials, and innovation pipelines for segments including personal care, advanced polymers, and flavours and fragrances. She ensures that every product is engineered to meet precise customer specifications while maintaining the highest quality standards. Dr. Joseph's scientific leadership is central to Distil's R&D-led value proposition and its mission to deliver specialty chemicals that perform at commercial scale.

Raghunath V Iyer is the Vice President of Operations at Distil, overseeing the end-to-end execution of the company's asset-light manufacturing and supply chain model. With extensive operational experience in specialty chemicals and industrial supply chains, Raghunath ensures that production quality, batch consistency, and logistics performance meet the exacting standards of Distil's global brand customers. He manages Distil's network of 20+ manufacturing partners and coordinates seamlessly across the company's facilities in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Raghunath's systematic approach to eliminating process drift and enabling scalable production without capital expenditure is a cornerstone of Distil's promise to deliver high-performance specialty chemicals reliably and efficiently.