Ola cabs is an Indian ride-hailing platform that was founded in 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati with a mission to offer easy travel for millions of Indians. It is India’s largest ride-sharing service app with a market share of $6.5 billion.
Foodpanda is a Germany-based online food delivery platform which is owned by Delivery Hero. Foodpanda currently operates with 20 brands in 50 countries around the globe and has its headquarters in Berlin, Germany.
Foodpanda’s business in India was procured by Ola for all offer arrangements in December 2017. The total Amount Invested by Ola in Foodpanda was around $40-$50 million.
TaxiForSure.com
TaxiForSure is an aggregator of vehicle rentals and cabs for people to get an effectively available, reliable, and dependable taxi ride. They work with different taxi managers and empower them with innovation to guarantee that people get taxi rides. As the name suggests, TaxiForSure.com promises a sure taxi ride.
The Banglore-based company was acquired by Ola Cabs in 2015. After the acquisition of TaxiForSure.com, Ola gained a massive lead over its biggest rival, Uber, and boosted its revenue. Ola has invested around $200 million in this startup
Ridlr
Ridlr is an Indian public transporting and ticketing app used for intra-city travel founded in 2012. Ridlr permits travelers to get ongoing data about the different modes of travel. It also books tickets and tokens through the application via online payments. Ridlr has a firm connection with BEST (Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport)
Since Ridlr has strong connections with BEST and Ola always wanted to be the biggest transporter, Ola cabs made its second acquisition in this public transport ticketing app. Ridlr secured funding of over $25 million from Ola in 2018.
This was a big achievement for Ola since it always wanted to expand its business beyond extensive ride-hailing and get into public transport as well.
Geotagg is a startup founded by IIT Madras graduates, zeroed in on giving systems in the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems. Geotagg has designed a GPS-based public information system specifically for Indian traffic scenarios. Ola, the country’s biggest online taxi aggregator, is hoping to solidify its client base by venturing into related vehicle organizations including transport administrations, carpooling, and bike taxis.
Qarth
Qarth, which runs a versatile installments application called X-Pay, is Ola’s second investment in the mobile payment space. Ola has acquired mobile payments organization Qarth to encourage its wallet administration Ola Money dispatched in November 2015.
Ola consistently is searching for digital cash move administrations for its Financial Arm Ola Money. It will assist buyers to pay using the digital wallet for both food and grocery. You can not only use Ola Money for making payments for Ola rides, but it can also be used on other online platforms like Lenskart, Oyo Rooms, Saavn, and Zopper.
FAQ
What are the Startups funded by Ola?
The startups funded by Ola are TaxiForSure, Geotagg, Qarth, Foodpanda and Ridlr.
Who is the founder of Ola?
Bhavish Aggarwal, Ankit Bhati founded Ola cabs in 2010.
Is Ola an Indian company?
Yes, Ola is an Indian ridesharing company founded in 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati.
India is the birthplace of cultural, grassroots, and frugal innovation. The population of over one billion people makes this an exciting geography for startups to build repeatable and scalable business models. The beauty of startups is that they provide their employees freedom, the opportunity to innovate and explore rather than just to engage in unproductive work. There exists black money within this rising economy of startups.
“The Indian startup ecosystem is said to be the third largest in the world having added over 1,300 tech startups in 2019. Number of Indian unicorns could increase to 95-105 by 2025,” says Nasscom president Debjani Ghosh.
Home of the largest e-commerce deal between Walmart and Flipkart, 31 unicorns and counting, and plenty of untapped opportunities — it shouldn’t come as a surprise that India has been home to some of the biggest startup success stories. Over the years, Indian startups have found success across sectors, with startups in enterprise tech, e-commerce and travel tech grabbing global attention. There has, however, been a grey cloud spanning the growing startup industry in recent years, something we are all familiar with – black money.
Canadian-Indian writer Rohinton Mistry says, “It is so much a part of our white economy, a tumour in the centre of the brain — try to remove it and you kill the patient. A 2015 FICCI report estimated black money in India to be as high as 75 per cent of the GDP.”
In today’s world, it is difficult to explain how a social anomaly could appear in the world of budding talent, making the next generation soar to the highest levels of recognition and profit. This anomaly increases the need for black money in startups or businesses. The purpose of this case study is to analyze the entry of black money into the industry, the factors that influence it, and how it is being whitewashed, as well as the impact this has on our economy.
Current Scenario and Analysis of Black Money in Startup World
Let’s look upon the case where a reputed startup lawyer (let’s name him ‘A’) in the capital has worked with startups including two well-known hotel room aggregators, a funded media startup and few e-commerce firms. He is also involved in deals with a well-known real estate group in the country that is trying to dabble into tech startups. He gives a shocking revelation: “Some expatriate businessmen are using startup investing as a way to move black money into India.”
Here’s the underside, suppose you have $10 million cash parked in Mauritius. You look for tech startups where you can take a majority control or create an entity that can furnish a website, an app and a small team in place. You incorporate the company as a private limited entity and also register an overseas subsidiary. Once a legal structure is in place, you start routing the overseas money into that technology company.
The routing can happen on the seed stage – A funding round. Now to embezzle the funds, from that startup money you can buy a luxury car and other assets, pay yourself, your kin huge sums as directors. You run that company for a period of two years or more till you’ve routed all the money into India. Once done, you can simply close that startup, declaring the company bankrupt and paying off creditors and share-holders which might be your own companies. Even if they have not routed the money overseas, dabbling in startups by opening up mentorship firms has become easy and a glam route to use that money legally.
“Am not saying all such firms are using startups as a means to turn black money into white but this glamorous route has started to be misused in India,” says A, a managing partner of the law firm, requesting anonymity.
Another lawyer (let’s name him lawyer B) who is brokering deals for a Gurgaon-based fashion app and another small hotel rooms aggregator ratifies it. His firm which specializes in transaction advisory for tech startups says that there are many ways dishonest businessmen launder.
An unsavory investor makes his family members the board members of that startup.
Other companies of the same group act as vendors to that startup and quote ridiculous prices for that service or product.
These investors ask for too much equity and control of the startup (often over 70%). They wish to keep their kin on board.
They park the money in a trust-friendly jurisdiction, such as Switzerland, before it is moved to a tax-efficient country such as Cyprus, where the taxation levels are very low or have no taxes. It is then routed to a tax-friendly country like Mauritius, before reaching the final destination in India. India has a Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAA) with Mauritius.
Trade mispricing is a tool used to siphon off money, plays an important role in bringing money back into India. Instead of inflating invoices, a business can under-invoice and export machinery or software. One can open a company to sell bags or a restaurant. The business may not take off, but the owner can still show cash sales of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh a day. Slowly, but surely, all money would be legitimate one day!
Along with the economic effects, black money also has social consequences. Some of them are mentioned below:-
Loss of revenue to the government and running of parallel economy in the country – It is the increase and spread of black money that poses a serious economic threat since it leads to a decrease in government revenues. If only some part of the black money that has been in circulation in the economy could have been paid as taxes to the government, it would have benefitted the Indian economy to a large extent.
Vicious circle as a result of black money and corruption – Black money has added to corruption by the illegal transactions made to hide the black money. Bribes are given by the people to bureaucrats, government officials, etc. This forms a vicious circle which is never going to end unless some serious step is taken by the government.
Effects on national income and real capita income– Black money is a result of revealing low income to the government while paying tax by people which results in low national income of the country. The national income of the country will take a big leap if the amount of black money in circulation is backed up to the national economy of the country. This will also increase the quality of life for the whole country.
Higher taxation and inflation – The main reason behind the taxation is to earn revenues for the expenditures done by the government to make a balanced budget. Therefore, it is obvious that if the amount of black money which the people are hiding from the government is revealed and included in the budget of the government then the tax rate will surely come down as the revenues which the government wants to earn from the people by imposing high taxes will already be with the government. Therefore the amount of goods and services which were there in the market according to the accounted money gets a hike in their prices which results in inflation.
Difficulty in the formation of monetary and fiscal policy – This is an obvious impact as the government while making these policies is not able to count the exact national income because of the hidden black money which makes such policies unrealistic.
Increased criminal activities in society– Black money usually gives rise to various illegal activities in society and corruption is one of them. The duration of the election is also the time when the illegal use of black money can be seen. Various terrorist activities have backup power of hoarders of black money which is even harmful to the whole country. The illegal weapons with various groups of unsocial elements are usually bought up by the use of black money.
The problem of black money should be solved in a real sense and a very rational manner.
First of all the problem is to be dealt with morally. The morals of the people in the society must be raised.
The tax system should be realistic in nature.
The authority which is responsible for the collection of taxes should be honest, without any corruption.
Various incentives should be given so that people voluntarily agree to disclose their real income.
The Economic Intelligence unit must be maintained thoroughly and should be looked after.
The corruption in administration must be stopped at all levels.
Startups should be aware of individuals who ask for higher credit in the company.
Limited kin involvement should be allowed.
The accounts must be looked after by the team and not the angel investors.
The government alone cannot curb this issue completely from society. Making different policies, laws, acts and legislation will not work alone. For the implementation of these laws and policies, every citizen has to come forward. People should understand why it is important to pay tax and should stop evading their income and should not lead to the generation of black income. Every citizen should make some contribution to the development of the country in the form of paying taxes. By doing this, the economy will definitely decrease its black money, as well as startups will not need black money to operate.
The social anomaly could appear in the world of budding talent, making the next generation soar to the highest levels of recognition and profit. This anomaly increases the need for black money in startups or businesses.
What is Black Money?
Black Money is the money that is earned through illegal activity and that money is not recorded for tax purposes.
Are Startups a way to convert black money into white?
Not always, because even startups fail. So if the startup fails, say in 2 years, then your money is gone. But it can be a way to convert black money into white. As the Startups have to pay taxes on raised money.
Can a person convert black money into white through the stock exchange?
No, even the money that is invested in the stock market is invested via banks. So if one breaches their bank limit, it automatically catches the eye of IT officials.
What are the best ways to convert illegal money to legal money?
There is no other way to convert black money into white besides paying taxes. If there would have been a way then no person has to leave their native country and roam like a fugitive.
Saurabh Kumar who is the co-founder of the online grocery e-commerce platform Grofers has announced that he would be leaving from the company. In this article the let’s look at the reason, Why Saurabh Kumar is leaving the company.
The company was found almost 8 years back and Saurabh Kumar has been serving the company since then. He had conveyed it through an email that he had sent his employees.
He had conveyed to his employees that he will no longer continue in the company’s day to day functions but added that he would continue to be the shareholder and a board member of the company.
Saurabh Kumar on stepping away from Grofers
In the email sent to his employees, Saurabh Kumar had conveyed that when I look back into the past 8 years and consider what we have achieved I feel proud and said that they should also feel the same. He added that the company has gone through a lot of ups and downs and said that we have faced them together and have always come out of it together and stronger.
He added that all these were possible because of the hard work and sacrifices of the employees and said that whenever they had their backs to the wall, the support and strength of the employees had given him the courage and added that he doesn’t know a life outside Grofers.
Reason Saurabh Kumar is stepping away from Grofers
Saurabh Kumar had conveyed in the email that most of his learning and growth had happened in the company and added that he has been reflecting on his life and personal ambitions for a while. He conveyed that he wanted to wander again and the reason for stepping away from the position is considered to be the outcome of it.
He had also conveyed that he was looking forward to building something fun and exciting and conveyed that some things are cooking. He added that it would take some time and we will have to wait for it to take shape.
Albinder Dhindsa had conveyed that Kumar had been wanting to invest in his own personal evolution over the past 6 months. He also added that driving deeper had convinced him that there is another area where he could have a huge impact and that he could build it from scratch.
Albinder Dhindsa on Saurabh Kumar Stepping away
The co-founder and Chief Executive officer Albinder Dhindsa have conveyed that the exit of Saurabh Kumar from the firm is an end of an era for Grofers. He added that Kumar was an incredibly humble and grounded and had always reminded him of how fortunate and lucky he was to have built Grofers with him in a zone of no ego and no second guessing.
He added that Kumar is not only a co-founder but also a friend, support system, a brother and a family to him. He added that he was fully supportive of his decision and wherever that would lead him in his journey.
Retail sales of Grofers
Future plans of Grofers
The exit of the co-founder from the company is when the e-grocer is close to having closing an investment deal with Zomato which is estimated to be around USD 100 million. The investment is considered to be part of a large financial round and is expected to value the online grocery firm at around USD 1 billion.
Grofers were in plans to list the company on the tech index Nasdaq but now the company has been said to have cancelled the plans of IPO and has decided to remain private. The move is considered to have come at a time where there is a huge competition and an increased demand in the market.
Conclusion
Saurabh Kumar still holds around 3.5 % in the firm and will still remain as one of the directors of the firm. He will not be part of the day to day activities of the company but will remain to be the shareholder and a member of the board of directors of the company.
FAQ
Who invested in Grofers?
Zomato is in funding talks with Grofers to invest around USD 100 million.
When was Grofers founded?
Gofers was founded in 2014 by Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar.
How do Grofers make money?
Grofers generates revenue through merchants. They charge a small percentage for every sale they get for them.
Starting your own business or what we call now a startup can both be overwhelming and scary. Funding is something that is needed heavily in this line or for anything you do even while organizing an event. According to a study conducted by “Forbes,” “about 10% of startups survive, despite the fact that 90% fail.” Businesses, specifically emerging companies, have a difficult time raising funds. How can you get that first investment so you may expand your business?
When it comes to raising capital for enterprises, many entrepreneurs approach investors and pitch their idea right when they need it. The difficulty here is that why would an investor give you a huge sum of money if they have no idea who you are? There are a number of things that can help you turn your startup idea into the successful firm you’ve always imagined. In addition to working on your business idea, you are also the banker for it. You’ll need a business and a marketing strategy. Most significantly, you’ll need to learn how to raise funds and find investors.
When looking for investment for your startup, there really are a number of options to explore. Some funding alternatives may make more sense than others depending on where your firm is in its development. Choosing an appropriate investor could make or destroy your firm, whether you’re crowdfunding or leaning toward the private investment sector.
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Approach Investors for Funding – Initial Plan of Action
You can approach an investor in a few different ways to get him or her to invest in your startup. When you pitch for funding, it is essential that you have all the information about your startup, as a little misinformation may cause the rejection of the proposal for the investment.
1. Early on, establish a network
The sooner you begin, the better. Entrepreneurs must meet investors in the early stages of their businesses. Learn about the industry they invest in and allow them to learn about your business. This helps in building a strong network for the later stage of investment. Sending a pitch deck to them later will feel less awkward if you create an informal relationship with the investors at first. During the idea stage, most entrepreneurs’ gets a financial aid from friends and family. These are generally your constant supporters or people closest to you who want to see you succeed.
2. Know how to pitch the Idea
While investors may trust in your business, their investment is ultimately a means to an end – they want to profit from it. As a result, it is important to emphasize how investing in your company would benefit them directly. While pitching, have your basics in place. If you are pitching to an established company or any other businessman the easiest method to stand out and stimulate a person’s curiosity is to show them exactly how and when they’ll get their money back.
When you are pitching you may want to show them your initial results. It could be your business graph, potential customers or stakeholders you aim to bring in the future and how. Also building a strong team and showing them that you have a team which means business.
4. Ask for Advice
By proactively approaching an investor for advice initially, you may be able to build relationships with them that leads to a stronger desire to invest in your company later. It allows investors to bring out potential weaknesses in your business while also demonstrating that you value their opinion.
5. Benefit from the internet fundraising sector
While networking in person is crucial, your location should not be a stumbling block to securing financing. With the prominence of crowdfunding websites available like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, FuelADream, and Milaap, you’ll no longer be limited to the traditional way. More than this, try and take help from social media. Grow your firm on Social Media. The more digital the business gets the more social attention it will get.
6. Get the Traditional way and take help from the Bank
If you can secure favorable terms, traditional bank loans could be a helpful funding choice. Banks often offer the lowest interest rates on business startup loans and do not need equity in the company. Bank loans have a lengthy application process and a high credit score is required. A bank may need you to sign a personal guarantee on the loan in exceptional instances. This means that if the loan is defaulted on, they can recuperate their losses from personal assets.
Approach Investors for Funding – Conclusion
The argument would be that investors receive a lot of inquiries on the funding, and one approach to stand out is to have someone who they trust highlight you as worthwhile and worth paying attention to. Many investors won’t even reply to startups that don’t have a warm introduction because their deal flow is too heavy. Pause for a moment and consider how to create a ‘critical path’ for investors. This may have an impact on your future investor relationships. Ensure you get it right the first time so you don’t have to go searching for another chance.
Fundraising is a tough nut to crack for many startups. But with a growing startup ecosystem, networks connecting the investors and the entrepreneurs are increasing exponentially.
According to a report, 65% of entrepreneurs admit they were not fully confident they had enough money to start their business. Here are some practical tips from various investors and successful entrepreneurs which might attract investors to your business. It can help you raise investments to scale your business.
Business Plan to Attract Investors To Your Business
An investor is always interested in the business plan apart from an idea. An idea might be unique or innovative but a business plan is what makes it effective. Your business plan must include details about your target audience, sales forecast for coming years, a problem which you are going to solve, go-to-market strategy and your plan for scaling the business. A most important factor to keep in mind is the uniqueness of your product. In other words, how different is your product and what are the existing problems it is catering to?
Presenting your business model through figures and block diagrams might prove fruitful and productive. One suggestion which many people from the ecosystem advice is, to keep things simple and not to complicate them. Keep your business model realistic, logical and rational. You can also take the help of analytics to derive conclusions about specific grey areas where your product can actually bring a positive impact.
In this age of internet and digital era, having a virtual reach proves to be more productive. Create an account on different social media platforms to maximize your reach. An account on platforms like LinkedIn, Indian Angel network, Quora might also prove useful. If possible maintain a blog, in which your experiences, data, analysis, viewpoints can be published, this would help connect more people with value adding benefits. You can also entertain guest posts from experienced industry people. This might help to attract investors to your business. Whenever a potential investor visits your profile and sends you a connection, accept it and take no time to initiate a conversation with him. The biggest advantage of these sites is, you can follow investors who invested in companies similar to yours and can also track your rival companies. On the other side of the coin, if not handled properly, it might deter your image in a few seconds.
Build Network to Attract Investors To Your Business
“Your network decides your net worth”, a popular saying in the startup world. Before approaching an investor, it is always advised to note down at least 40-50 potential VCs and AVs. To start this, interact with other fellow entrepreneurs who work in the same domain as yours. Interact with successful businessmen and entrepreneurs to know their strategies, mistakes, and experiences. Discuss your idea briefly, business model and finance with them, if any suggestions come from their side, accept it gracefully. Ask them for further contacts, discuss with those contacts and build a network around you. This type of interaction will surely help you in finding potential customers, partners, co-founders, and investors.
Draft a basic email which can be used for contacting different investors via email. Don’t shy away from emailing or contacting. Don’t depress or demotivate on listening to a ‘NO’, because being an entrepreneur one must be immune to rejections.
Present your business idea to your close friends and family. Let them try out your product (if there) and note down their suggestions and reactions. After launching a product or a service, tell your close acquaintances to refer it in their vicinity. Initially, the conversion rate might be very low but marketing is the key. Generally, mouth to mouth marketing is more effective than door to door. If any consumer mails or messages you, reply to him/her and thank them for using your product. Nowadays, building a virtual network is more important than building a physical one.
Confidence is one ingredient which defines or defies a person from success. While presenting your idea and business model it is advised to keep cool and calm. Before presenting in front of an investor, do proper research on that investor. Catching up with mutual contacts or acquaintances also might prove useful.
Some points which will contribute to your confidence:
Emphasizing on why one should invest in your startup along with your short and long term visions will help to grab the attention of investors.
Always focus on short and crisp PPTs, well illuminated with pictures, diagrams, charts, tables and bullet points. Refrain from copying and focus more on originality.
Another point to be noted is, always be proud of your idea and never ever doubt yourself, your team or the idea.
Be more optimistic and don’t get panicky.
Answer all the questions in a simple manner, don’t let your one answer counter another. Stick to the basics, your idea, your vision, and your current scenario.
Don’t bluff or speak unwanted things.
Keep yourself open to suggestions and don’t be afraid to speak up if any suggestion or advice overlaps with your ideology or ethics.
Generally, investors want to see an expected return on their investment. Investors want to get their money back with an annualized internal rate of return. Investors are interested to invest money into growing businesses so that they can make money.
How do investors get paid?
Investors get paid according to a preferred way which is settled between the startup and investors. They can be repaid on a straight schedule, they can be paid back based upon their percentage of ownership, or they can be paid back at a preferred rate of return.
Conclusion
Finding investor is not that tough job if you know about pitching. If you can show better, they will invest better. However, each and every investor have his own way of dealing with entrepreneurs. Some invest in the startup idea, some invest in the business plan, whereas some invest in the team. So, you either need to get better in all the aspect or pitch to the investor which suits you the most.
Actor Sonu Sood, from Bollywood, to moderate a startup show to encourage Indian startup companies. The Kuberan’s House has announced its upcoming enterprise show, which will bring creative startup thinking from across India, to be streamlined and exhibited. The platform would help businessmen get the investment from the best investment community and transform most of them into profitable companies.
Both ambitious entrepreneurs and innovators can use the forum to introduce their business ideas and business models to experienced testing experts, and the most influential investors can pitch and convince them to invest their money in their company. This platform aims to simplify the process by which a startup can be financed and turned into a revitalizing Premium content for the public. Sanjeev K Kumar, CEO and Co-Founder of Kuberan’s House, said that, “The aim is to provide both entrepreneurs and investors with a forum and to mediate and serve as a catalyst.”
Sonu Sood moderates Kuberan’s house to encourage Indian startup companies
This show for funding startups would ultimately transform into a mega TV show consisting of a consortium of eight major investors and 60 final entrepreneurs from all the applicants. Ram Gowda, MD and co-founder Kuberan’s House, says: “There are many forums for startups across India, but there’s no showcase and no new startups. Kuberan’s House is the first of its kind to come up with the concept of taking the closed-door investment negotiations to every drawing room throughout India.
Sonu Sood Backs Fintech Startup Spice Money
Sonu Sood Backs Fintech Startup Spice Money to Drive Financial Inclusion in Rural India. Spice Money is a subsidiary company of DiGiSPICETechnologies Limited. It operates a tech-enabled hyperlocal payments network, offering services such as cash deposit, Aadhaar-enabled payments system for cash withdrawal, mini ATMs, insurance, loans, bill payments, cash collection center for NBFCs and banks as well as ticket bookings and recharge. It also offers PAN card and mPoS related services through the Spice Money App (Adhikari App) and web portal.
The latest infusion would help to design new initiatives and products that will bridge the divide between rural India and urban India. Spice Money will also enable select existing programs developed by Sonu Sood during the lockdown, to be made available on the Spice Money platform.
Sonu Sood startup funding
What is Kuberan’s House
Kuberan’s House is the first and exclusive to be broadcasted on a broadcast channel in India. It represents the spirit of the ‘Make in India’ movement and offers opportunities, publicity and recognition for participants and an opportunity for them to gain mentorship and financial support to make their dream come true.
The Kuberan House Foundation’s core alignment lies in delivering, tracking, streamlining and showcasing the best startup ideas in India for Kuberans’ elite team. The foundation is focused on the informative website and a comprehensive procedure for submitting ideas and entrepreneurs together with a pitch deck. A solid, passionate and accomplished multi-faceted core team with expertise in different fields constitutes the Base.
Through strategic alliances sponsored by the best professional media, P.R, digital marketing, advertisement, and advisors from the top technical institutes and start up forums in India, the Foundation is the centerpiece of all activities that enable full scope and invite creative entrepreneurs and developers to apply. 9X Ventures LLP, integral part of Kuberan’s House, offers training, mentorship, the concept of business model, network support, incubation and acceleration services and is a competent home startup consulting company.
9XV, together with its team of industrial experts, market value’s, chartered accountants, screen every application and institutional and expert domain partner in Kuberan’s House is conducted in a most scientific and professional manner. A three-stage screening process involves detailed background checks, technical specifications, a company module, originality and viability for the business concept being suggested, all applications received on the KUBERAN’s HOUSE platform.
Kuberan’s House Bridging between Startups and investors
Kuberan’s House is a first and unique forum for developing and showcasing new startup ideas in India and helping companies obtain investments from the best selection of investors and risk capitalists. A real TV show featuring Sonu Sood makes it easier to obtain an idea by making it into a vigorous primetime. The idea arose when the planet was completely stalled as a consequence of the pandemic. A brainchild of Sanjeev K Kumar (CEO and cofounder), Ram Gowda (MD and cofounders), and Ranjith Royal (cofounders). In the background of the project’s online partners, Govind Balakrishna Raju (chair strategic officer) and Srinivas Vasanthala (VS – Operations) joined hands with the founders.
How Kuberan’s house helps startups get funding
If you are an investor or an entrepreneur and are looking for funding in an innovating business concept or company, this is the perfect forum to achieve your startup dream. The 500 top startups undergo a rigorous screening phase and will be moved to the ‘Hall of Fame‘ of Kuberan House. Any of these are accredited as a ‘Seal of Merit’ by the Kuberan House Fellowship. The applicants will be limited to the top 100, which will engage in a three-day exhaustive and holistic workshop.
The Workshop is made up of a group of exclusive experts in business matters, economics, policy, chartered accounting and the administration of the funds, legal matters and the public sector. The last 60 companies will be listed on the show. Three ideas will be introduced in each episode in the 15-episode series. This series is about pitching top investors in the country and convincing them about the importance of your startup concept, where every pitch will have an opportunity to get the Rs. 10 crore funding, as opposes the traditional realities with a winner and a loser.
This is a rare opportunity for top startups to appear on national television once in a lifetime. Incubation and acceleration skills will also be open to the top 500 applicants. In view of international exposures and global platforms such as Silicon Valley (USA), Singapore and Israel, Prime 100 will gain access to a detailed holistic workshop, with domain, business, lawyers and the final 60 applicants. In terms of startup credits, incentives and value add-ons all shortlisted applicants will also gain.
The Kuberan’s House is an organization that invites, develops, streamlines, and connects business ideas and inventions with prospective investors and venture capitalists.
Who is the CEO of Kuberan’s House?
Sanjeev K Kumar is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kuberan’s House.
What is Spice Money?
Spice Money is a Rural Fintech Company in India which has brought a transformative impact on digital, financial, and e-retail services across the rural and semi-urban regions.
How is Sonu Sood related to Spice Money?
Sonu Sood is an Advisory Board Member of Spice Money. Sonu Sood is brand ambassador of its brand campaign ‘Spice MoneyToh Life Bani’.
From the past few years, Bollywood stars have been trying to do different things to give their career a whole new direction. According to Nasscom report, India is now the third largest startup ecosystem in the world with more than 50 unicorns by 2021. Which is why in the recent years the number startups or ventures funded by well-known Bollywood celebrities have increased.
Bollywood celebs like Alia Bhatt, Suniel Shetty, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Anushka Sharma, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sonu Sood have become investors or angel investors, while some have also started their own venture by becoming entrepreneurs.
This includes Katrina Kaif who is a British actress that predominantly works in Hindi Cinema. She is one of the highest paid actress in India and is known for her Box office hits like Namastey London, Zindegi Na Milegi Dobara, Bang Bang, Tiger Zinda Hai, Raajneti, etc.
Besides acting Katrina is also involved with her mother’s charity and participates in many stage shows. The actress has recently funded in the e-commerce startup Nykaa and has also started her own makeup brand known as Kay beauty.
Nykaa is an Indian Online shopping site that sells cosmetics and skincare/beauty products. The company was founded by Falguni Nayar and is the number 1 online marketplace for beauty and wellness products in India. Nykaa has its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra and was established in 2012.
The company also received an investment of Rs 100 crore from Steadview Capital in May, 2020 and has grown into a unicorn company with the help of many such investments.
Nykaa is currently present in over 70 stores in India including products from from luxury brands like Tom Ford, Jo Malone London, Dior and Givenchy among others.
The main competitors of Nykaa in India are companies like Amazon Fashion, Flipkart Fashion and Myntra. The website currently has over 5 million monthly active users and handles more than 1.5 million order per month. Nykaa is known to have huge portfolio of more than 1,500 brands with a range of 1.3 lakh products available on all its platforms like website, app and stores.
Katrina Kaif with Falguni Nayar, the founder of Nykaa
Nykaa also offers a wide variety of beauty and grooming products for men, the website also includes Nykaa Pro which caters to their customers with beauty needs and special offers. They also have their own in-house beauty products known as Nykaa beauty which makes cosmetics for lips, eyes, face and nails among other skin body care range. The company also raised Rs 100 Crore from TPG Growth which is an American private equity firm in April 2019.
Katrina Kaif launched her make up brand Kay Beauty in 2019 and went on to invest an undisclosed amount in Nykaa through a secondary transaction. When asked about why she choose to invest in Nykaa, the actress replied by saying that she was familiar with growth of the company’s equity and market leadership and so becoming an investor was a logical step to do.
She also added that Nykaa has opened new avenues for women to explore and celebrate their own unique idea of beauty. Falguni Nayar the CEO of Nykaa, also commented that she admires Katrina’s work ethic and understanding of beauty products.
Kay Beauty is an Indian Cosmetic Brand that was founded by Katrina Kaif, this beauty line is available on the Nykaa’s website and its retail stores. Nykaa currently has two types of store which are Nykaa On trend and Nykaa Luxe.
Kay beauty is divided three sections which are Kolor, Kover, Kare. The Kolor represents the color cosmetics with eyes, Lips and Nails, while Kover and Kare includes face products with nourishing ingredients. The brand has 48 different pieces of makeup products for eyes and lips just from Kolor Category.
#ItsKayToBeYou Campaign
These products are affordable and are priced at Rs. 249 to Rs. 799. Kay Beauty is India’s first celebrity brand. According to Katrina it has been a long journey and a lot of work for creating the brand the way she wanted it to be. The actress is involved in making decisions from the quality of the products to the textures of the company’s first campaign and photo shoot for the brand.
The Kay Beauty brand was created by Katrina because she is passionate about makeup, understood the art of makeup and gained knowledge about it through her experience of being a model and actor. Which is why the actress know exactly what to convey to consumers when it comes to Kay Beauty.
The company manufactures products that are said to be high-performance and long lasting while caring for ones skin at the same time. Commenting on her vision for the brand Katrina added that Kay beauty is not just another brand endorsement, but her own brand that truly represents who she is.
The Kay Beauty is good at marketing its products and has come up with many interesting hashtags such as the #MakeupThatKares and #ItsKayToBeYou, through which the brand talks about the gap that the brand fulfils by providing a makeup collection that has care ingredients to nourish the skin.
Kay beauty has also recently made a partnership with Nykaa, after which the company gave the Kay beauty team full freedom to create and market the brand.
Katrina partners with nykaa because Nykaa’s team has knowledge on creating unique formulations, educating the consumer and bringing the best beauty trends in the market. What Nykaa also has is a strong network of online distribution and stores all across India which will help the brand reach to top tier cities.
During the launch of Kay Beauty, Falguni Nayar, founder and CEO Nykaa added,
“The launch of Kay Beauty is a proud moment for Nykaa too because it is the country’s first celebrity beauty brand. I have always admired Katrina’s independent spirit and was also inspired by her vision to create this unique collection. Over the past two years, Katrina and the team have worked relentlessly with passion and dedication to bring this vision to life.”
Katrina also mentioned that this partnership has all the ingredients she is looking for, as Nykaa has all information in business, distribution and technical side of things which is very necessary while starting a brand.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Voonik.
There was a time when women/men used to take their friends to go shopping just to have a little help in the selection process. Roundabout the same time, people were paying huge amounts to the stylists and designers to get a personalized style statement.
To shift this paradigm online and optimize the whole process to being smooth and handy came in Voonik in 2013. Get insights on Voonik’s Company Profile, Voonik Founders, Funding, Competitors, Business Model, Growth, Revenue and more.
Sujayath Ali and Navaneetha Krishnan launched Voonik to personalize the shopping experience for men and women. Yes, Voonik initially was launched for both men and women but later they decided to only focus on women’s clothing.
Now, Voonik is a personal clothing shopping app for women, allowing them to buy apparel from multiple brands and fashion stores, according to their body type, lifestyle, and budget.
Voonik enables women customers to directly shop like on any other e-commerce portal or the customer can provide some inputs like her body shape, skin tone, height, and personal style to let the application advise some dresses for her.
Sujayath Ali and Navaneetha Krishnan are the founders of Voonik.
Founders of Voonik
Sujayath Ali
Sujayth did his MBA in Technology and Finance from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science Engineering from MepcoSchlenk Engineering College.
Before Voonik, he was working as VP, head of Visa Checkout merchant program at Visa. He has also worked for Amazon as a senior product manager in the states for 7 Years.
Navaneetha Krishnan
Before co-founding Voonik, he worked for Freshdesk as a Principal Developer, Narus Networks as Tech-Lead and Aryaka Networks as Technical Architect. Voonik originally started with a 12 member team which now grew to more than 150 employees.
How was Voonik Started?
Navaneetha and Sujayath went to college together and have known each other for more than 20 years now. Navaneetha was not very new to the startup scene because he had been a garage stage engineer at big companies like Zoho, Freshdesk, and Aryaka. And as we know, the other co-founder, Sujayath was in America spending 7 years at Amazon and Visa.
“We first discussed the idea of starting something together over a Facebook chat session” Says Sujayath.
Back then, Navaneetha had an idea for a SaaS offering based on his long and intriguing experience at Zoho and Freshdesk. On the other hand, Sujayath pitched an idea of creating an entirely new way of shopping to enable the users in buying what suits their build, lifestyle, and budget. The former was convinced by the idea of the latter, both quit their jobs and that’s how the idea of Voonik was originated.
Voonik – Name, Logo and Tagline
Voonik’s tagline is “Everyday Fashion”, suiting its tagline, Voonik offers a range of options in every fashion category for the Indian urban market.
Voonik basically is a marketplace where the retail stores register and get to showcase their products. Voonik brings multiple online stores into a single cart. So it showcases product ranges from stores like Jabong, Snapdeal, Fashionara, Fashionandyou, Yepme, Zovi, etc.
Revenue Model
The revenue model of Voonik is generated by charging a 15 percent commission on every sale to the brand or the seller. And the deliveries are done by a third-party logistics partner.
Voonik – Funding and Investors
Voonik has raised a Total Funding of $34.5 Million till date.
Here is the Vooniks Funding Details:
Date
Amount
Round
Investors
February 2014
$500k
Seed
SeedFund
June 2015
$5 Million (~Rs 32 crores)
Series A
Sequoia Capital, SeedFund
June 2016
$20 Million
Series B
Sequoia Capital India
July 2016
$3 Million
Debt
InnoVen Capital
February 2017
$6 Million
Series C
RB Investments Pte. Ltd.
Voonik – Startup Challenges
Costly Shipping
Our biggest challenge for Voonik in the initial days was extremely costly shipping. It was particularly losing money on every shipment. And so the venture decided to work on projects where the team observed shipping across each category.
They eventually came up with the right algorithms through permutations and combinations to make shipments more cost-efficient. And soon after, Voonik had a 20% gross margin on shipping.
Marketing
The second-biggest cost driver for Voonik wasmarketing. Apparently, to save recurring overheads, it stopped focusing on traditional channels like Facebook and Google.
Instead, Voonik approached innovative channels for marketing to make money immediately. One of these initiatives was referral programs that allowed Voonik to make money from the very first transaction.
Online fashion space is as crowded as it can get. New players are coming in fashion industry. And now with Instagram and its buzz, it has become very easy for people to sell fashion apparel online.
Given that, there’s so much happening out there in the online fashion zone. Be it creative concepts like style cracker who customly assigns stylists to its customers to make a box of accessories paired with the dress. Be it bag fashion portals like Myntra and Shein, all of these along with Voonik are competing neck to neck to cater to the same audience.
Voonik – Acquisitions and Mergers
TrialKart
Voonik acqui-hired TrialKart in 2015. TrailKart is a mobile platform providing a virtual dressing room experience to the users.
Getsty
In 2016, Voonik acquired Getsty which is a personalized shopping portal for men.
Vilara
In June 2016, Voonik stepped into the premium e-commerce segment by launching Vilara.
Dekkoh
In September of 2016, Voonik undertook an acquisition of Dekkoh which was a personalization and styling app.
Dekkoh
Voonik did not stop here. It has also acqui-hired three startups, Zohraa, Picksilk.com, and Style, to further build the platform and taking it deep towards personalization by adding more and more personal stylists and connecting them with its users through a chat-based app.
ShopUp
According to the reports in February 2020, Vooniks B2B business was merged with Bangladesh-based startup ShopUp. ShopUp is a platform that helps businesses go online. It enables e-commerce, store, logistics, sourcing, marketing and working capital requirements.
Schoolay
On February 2020, Vooniks B2C business was merged with kids activewear startup Schoolay.
Voonik – Growth and Revenue
Voonik reported 264% jump from losses of Rs 17.63 crore (FY19) to the Net Profits of Rs 28.7 crore (FY20)
Voonik had a revenue of Rs 44.76 crore in FY20 as compared to FY19 i.e Rs 21.45 crore
Voonik had over 10,000 downloads in the first month with an average rating of 4.7.
Today, it has over 20 Mn registered users
Total 17 million application downloads
Close to 2 million unique visitors per month
Displays more than 15 Lakh products from 22,000 sellers.
Caters to an average of 20,000 daily orders
Currently has a rating of 4.1 at Google Play Store.
Voonik – Awards
2014 – Voonik was amongst the Microsoft Ventures India’s list of 16 startups for its summer batch of the accelerator program.
Voonik has big plans of taking onboard offline boutiques and launching chat-based features. Currently, the app is only giving recommendations to the customers, but the users are not able to chat with the stylists. Hence their main priority in the long term plan is to take personalization to the highest level on Voonik.
Voonik – FAQs
Who are the Founders of Voonik?
Sujayath Ali and Navaneetha Krishnan are the founders of Voonik.
How much is Voonik Funding?
Voonik has raised a total funding of $34.5 Million till date.
How much is Voonik’s Revenue?
Voonik reported 264% jump from losses of Rs 17.63 crore (FY19) to the Net Profits of Rs 28.7 crore (FY20).
How does Voonik make money?
Voonik basically is a marketplace where the retail stores register and get to showcase their products. The revenue for Voonik is generated by charging a 15% commission on every sale to the brand or the seller.
What is Voonik store?
Voonik is an online marketplace operating in products for women’s fashion.
In the recent years the number startups or ventures funded by well-known Bollywood celebrities have increased. In 2020, many celebrities like Alia Bhatt, Suniel Shetty, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif and Sonu Sood have helped the startup ecosystem rise during the hard times of global pandemic by investing or endorsing the products of startups. This also includes Madhuri Dixit Nene, as the iconic actress has also funded in a startup GOQii known for its fitness technology.
The Padma Shri awarded actress, Madhuri Dixit has also launched her own online dance academy known as Dance with Madhuri which has increase 5 times because of the ongoing pandemic, she is also the co-founder of the production company called RNM Moving Pictures with her husband Dr. Shriram Nene.
Madhuri Dixit Nene is an Indian actress, producer, dancer and a popular television personality. She is known for her work in movies like Devdas, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Khalnayak, Dil to Pagal Hain, etc.
Madhuri has so far worked in over 70 Bollywood movies and is also one among the highest paid actresses of India, featured in the Forbes India’s Celebrity 100 list for more than 7 times.
Besides that Madhuri Dixit Nene is also known for her Philanthropic work as she is a part of UNICEF and has been vocal about the rights of children and child labor. She is a prominent name in India and uses her platform to endorse brands or even products from many small startups.
GOQii which is pronounced as Go-key, is a fitness technology company that is known for their range of wearable fitness bands with a mobile app and a personalized remote coaching.
The company is founded by Vishal Gondal who was also the CEO and founder of Indiagames and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California with offices in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Shenzhen, China.
An undisclosed amount was funded by Madhuri Dixit Nene and her husband Dr. Shriram Nene in 2014, as they liked that the company provided an end to end healthcare and wellness experience for users.
GOQii products
The smart-tech enabled and integrated preventive healthcare platform has a long list of investors like Mitsui, Megadelta, Galaxy Digital, Edelweiss, Cheetah Mobile, Ratan Tata, Akshay Kumar, etc.
The wearable fitness brand that GOQii makes collects the activity and sleep data of the user. The data is then reviewed by personal coach through the mobile app, after which the assigned coach guides the user towards a fitness or health goal for them. The app also has premium services which can be accessed after paying a subscription fee.
The app allows its users earn karma points by meeting their target, these points are then donated to a charity of the user’s choice. It also allows users to share their stats on other social media sites.
The mobile app of GOQii also includes health e-commerce store, scheduling health checkups, a health locker and exiting discounts. The company has also launched the personal health locker and a lifestyle doctor known as the GOQii Doctor for medical consultation in 2016.
RNM Moving Pictures Private Limited is a non-government company which was founded by Madhuri Dixit Nene and her husband Dr. Shriram Nene in June of 2012. This company is an embodiment of Madhuri and Dr Nene as it is made with the 30 year old expertise in the Hindi cinema and technology & medical experience.
It has a revenue of $5 million with its headquarters based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company is known for producing media and content across all platform by leveraging their individual and combined brand identities.
The company is divided into the sections entertainment, lifestyle, interactive gaming and healthcare. RNM moving pictures combines the individual strengths, brand identities and unique strengths of the power couple Madhuri Dixit Nene and Dr. Shriram Nene in order to produce world class content and media across different platforms.
The company produces digital products which are viewed on MadhuriDixit.com, the Madhuri Dixit app, Tophealthguru.com and DrNene.com across all Apple and Android devices.
The motive of creating these websites is that the fans can connect with Madhuri Dixit, and get the latest information on Madhuri’s film, dance, art, music as well as he actress’s thoughts and recommendation on fashion, health and beauty.
The DancewithMaduri.com which comes under this company is a dance initiative started by her for bringing her passion for dance to the world. The 10 year old company started with an idea of merging different sectors into one platform and giving the user a wide range to choose from.
Dance with Madhuri is a well-established online gamified dance academy that allows its users to learn various dance styles. The Dance With Madhuri platform is the first ever celebrity backed online dance academy in the world and allows people to learn different forms of dancing.
Madhuri says that she started this online dance academy because, “Dancing has been my passion since I was 3 years old, and it only grew stronger with time. Dance with Madhuri is an expression of my gratitude to my ever loving fans who have contributed to what I am today.”
About Dance with Madhuri
These dance forms are taught by renowned dancers/choreographers and the videos are designed to teach all levels of dancers from beginner to advance and are planned in a systematic, authentic and conveniently.
DWM allows its users to exhibit their talents by uploading their videos of the same dance or even their progress videos and much more. DWM teaches dance forms like Bollywood, Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Folk, Club Dance Forms, Latin and Ballroom, Bollyhop, Street dance, Contemporary, Jazz, Ballet, Tap dance and Flamenco among others.
Dance with Madhuri allows its users to learn various dance styles from the best teachers from their online dance courses and workshops. The website also promotes wellness and offers videos on exercise ranging from Core strengthening, stretching, functional training, Pilates, step burn, dancercise etc.
The user can also apply for a certified courses and also connect with other dancers, participate in contest and events and showcase their talent to the world through this platform.
The company started in February 2013, and was created in just three months with the help of online infrastructure and just three in house employees. When the website was launched it crashed after a while because of the overwhelming response that it received.
According to Dr. Nene, they had over 6 million page views and 200,000 users just within a year. The couple and the team reworked upon it and then relaunched it in 2015.
Earlier the DWM generated its revenue solely from sponsorship and advertisement model, but later changed to DTH subscribers in order to create a liner video channel. The company then got over 100,000 paid subscribers and turned profitable with over 50% of its users coming from India and rest the world. Currently in 2020, the business has grown over five times because of the covid 19 pandemic. The team is now planning to explore more avenues and introduce acting, scriptwriting, gourmet cooking, music and much more.
With the global lockdowns in 2020, many dancers and choreographers had lost their daily living which is why DWM gave them an opportunity to have their classes on its platform.
In an interview Dr. Nene added that, “Dance With Madhuri has been self- sustaining and could grow organically but looking at the potential it has, we are looking for strategic partners and funding so that we can expand it further.”
The couple is now working on starting a new venture which will be dedicated for holistic healthcare. Dr Shriram Nene who is a cardiovascular surgeon in America, has been working on starting this healthcare startup from a long time and is said to launch it soon.
In an interview Dr. Nene shares that, “We are trying to build is a holistic, personalized healthcare which can be used across different media platforms. What people really need is a trusted source which is aligned to their health needs from cradle to grave.”
FAQ
Who is Madhuri Dixit Nene?
Madhuri Dixit Nene is an Indian actress, producer, dancer and a popular television personality.
Which is the startup funded by Madhuri Dixit Nene?
The startup funded by Madhuri Dixit Nene is GOQii is a fitness technology company.
What are the ventures started by Madhuri Dixit Nene?
The ventures started by Madhuri Dixit Nene in RNM Moving Pictures Private Limited and Dance with Madhuri.
How much is Madhuri Dixit worth?
Madhuri Dixit approximately has a net worth of $35 million which roughly translates to Rs. 264 Crores.
What is the first movie of Madhuri Dixit?
Madhuri Dixit made her debut with the 1984 film Abodh.
Over the past few years, there has been an increasing number of Bollywood stars trying to do different things to give their career a whole new direction. Some celebrities are investing in startups that align with their interests in order to enter the technological space that is booming in India.
In 2020, many celebrities like Alia Bhatt, Suniel Shetty, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Sonu Sood have become angel investors to upcoming startups that have potential especially during the hard times of global pandemic.
While some celebrities have become entrepreneurs themselves and are leaving no stone unturned to get into the competitive business world. The latest inclusion in the list of actors turned investors is a world renowned actress, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian actress, who was also crowned Miss World in the year of 1994. The former Miss World is one of the most influential celebrities in India and is a recipient of Padma Shri by The Government of India and The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Government of France.
She is also regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world, often times by the media. The actress is known for work in movies like Devdas, Hum Dill De Chuke Sanam, Jodhaa Akbar, Mohabbatein, Enthiran, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, among others. But besides that she is also known for her humanitarian work as she is also the Goodwill ambassador for UNAIDS.
Aishwarya is now an angel investor to a company known as Ambee, which is an environment intelligence startup. The actress has also recently funded in a nutrition based healthcare startup called Possible. This is however, not her first investment as she had also funded in a wind power project in Maharashtra over ten years back.
Lets look at the Startups Funded By Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Possible
Possible is a nutrition based startup earlier known as Truweight Wellness which was founded by Vishnu Saraf and Megha More in 2015. The company offers research driven nutrition service and healthy food products through its website. It also helps in leading a sustainable health, wealth loss and management of lifestyle diseases.
The startup claims to help over 40 thousand people in losing weight and managing diseases and aims to transform lives of more than 10 million people by helping them fight Lifestyle Disease.
Founders of Possible, Vishnu Saraf and Megha More
The website has over 50,000 success stories with more than 100 nutritionists and doctors and sells more than 50 super foods. The company excels in providing services and products to Combat Obesity, Thyroid, PCOS, Diabetes’s and others.
The company offers a wide variety of services like video tutorials, personal nutritionists, online consultations with doctors, customized meal plans, super foods including a tech based scientist’s analysis with constant mentoring. The strategy of the company is to provide physician supervision by an ayurvedic doctor, a personal health coach that will guide you in dietary habits.
The healthcare startup also offers a Pocket clinic to get on spot advice from doctors and a wide range of nutrient rich food products that are designed by food scientists.
Possible aims to helps people live a long life by converting their own kitchen into a pharmacy and using food as their medicine. Which is why the startup managed to raise Rs. 5 Crore from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as a part of a larger funding round which raised over Rs. 15 Crore in total.
Possible is also backed by Blacksoil and Kalaari Capital and has also offered letters to raise Rs. 6.69 Crore from six investors. There are over 90 million health conscious people in Indian by 2018, which is expected to reach 130 million by 2022, according to the Redseer report.
With Covid 19 Pandemic, the customers in the country are becoming health conscious and are preferring to eat healthy food to build their immunity.
Ambee is a well-known Bengaluru based, environmental intelligence startup that makes a mobile box which measures particulate matter and high density to better analyze and predict immediate timely emergency warnings.
The company provides data on hyper local air quality for developers, consumers, health researchers and media companies. The company aims to measure the quality of air around the world, the ration sources of emissions, create emission inventory not just for urban but even in rural places around the world.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan funding Ambee
The company was founded by Akshay Joshi, Jaideep Singh and Madhusudhan Anand in 2017. Ambee provides solutions for indoor air quality of different places like offices and commercial spaces like malls, hotels and cinemas, etc.
The platform helps its users make informed decisions or take preventive measures by providing data and analytics in the times environment distress. The data that the company provides includes sensor data, weather patterns, traffic data, ratio of diesel to petrol vehicles and even contextual data such as road repair, garbage burning and density of diesel generators.
The company monitors air quality with data through 100 sensors that has already been installed across Bengaluru. India has over 14 out of 20 of the most polluted cities in the world. According to World Health Organization (WHO), more than 10% to 50% of the indoor environments in countries like North America, Europe, Australia, Japan and India are polluted.
India has also witnessed a sudden growth in the number of cleantech/air purifier startups like Nanoclean, Clairco, Phoenix Robotix, Chakr Innovation, etc that are trying to solve India’s energy and pollution issues.
They have a variety of air quality monitors that can track a wide variety of pollutants and real time analytics in order to ensure that spaces know what people are breathing at that time and take corrective actions where necessary.
Which is why Aishwarya Rai Bachchan along with her mother Vrinda KR invested over Rs 50 lakh each at Ambee. The IoT startup has so far raised over Rs. 3.22 Crore from multiple investors Techstarts Bangalore, Touchstone Venture LLP, Motivated Minds Wealth LLP and Shekhar Kamal Lodha HUF.
Alan Joseph
