Posted by Bengaluru: AI startup Bettrlabs has announced the public launch of its new product development platform labs.new. The platform acts as an AI native R&D infrastructure layer for physical product brands.
The startup, which is an AI-native R&D operating system for physical product brands, also announced a strategic acquisition of VR Food Tech (VR Food Tech Private Limited) as anchor lab partner for scientific validation and pilot-batch execution.
The product development plaform labs.new, built as an infrastructure layer adapts to how a brand already operates. Irrespective of 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 works as the connective tissue. It 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.
Traditinally, product development across food, nutraceuticals, wellness and personal care have 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% 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,” added Mohanty.
“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.”
VRFT as a part of the partnership, 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 $18 billion driven, as per industry estimates. 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.
The IIT-Madras incubated AI startup Bettrlabs, is also part of the Google for Startups and AWS Activate programs, has raised nearly ₹1 crore in early-stage funding from angel and institutional backers. It plans to expand into international markets following the launch of labs.new.