Bengaluru, May 20 : Bettrlabs, an AI-native R&D operating system for physical product brands, today announced the public launch of labs.new — its new product development platform — alongside a strategic acquisition with VR Food Tech (VR FOOD TECH PRIVATE LIMITED) as anchor lab partner for scientific validation and pilot-batch execution.
labs.new is built as an infrastructure layer that adapts to how a brand already operates. Whether a brand relies on Bettrlabs’ in-house R&D team, works directly with its own contract manufacturer, or runs a full-fledged internal R&D function, labs.new becomes the connective tissue — bringing formulation, compliance, costing, sourcing and Product Passports into a single workspace, with the brand’s own context held in a persistent Brand DNA layer.
Product development across food, nutraceuticals, wellness and personal care has traditionally been managed through multiple vendors and disconnected processes leading to delays, repeated reformulation cycles and higher costs. labs.new addresses this by treating R&D as a versioned, queryable system: brands can generate manufacturer-ready specifications, track regulatory and cost implications in real time, and maintain a living record of every product, so each new build compounds on prior work instead of starting from scratch.
Across its earlier workflows, Bettrlabs has onboarded over 380 brands, generated more than 1,000 product concepts and supported 20+ products through pilot-batch development, with a 96 percent first-pass regulatory clearance rate. That traction now consolidates onto labs.new at launch.
“Most teams today build products in parts, with visibility only arriving late in the process,” said JP Mohanty, Co-founder and CEO, Bettrlabs. “labs.new puts formulation, compliance, cost and execution on a single layer — and we built it so it works regardless of where R&D actually sits. A founder with no R&D team can use it. A brand working with a contract manufacturer can use it. An FMCG R&D function can plug it into how they already operate. Our partnership with VR Food Tech deepens the scientific execution layer behind that.”
“Product development often breaks down at the seam between formulation and scalable execution,” said Dr. N.Ramasubramanian, Director, VR Food Tech.
“Working with Bettrlabs, scientific validation and pilot testing sit inside the same workflow as the formulation itself which makes the path from concept to manufacturable product significantly cleaner for brands.”
As part of the partnership, VRFT will provide scientific testing and pilot-batch execution within labs.new, enabling formulation validation and real-world manufacturing feedback to be integrated directly into the product development workflow.
India’s nutraceutical market is projected to cross USD 18 billion, driven by growing demand for health and functional products. At the same time, thousands of emerging food and wellness brands continue to operate without dedicated in-house R&D capabilities, creating sustained demand for integrated product development infrastructure.
Bettrlabs, incubated at IIT Madras and part of the Google for Startups and AWS Activate programs, has raised nearly ₹1 crore in early-stage funding from angel and institutional backers. The company plans to expand into international markets following the launch of labs.new.
