Green business stories · Chuyện doanh nghiệp xanh · 25/36

Dr. C.K. Ashok Kumar: a son of the CK family brings First World Community and EMERGE AURO to Vietnam’s green businesses

Dr. C.K. Ashok Kumar: người con của gia tộc CK mang mạng lưới First World Community và EMERGE AURO đến với doanh nghiệp xanh Việt Nam

GBM Network · 4 November 2026 · Lumi Hub, Republic Plaza, Ho Chi Minh City · 13 photos from the event · Tiếng Việt

Dr. C.K. Ashok Kumar · Founder & Chairman, First World Community (FWC) · Chairperson, EMERGE AURO · Chairman, THOFA (Thamil Organic Farmers Association), India

On the morning of 4 November 2026, among the guests at Green Business Matching Day Vietnam at Lumi Hub, one figure stood out: a beige waistcoat, a green-and-gold stole over the shoulder, white hair and a white beard. This was Dr. C.K. Ashok Kumar, Founder and Chairman of First World Community (FWC), who came on behalf of India’s CK family. He sat beside the Consul General of India, Dr. Vipra Pandey, before the opening, spoke on stage with Mr. Thao Le, and visited many booths, talking with and taking photos alongside Vietnamese green businesses.

The CK family and the sachet that changed how India buys

To understand Dr. Ashok Kumar, start with his father. In the late 1970s, Chinni Krishnan, a farmer from Tamil Nadu, packed shampoo into small sachets of about 20 grams for around 50 paise, less than one rupee. His philosophy, as his son C.K. Ranganathan puts it, was that whatever the rich enjoy, the common man should be able to afford. The sachet carried that idea into daily life, from shampoo to malt drinks, coffee and ketchup.

According to figures Dr. Ashok Kumar and his brother C.K. Ranganathan shared with YourStory in 2018, India’s shampoo industry grew from about ₹5 crore to about ₹9,000 crore, and the sachet model created about 15 million jobs. Each of Chinni Krishnan’s four sons built a business: Dr. C.K. Rajkumar with Velvette, C.K. Ranganathan with CavinKare, C.K. Kumaravel with Naturals Salon & Spa, and Dr. C.K. Ashok Kumar with First World Community. He still remembers his father saying that one day the world would know the family by the sachet.

Watch Dr. Ashok Kumar speak at the 13th CavinKare-MMA ChinniKrishnan Innovation Awards, 2024: video on YouTube. And watch the documentary The birth of the shampoo sachet and India's sachet revolution, where he tells the story of his father, who created the one-rupee shampoo sachet, and of conscious capital.

The book: The One Rupee Indian Startup Engine

The sachet story is now a book. The One Rupee Indian Startup Engine, subtitled Decoding the Sachet Revolution: From nano steps to unicorn leap, is written by Dr. C.K. Ashok Kumar with his brother C.K. Kumaravel, founder of Naturals Salon & Spa. On the cover are their father Chinni Krishnan’s words: "What a rich man enjoys the common man should be able to afford too".

According to the CK family’s invitation, the book was launched at 5:30 pm on Monday, 29 September 2025, at the Anna Centenary Auditorium in Chennai. Mr. N. Ram, Director of The Hindu Publishing Group, released the book, Mr. Siva Sankaran (Mentor, AIWO) received the first copy, and Mr. K. Pandiarajan, co-founder of Ma Foi, was among the chief guests.

For Vietnam’s green start-ups the sachet story is a familiar lesson: a small product at a price everyone can afford can open up a whole market. Companies that would like a copy can register below, and the organisers will let them know when the next batch of books is available.

A book from the CK family

The One Rupee Indian Startup Engine

Decoding the Sachet Revolution · From nano steps to unicorn leap

By: Dr. C.K. Ashok Kumar & C.K. Kumaravel

• Launched 29 September 2025 · Anna Centenary Auditorium, Chennai
• Released by Mr. N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Publishing Group

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Photos: the CK family

First World Community: a network of 20,000+ members

Where his brothers chose products, Dr. Ashok Kumar chose to connect people. First World Community, the network he founded and leads, has more than 20,000 members and a team of over 50. FWC offers businesses four things: an Investor Circle, Business Matching, Masterclasses with experts and a Spotlight Boost for visibility. Its verticals cover youth (Yuva Shakti), women (Nari Shakti), organic farmers (THOFA, which he chairs), education (Edu Asthra) and Integrated Ayush.

FWC has taken members abroad, to the Dubai International Expo, Japan, Thailand and North America; five FWC members have received International Business Awards in Malaysia. The FWC board brings together scientists, educators and business builders, including Dr. Parashuraman, Principal Scientist at MSSRF, and Dr. JP Singh Sahni, a Guinness World Records mentor.

A morning at Lumi Hub

Before the opening, Mr. Thao Le, Founder of AnChay.TV, spoke with the Consul General and Dr. Ashok Kumar in the guest rows. AnChay.TV’s video shows the Consul General in conversation with Dr. Ashok Kumar and Mr. Mohan Ramesh Anand (Canopus Group) before the group photo.

On stage, the presentation A Legacy of Innovation, on the CK family, First World Community and EMERGE AURO, was shown to the hall (watch it below), and Dr. Ashok Kumar then spoke in person, with Mr. Thao Le alongside him. Outside the hall he spent a good deal of time among the booths: thumbs up with the Yum Yum Family team, a stop at the no-oil, no-fire corner of his fellow Tamil Nadu native Padayal No Oil No Boil with Mr. Lê Ngọc Ánh Minh, Chairman of the Vietnam ASEAN Hydrogen Club (VAHC), and a visit to the GOLDFLOW GLOBAL booth, where Ms. Dương Yến Ngọc’s book The Silent Conversation was presented.

EMERGE AURO: India’s first Conscious Capital Conclave, which he chairs

Beyond FWC, Dr. Ashok Kumar is Chairperson of EMERGE AURO, India’s first Conscious Capital Conclave, held on 5–6 December 2026 at Bharat Nivas, Auroville, organised by Section Infin-8 Foundation, First World Community and partners. EMERGE AURO puts startup founders at the centre and brings into the same room venture funds, angel networks, family offices, impact investors, CSR and ESG leads, the Government of Puducherry, national funding bodies and universities.

The conclave is measured not by attendance but by what is signed: investment commitments, MoUs and procurement pilots. The programme includes a Deal Lounge with pre-scheduled 1:1 investor meetings, pitches by the top 25 startups, B2B roundtables, a startup showcase and LOI and MoU signings. Its twelve dimensions of conscious enterprise are Awaken, Reimagine, Nourish, Heal, Learn, Prosper, Restore, Build, Include, Create, Innovate and Connect.

Doors opening for Vietnam’s green businesses

First World Community is a strategic partner of GBM Network, and Dr. Ashok Kumar leads both FWC and EMERGE AURO. For Vietnamese green businesses that means three doors worth watching: FWC’s network of 20,000+ members in India and beyond, its Investor Circle and Business Matching programmes, and the EMERGE AURO model, where businesses building for the planet meet the people who can invest in them and buy from them.

Interested companies can join the Chay VietNam Business Community at gbm.network/cvn, and the organisers will let them know when matching programmes with FWC and EMERGE AURO open.

The organisers of Green Business Matching Day Vietnam sincerely thank Dr. C.K. Ashok Kumar and the CK family for coming to Vietnam, for their time at the booths, and for bringing the spirit of that first sachet: good things should reach everyone.

Green Business Matching Day Vietnam is co-organised by INCHAM with Canopus, AnChay.TV and Chay Vietnam, with the support of the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City, Ministry of External Affairs of India.

Based on material provided by the company; compiled by the organisers of Green Business Matching Day Vietnam as a gift to the businesses that joined the day.