StartupTalky

Tag: 📝Interviews

  • Amit Kapoor, Co-founder, Eupheus Learning, on Connecting Classroom and Home Learning With Pedagogically Differentiated, Tech-Led Solutions

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    B2B EdTech refers to educational technology solutions that are designed for businesses rather than individual consumers. This includes software and services that help companies train their employees, manage their learning and development programs, and improve their overall organizational performance.

    Lack of standardization, data regulation, and privacy, lower digital literacy and digital infrastructure, and competition from established players are major hindrances to the B2B EdTech industry in India.

    The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the B2B EdTech industry in India is expected to be around 20–25% from 2021 to 2026. This growth can be attributed to factors such as the increasing adoption of technology in the workplace, the growing demand for corporate training solutions, and the increasing availability of digital infrastructure and internet connectivity in India.

    For this Interview, we invited Amit Kapoor, Co-founder of Eupheus Learning, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the EdTech industry.

    StartupTalky: Amit, what does your company do? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Amit: Eupheus Learning is positioned as the ‘largest, school-focused distribution platform in India’ and is already present in “One out of Four Premium Private Schools of India” in five years of starting operations.

    The B2B EdTech firm is bridging the gap between in-class and at-home learning by offering pedagogically differentiated, technology-led solutions. With its Classroom-first and Curriculum-focused approach, it aims to reach 10 million kids in India through its curriculum and specially curated educational offerings in Kinaesthetic Learning, Reading Enhancement, STEM/STEAM, and English language learning via exclusive tie-ups with award-winning education technology companies from across the world. Unique personalized remedial solutions for students have created differentiation for the company in this highly competitive and contested education market.

    Vision: To be the lighthouse of transformation in Schools. We will be the change makers inside schools by transforming them to become 21st Century Schools and democratizing access to quality education for students. We will do so by empowering schools with learning solutions and technology through content and operating systems. Because we feel that an empowered school is a great breeding point for a happier student.

    StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Amit: Firstly, a wide catalog of curricular and supplemental content mapped to CBSE and ICSE boards. With differentiated pedagogies and personal attention to each student. Second, 21st Century Skills learning program via exclusive tie-up with award-winning global Edtech companies. And finally, 21st Century School OS (operating software), a unified platform for content management, learning management, and ERP on a single sign-on for Schools. Also, modules aligned to key mandates of NEP 2020, for e.g., we have introduced “progress report” in place of “report cards” for schools.

    StartupTalky: How has the ed-tech industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Amit: The curriculum and technology space for K-12 has undergone a transformational change during a pandemic. Schools considered the safest place for learning were tested during the lockdown. The learning aids (textbooks) didn’t reach students on time, the learning management was disrupted leading to a grave learning loss for students and schools lost students since there wasn’t a comprehensive communication platform leading to a business loss for schools.

    The interventions required can be summarised through 3 broad points:

    • Textbooks will continue to be the main source of learning for students, however, today, the same textbook needs a whole lot of well-researched learning aids – audio, video, reference links, an online platform for practice, etc.
    • Personalized learning solutions are required for students inside the classroom as well. Since no two students are the same, hence, the same lecture or practice test for a classroom of 40 students will not work.
    • An integrated platform that helps in content dissemination, learning management as well as school management on a single sign-on.

    While many publishers have started to work in this direction, Eupheus Learning since the start was busy building this platform and network of solutions. The curricular and supplemental learning content is fully digitized as well. They are loaded onto a 21 st Century School OS which is a unique platform for content, learning management, and school management on a single sign-on.

    Besides this, our new offering from ClassKlap has a proprietary personalized remedial solution to deliver personal learning goals for each student inside a classroom. No wonder then, that Eupheus Learning has been championing the change in the K-12 learning space.

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    Amit: Founding team of Eupheus Learning has a rich background in the K-12 education sector along with a rich network of key stakeholders in education design and technology. It also has a large sales and editorial staff which is in constant touch with users of solutions. Together, it acts as a source of rich information to pre-empt trends and transformational changes in the sector.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Amit: Eupheus Learning keeps a watchful eye on ‘profitability’, ‘margins’, ‘conversion’, ‘customer acquisition cost’, and ‘retention’.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Amit: Regaining the growth momentum and profitability were our key challenges. Innovating and acquiring solutions for our existing and prospective new customers kept our growth momentum focus and our speed-to-market helped ensure profitability.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Amit: Different strategies for marketing:

    • Insight-led solutions development.
    • Direct Sales force: Eupheus has a strong on-ground sales force covering 120 cities with a footprint of 20,000 schools. This gives us exposure to schools on a daily basis.
    • Dealer network: Over and above our direct sales channel through our sales force, we have scores of dealers who help us connect with schools for transactions and servicing.
    • Communication channel: Over and above our social media channels, we hold webinars for teachers and students to create awareness about our supplemental offerings including various competitions – “Olympiad” and “Coding Competition”. The messaging platforms adopted by schools are leveraged to amplify communication on these webinars and competitions.
    • PR and Corporate Communication: We create multiple media opportunities to engage with targeted journalists, councils, and digital platforms to amplify our presence.

    Growth hack: Ensure speed to market by “not creating everything in-house”. Curate, Co-create, or Acquire and Deploy.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Amit:

    1. SAP for ERP
    2. AWS for cloud computing
    3. HR-One for HR management
    4. Eupheus-One is our proprietary CRM tool.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Amit: Eupheus Learning is focused on the premium, mid-premium, and affordable private schools in India, and today, there are close to 125,000 such schools. We have our reach into about 20,000 schools today out of which 7,500 schools use our solutions. Hence, from a future growth potential standpoint, there is ample opportunity. Also, since our solutions are mapped to CBSE and ICSE schools in India, we can convert schools that are following or are aligned to any of these 2 boards in the global landscape.

    NEP 2020 policy is truly transformational and all schools, state-board aligned or otherwise, will have to elevate their infrastructure and capabilities to operate. And here’s an opportunity that exists for companies like ours.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Amit:

    1. The transparency of the learning system experienced by students and parents during the pandemic has become a standard expectation today. Hence, how will schools build a network to provide a continuum of learning with thorough progress tracks for students? Fortunately, school leaders are more open today to experiment and they need a quality solution at an affordable price point.
    2. Schools operating environment is becoming dynamic too with the introduction of NEP 2020 and they will need credible partners to guide them.

    Our thesis has only become strengthened with the introduction of NEP 2020 and hence we are well-equipped to address the key needs of our school partners. Since its inception, we have been innovating on curriculum with technology being an enabler. Our focus is to bridge the gap between in-classroom and at-home learning has been the bedrock of our content and technology solutions for schools.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Amit:

    • Add more sales professionals to add more customers.
    • Be on top of trends to collaborate on solutions/products for customers.
    • Accelerate our existing human resource practices to gain team members’ trust and loyalty.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who wants to get into entrepreneurship.

    Amit: In the EdTech space, the B2B model is profitable and rewarding.

    We thank Amit Kapoor for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Parag Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO, GoBOLT, Shares Insights on the Company’s Journey to Enhancing Supply Chain Efficiency Through Technology Solutions

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    The logistics industry involves the coordination and movement of goods from one place to another through a supply chain network. It includes activities such as transportation, warehousing, and distribution of products. The industry has been greatly impacted by technology advancements such as automation, digitalization, and e-commerce, leading to increased efficiency and cost savings.

    The logistics industry in India is growing rapidly, driven by factors such as increasing trade, e-commerce growth, and government initiatives to improve infrastructure and regulations. The industry faces challenges such as inadequate transportation infrastructure, complex regulations, and a shortage of skilled labor. The government has launched several initiatives to modernize the industry, including the development of the National Logistics Policy and the National Multi-Modal Logistics Parks.

    The Indian logistics industry has been growing quickly, and by 2025 it is expected to reach a value of $380 billion.

    For this Interview, we invited Parag Aggarwal, Co-founder & CEO of GoBOLT, where we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the logistics industry.

    StartupTalky: Parag, what products does your company sell? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Parag: GoBOLT is an end-to-end tech logistics firm aimed at improving the responsiveness/speed of the supply chain together with optimizing the cost. We provide operational services like express transportation solutions, and distribution solutions together with pure technology solutions to optimize the client’s supply chain. The organization was started with a vision of removing the inefficiencies in the supply chain and reducing the time to customers by 50 percent. With ever-changing industry dynamics and regulatory framework support, we believe the Indian supply chain system will soon be comparable to global benchmarks in terms of speed and cost.

    StartupTalky: What other products/features have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Parag: GoBOLT started as a tech-enabled organization using technology for efficient and effective operations. From the last couple of years, as an organizational strategy, we forayed into a pure-play technology business that provides optimization solutions to clients’ supply chains without operational support. It has helped us to get a view of different types of supply chains across the industry. As a combination of operational expertise and technological solutions, GoBOLT is growing at a faster pace providing end-to-end solutions to its clients.

    StartupTalky: How has the logistics industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Parag: Logistics as an industry has been very dynamic with respect to technological interventions and regulatory guidelines in the last few years. It was earlier an ignored sector that was marred by a lack of technology and the presence of a huge number of intermediaries. But the market opportunity of almost 200 billion dollars has led to a lot of new-age companies trying to improve the sector together with support from the government with respect to policies like ULIP, ONDC, etc. The sector from the last few years has become a priority sector across the ecosystem.

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    Parag: The latest trends can be easily gathered by being a part of different forums. GoBOLT as an organization is a member of many government and private forums which helps us in staying updated. In fact, we were invited by the government of India for the launch of the ULIP policy.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Parag: GoBOLT has always focused on profitable growth and not just growth. We as an organization track both our topline and bottom line together with some hard-core operational parameters like Asset utilization, On-time Performance. We believe that to make an impact on the logistics sector, it is very important that the growth is in the right direction and quality of revenues is tracked.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Parag: We have been facing challenges like fuel price hike which has been the major cost factor of the whole industry. This contributes to more than 50 percent of our cost and its variability has been the biggest challenge across the industry. We as an organization went with a direct fuel supply agreement with Oil Marketing companies and implemented various fuel storage strategies to counter the variability.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Parag: GoBOLT is more into the B2B space in which the customers are focused on cost and service levels. We ensure that we are continuously innovating at the back end to drive operational efficiencies and pass on the cost benefits to our clients and attain cost leadership. Our state of art in-house technology ensures that service levels are tracked and monitored. We as an organization, have been adding customers since our inception and have not lost any due to our focus on cost and service.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Parag: GoBOLT has an in-house tech team that develops products as per our client’s requirements. We focus on algorithm-based solutions and use data science tools for getting the correct output. We believe that in a few years, the adaptability of AI and ML in the supply chain will increase multi-fold.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Parag: Logistics is a 200 billion dollar industry in India that is growing at 9 percent CAGR. The industry is highly intermediated with not even one player having a double-digit market share. There is a lot of growth opportunity in India in which even a 5 -10 percent market share will make you the market leader.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Parag: The way Covid hit the industry has been a learning for each and every individual. It led us to a completely uncertain environment with different rules of business. For robust growth, it is essential that the business strategies are flexible and the speed of the decision-making goes in tandem with ever-changing external dynamics.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Parag: We are at an ARR of 400 crores with an employee base of 250 + people. We are focusing on growing profitably and growing to annual revenues of 1500 cr in the next few years with a combination of organic and inorganic growth via acquisition.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship?

    Parag: I think holding your ground and believing in your vision is the most significant thing in the start-up journey. There will be ups and downs but these things are very temporary and everything falls into the right place eventually.

    We thank Parag Aggarwal for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Our Vision Is to Send a 3D Printer to Every Home and to Educate at an Early Age Says Saloni Chandalia, Director, WOL3D

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    3D printing is a process in which a digital model is used to create a physical object by adding successive layers of material. This is in contrast to traditional manufacturing methods.

    3D printing can be used to create a wide variety of objects, from simple toys to complex mechanical parts and even entire buildings. The technology has been used in a number of industries, including aerospace, healthcare, and manufacturing.

    It also helps reduce waste materials compared to other traditional methods. We can solve complex problems and create better products by using 3D printing. The global 3D printing industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 17% between 2020 and 2023.

    For this Interview, we invited Saloni Chandalia, Director of WOL 3D and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the 3D Printing industry.

    StartupTalky: Saloni, what does your company do? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Saloni: The company name is WOL3D India. The company is into education and innovation technology which is into 3D printing. In 3D printing technology, we sell printers that have a wide range. We have about 35 different printers. We manufacture the raw material which is the filaments that can be used in the printer and the 3D pens that can be used by kids beginning at the age of 5 to professionals.

    The motivation was a new age technology the 4th generation and there was a missing gap in the industry wherein 3D printing technology is widely used in India in commercial and the industrial application but for the consumers, the educators, the students, the direct customers it wasn’t available it was an untapped market. So our vision is to send a 3D printer to every home and to educate at an early age.

    StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of your product?

    Saloni: The USP of our product is it is affordable, reliable, and easy to use. Also, there are 3 product lines 3D Printers which have a wide range beginning at 14,000 and going up, 3D Pens that can be easily used by children beginning at the age of 5 and Filaments that are manufactured in India the USP is that they are made from biodegradable plastic.

    Saloni: So the 3D printing industry majorly was for commercial and industrial use. We wanted to bring 3D printing to the consumers and this is how the industry has changed. This is how Wol 3D has brought 3D printing to the consumer in India.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Saloni: The challenge the company has faced since its inception is that people did not know the technology, so basically educating the people and how we do that is we do a lot of exhibitions, we do a lot of free seminars, and went to a lot of educational institutes like IIT and design institutes and even to schools so to educate at a very early age. We do about 25 exhibitions a year in PAN India.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Saloni: The best move we have done significantly is to set up India’s first 3D printing experience center wherein people can come and experience all different types of technology where they can get their first-hand experience.

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    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Saloni: The strategies that we used are like I said seminars, exhibitions, and franchise models which have worked very well for us. Today we have 10 franchises in PAN India.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Saloni: The software that we have is a centralized IVR system wherein we have a centralized number and it’s recorded where we track the queries coming in and the turnaround of all the orders. For the company’s growth and performance accounting analysis again is centralized. Monthly analyze the growth and the profitability ratio. We also analyze our revenue to advertising costs across all platforms online and offline.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Saloni: Opportunities for future growth in the industry in India we see have a big market for the consumer section. A lot of people are getting accustomed to using 3D printers. A lot of businesses and a lot of professionals will be using 3D printing for their commercial and personal use.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Saloni: Lessons the team learned in the past is to educate the customers the sales will follow. Our future plans and strategies are to expand to more cities and also set up more experience centers like the one in Mumbai so that the customers understand what the technology is.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship?

    Saloni: Follow your passion, and the money, sales or success shall follow.

    We thank Saloni Chandalia for spending her valuable time and sharing her learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Maddie Amrutkar, Founder and CEO, Glad U Came, Pushes the PR Industry Forward With Pioneering Celebrity Gifting, Influencer Marketing, and Social Media Strategies

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    Marketing and public relations (PR) are important components of a company’s overall strategy to promote its products and brand. Marketing refers to the process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs through the creation, promotion, and distribution of products, while PR refers to the management of a company’s reputation and image, typically through the use of media and other third-party channels.

    Both marketing and PR play critical roles in establishing and maintaining a strong brand identity for luxury goods, helping to communicate the value and unique qualities of the products to customers, and building customer loyalty. Effective marketing and PR can also help companies navigate challenges and maintain their competitive position in a rapidly changing market.

    The global marketing and PR agency market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 5-7% from 2021 to 2026, driven by factors such as the increasing importance of digital marketing, the growth of e-commerce, and the changing needs and preferences of customers.

    For this Interview, we invited Maddie Amrutka, founder and CEO of Glad U Came, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Public Relations and Communications industry.

    StartupTalky: What does your company do? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Maddie: Glad U Came creates Award-winning digital campaigns that get people clicking, sharing, and engaging the right audience at the right time. From innovative start-ups to global giants, we’re the go-to agency for contenders with a disruptor mindset. We understand that when you’re investing in something, you expect ROI.

    We are a creative, focused, and trusted PR and influencer marketing agency that develops ROI-driven campaigns to help your business reach its full potential.

    StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Maddie: We offer services like PR, Celebrity gifting, Influencer Marketing, and Social media marketing, and what makes us different is that we are pioneers in celebrity gifting in India, and we create well-planned strategies for our client’s growth.

    StartupTalky: How has the public relations and communications industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Maddie: As we go towards a digital world, it is critical to be informed about what is going on around us. We launched our sister company, Glad We Met, a talent management company where we manage celebrities and creators, and we perform digital PR for our clients because of this. Moving further in the realm of influencer marketing was a necessary choice because it is a growing industry.

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    Maddie: For our clients, we act as a “Thinking Partner” and are dedicated to lifelong learning. We follow strict procedures and provide excellent work and high-level advice. Our team makes use of a variety of media to reach the right audience and generate engagement that keeps your business top-of-mind.

    We understand the importance of SEO and hence we have optimized our website to garner the best clients.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Maddie: We have a Google Sheet where we track our employees’ progress and growth; the columns include what they achieve weekly, and we also have a RAG column to determine the progress.

    We also conduct daily opening and closing meetings to discuss the agenda of the day and keep up-to-date on the progress. And heads of departments have a daily meeting separately to figure out the team’s growth.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Maddie: As the Pandemic was a difficult time for all of us, especially as offices were in a complete work-from-home situation, it was challenging at the start, but after that, we also gave our employees the hybrid option of working so that their safety was also prioritized. We made meetings virtually possible for clients and employees so that nobody suffered.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Maddie: We make sure to participate in awards and summits that help with networking and getting more business; also, LinkedIn plays a major role in getting leads because we actively post about our services and hiring. We also did PR for Lokmat Awards, which helped us garner 15 million views on Instagram.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Maddie: We use apps like Razorpay to maintain all the employee activity like salary and holidays so that everything is well managed. Google sheets is another important part of our daily lives as it makes work easy and it is convenient to maintain trackers making it smooth and systematic.

    We also have an analytics and discovery platform driven by AI called HypeAuditor which can be used to uncover relevant influencers, learn more about their audiences, improve the return on investment for advertisers, and protect the integrity of influencer marketing.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world?

    Maddie: New technology can benefit in numerous ways. Startups focused on predictive analytics offer tools to help you adapt story angles for journalists based on interests, prior coverage, personalities, and trends, as well as anticipate the possibility that a journalist will cover your story. Tools for performing sophisticated sentiment analysis on media clips, social media messages, and other sources are also being developed.

    StartupTalky: What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Maddie: In March, e-commerce spending in Delhi climbed by 1%, while spending in Bengaluru increased by 2%. However, expenditure in Mumbai declined by 7 percent throughout the month. As the cost of living is comparatively high in Mumbai people end up paying more on rent especially post covid prices have gone extremely high, so you have to think about the target audience before implementing any strategies.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your plans and strategies?

    Maddie: There will never be a single day in which everything goes perfectly, and some days can be very difficult. However, if you can keep a positive attitude and continue to look on the bright side, the challenging days can be an additional opportunity for growth in both your professional life and your life in general. So, making mistakes at the workplace is normal but make sure you learn from those mistakes and plan better in the future.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Maddie: We plan on tapping homegrown brands as well as luxury brands as our experience in both has been versatile. So we want our clients to get the right limelight in the digital space, and hence we plan such goal-oriented strategies. For our employees we provide leave, GUC is the first PR agency to give Period leaves. As women make up 90% of our workforce, thus we are aware of the need for
    menstruation leave. Hence we granted special leaves for the same to provide a healthy environment for our employees.

    StartupTalky: One tip you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship?

    Maddie: One of the most effective methods is to get ideas from other business owners in the early stage of development. Avoid competitive companies and trade your knowledge and expertise for theirs. This will make networking more mutually beneficial, maybe leading to future opportunities.

    We thank Maddie Amrutkar for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Jeevika Tyagi, Co-founder and CEO, aastey, Shares Insights on Building a Brand on the Foundation of Sustainability and Size Inclusivity

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    The activewear industry in India has seen significant growth in recent years, driven by increasing health and fitness awareness among consumers, as well as the rise of athleisure as a fashion trend.

    The activewear market in India is highly competitive, with brands constantly introducing new products and technologies to appeal to consumers. In addition, the market is influenced by changing consumer preferences and trends, such as the increasing demand for sustainable and eco-friendly products.

    According to a report by the market research firm TechSci Research, the Indian activewear market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 12% between 2020 and 2025.

    For this Interview, we invited Jeevika Tyagi, Founder & CEO of aastey, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the activewear industry.

    StartupTalky: Jeevika, what products does your company sell? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Jeevika: The idea of aastey was born amid the pandemic. We realized the morose atmosphere around us had begun to affect our mental and physical health. Women were already living under a mountain of responsibilities, and the pandemic had just increased tenfold. As the days turned into months, we started seeing changes in the way we live our lives and started giving importance to things that we had started to take for granted.

    Through our research, we immediately saw a glaring need gap in the fashion industry, especially on how brands, even today, create mutually exclusive categories like petite and size to divide, isolate and exclude women across all age groups. Surrounded by brands that had limited availability in sizing and were continuously producing clothes that were harmful to the environment, we wanted to create something polar opposite, something that offers a counter-culture to fast fashion culture.

    Keeping these things in mind, we decided to build a brand on the foundation of two core values: sustainability and size inclusivity. We want to embrace everyone without judgment and want to give comfort priority over everything else. Thus, we created the term ‘live aastey’ which means to be fully present in every single moment.

    StartupTalky: What other products/features have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Jeevika: aastey has a very robust design process oriented towards thorough research and development. Innovation is the backbone of everything we create at aastey. Therefore, we believe in hours of research and customer surveys to create our collections and merge them with our ethos.

    In the last two months, aastey has launched a range of new products. We launched a varied range of products in our club collection, including two soy wax vegan scented candles – the frosted dawn candle and the lilac garden candle, the eclipse stainless steel bottle, and the earthshine cork yoga mat. In apparel, we launched the slow-down organic cotton tees in two colors and added a new color to our existing jellybean and boomerang tank tops. We also launched a socks collection with two different styles – calf length and ankle socks. The collection is designed to highlight the pollution in our oceans with high-definition ocean-themed prints. We will soon be launching a cotton canvas tote bag along with an additional style in the socks collection.

    In 2023, we are planning to launch a varied range of product categories with sweatshirts, joggers, dry-fit t-shirts, wide-leg pants, dresses, and much more. We will also be adding to our existing leggings and t-shirt collections.

    StartupTalky: How has the activewear industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Jeevika: Globally, the activewear industry emerged as a breakaway from conventional sportswear and apparel targeted mainly toward women. The industry was quick to rise with its focus on making clothes that combine workout and street attire. By 2012, the global performance activewear market exceeded US $244 billion. While the activewear market had been steadily growing in India since the last decade, it got a big push during the lockdown and the recovery that followed.

    People wanted to wear something stylish but also more comfortable because of the intermeshing of their work and home lives. According to research analysis, the activewear market outperformed fast fashion, ethnic wear, and formal footwear since the onset of the pandemic. Now, it is estimated to reach Rs. 997.8 billion by 2024.

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    Jeevika: When we decided to enter the activewear space, we knew we would find a lot of competition. We spent a year researching and developing the best sustainable blends. We believe that our continuous effort to make our brand sustainable, from manufacturing to packaging, sets us apart. By using timeless and classic designs and good quality fibers that are natural and ethically sourced, we have not only given longer life to the clothes but also minimized the carbon footprint we leave on the planet.

    We have also created active feedback and communication channels with our tribe to make the best decisions in our product design process. It’s not only about what kind of trends or designs they want aesthetically but also how we can make our products functional and useful for our community.

    Our research focuses on maximizing the performance and functionality of the
    products while making the least impact on our planet. This includes research across domestic and international brand research. The research is done to check trends across markets and brands, price points, fabric, colors, prints, etc. After that, we do a WGSN (formerly Worth Global Style Network) for direction in fashion trends, fabric, colors, and prints.

    Once our research is complete, we move on to creating mood boards, color boards, and theme boards that resonate with our brand’s voice. Once the designs are read, they are shortlisted for sampling, and then the selected samples are shortlisted for production.

    We also put in a lot of time and research in creating the perfect stretch and feel for our aastey in-house organic and recycled fabric blends.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Jeevika: Starting a sustainable activewear brand comes with its own challenges but as a business, we have learned that our customers (our aastey tribe) are always right and customer service is the most important thing in making a business big.

    Learning from this, we have created active feedback and communication channels with our tribe to make the best decisions in our product design process. It’s not only about what kind of trends or designs they want aesthetically but also how we can make our products functional and useful for our community.

    StartupTalky: Repeat purchase is one of the most important parameters on which most e-commerce brands are betting. How do you keep your customer engaged to stop churn?

    Jeevika: The focus is on comfort and size inclusivity. One thing we have understood is that our customers want to feel their best in everything they do. And in India, we have a huge market. We have to understand every body type can be catered to and that’s exactly what we are doing here.

    Everything is about our tribe – a community of women with unique personalities and lifestyles. They have different perspectives on being active and are multifaceted in their values. They believe that there is joy in living in the moment and having a mindful life without putting unrealistic expectations on yourself.

    We have a plethora of different sizes. The fabric is comfortable and body-friendly, this is what brings the customers back to us. You tell us what you want and we will make sure that you’ll love it!

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Jeevika: The response from Tier 2 and Tier 3 has been similar to that of Tier 1. Our top cities include tier 2 cities, with Pune, Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad being neck to neck with the response from Delhi. Our extreme uplift leggings are the best seller product that is being sold equally in all parts of India. Mumbai is our largest market.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Jeevika: As per aastey’s next steps, we plan to be the category leaders in the sustainable athleisure space. We spent more than a year developing sustainable and internationally competitive products and we plan to compound on this experience and offer solutions to make women’s lives better. Currently, we utilize recycled fabrics or organic fabrics in 100% of our clothing. Our pledge is to create a closed-loop cycle for all our products and we aim to be completely sustainable by 2023.

    aastey seeks to make a difference by creating the most comfortable yet sustainable apparel, no matter the woman’s size, color, or shape. This is why we also plan to create a standardized size chart across India which is a massive task considering our country’s diversity.

    Our next steps will always be towards expanding our community by crafting more solutions to support and uplift themselves, including exploring other lifestyle spaces. aastey’s Research and Development will focus on continuously innovating with sustainable fabrics and creating original blends that are sustainable but also that create the best experience for their tribe.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, SKUS, and team base in the future?

    Jeevika: The best thing about 2022 was that we fully launched aastey, after planning, researching, and building it for more than a year. We have nurtured it to become an extension of our vision of creating an equal space for all women across the country. We and just like that now we are a community of more than 50k women all across the nation. Our team too is ever-growing. We are true to who we are serving – our customers and keeping their needs first.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with another d2c founder?

    Jeevika: As advice, I would just say that don’t stop yourself from looking for a bigger dream. I know it sounds like a cliche but women usually do sell themselves short, mostly because society doesn’t always appreciate us for wanting big. But trust me when I say this, everything falls into place when you believe in yourself. So I would say do not give up no matter what.

    We thank Jeevika Tyagi for spending her valuable time and sharing her learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Mayank Goyal, Founder and CEO, moneyHOP, Revolutionizes Cross-Border Banking With Innovative Neo-Banking Solutions

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    Neobanking, also known as “challenger banking,” is a type of digital banking solution that uses technology to offer banking services through a mobile app or online platform rather than through traditional brick-and-mortar branches.

    A full-stack cross-border neo-banking solution is a type of digital banking solution that offers a wide range of banking services and features to customers, including account opening, money transfers, bill payments, debit/credit card services, and other financial services. Additionally, this type of solution provides cross-border capabilities, allowing customers to make transactions and access banking services in multiple countries.

    The neobanking market in India is expected to grow at a significant rate in the coming years. The market for neo-banking in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 40% during the forecast period of 2021–2026, according to a report by Mordor Intelligence.

    For this Interview, we invited Mayank Goyal, Founder & CEO of moneyHop, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Neobanking industry.

    StartupTalky: Mayank, what does your company do? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Mayank: moneyHOP is a full-stack cross-border neo-banking solution that enables individuals to send and spend money conveniently and economically across the globe. The company provides a Multi-currency bank account and a Visa card via a mobile app through which users can seamlessly exchange currency on-app, in real-time at near zero markups, spend abroad in respective local currencies, and also do cross-border remittance entirely digitally via the app.

    moneyHOP aims to simplify cross-border banking and provide borderless banking solutions to global citizens. moneyHOP’s instantaneous, cost-effective, and user-intuitive contactless remittance service offers complete transparency and significantly reduces the total transaction costs of sending money abroad. All in all, moneyHOP’s state-of-the-art, tech-centric, customer-focused solutions are designed explicitly to build the next-generation digital banking platform that promises a never-seen-before cross-border banking experience.

    StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Mayank: USPs of the HOP App are:

    • One Multi-currency bank account for all international transactions.
    • Real-time currency exchange (GBP, Dollar, Euro)
    • Lightning speed Account set up
    • One app for all domestic and international transactions.
    • Debit+ FX cards are all available as One Global Card
    • Smart card controls
    • Best interest rates up to 6%
    • App-based digital remittances

    StartupTalky: How has the neobanking industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Mayank: The cross-border banking industry in India has undergone significant changes in recent years due to various regulatory and technological developments. Some of the key changes that have occurred include:

    Increased use of technology:

    The adoption of digital technologies has led to an increase in online banking and cross-border transactions, resulting in faster and more efficient services.

    Regulatory reforms:

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has implemented various reforms to improve the regulatory framework for cross-border banking, including the introduction of the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) and the External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) framework.

    Increased focus on compliance:

    The RBI has implemented stricter regulations to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, leading to increased compliance costs for banks.

    • Increased collaboration between banks and fintech to provide state of the art
      user experience for the end users at an economical price.
    • Increased transparency and digital experience for the end user.

    moneyHOP came into being at the cusp of the COVID-19 pandemic and hence
    everything that we have built is paperless, presence less, and cashless. It also happens to be one of the principles that we abide by and the vision that we want to propagate for cross-border banking in India. COVID-19 has acted as a catalyst in the digital adoption of cross-border banking including currency exchange, outbound remittance, etc because people wanted a product that they can use from the comfort of their homes and don’t want to expose themselves to the risk of catching the virus by visiting branches and filling in paperwork. We believe what demonetization did for the betterment of digital domestic banking, COVID-19 has done the same for the cross-border banking space.

    Mayank: There are a few things I do to be updated on the latest developments and trends in the net banking sector.

    Reading industry news and publications: Many trade publications and websites provide updates on the latest developments in the cross-border banking industry.

    Attending conferences and events: Conferences and events focused on fintech
    and neo-banking space provide valuable opportunities to learn about the latest
    trends and developments, as well as network with other professionals in the
    industry.

    Participating in professional organizations: Joining professional organizations, such as IAMAI or TIE can provide access to industry updates, educational resources, and networking opportunities.

    Upskilling: Continuing education courses and certifications to keep up with the latest technology and trends.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Mayank: Different business units within the organization have different KPIs to teach but overall we track month-on-month growth in transactions volume, total unique users acquired, repeat rate, cost of customer acquisition, profitability per channel, revenue growth, month-on-month fixed and variable costs, etc.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Mayank: One of the biggest challenges that moneyHOP faced last year is building our flagship product with the highly regulated nature of the financial services industry. In order to operate in this industry, one must navigate a complex web of regulations, including those related to licensing, data privacy, and financial inclusion. This can be a significant barrier to entry and can limit the ability of these startups to scale their businesses.

    To overcome this challenge moneyHOP took can a number of steps:

    • Partner with established financial institutions: In order to ensure credibility and avoid any regulatory hurdles we have partnered with established financial institutions like Visa and SBM bank. These partnerships provide the best of both worlds for the user: regulatory coverage of the bank and agility of the fintech.
    • Seek support from industry associations and accelerators: We have
      partnered with a number of fintech associations and accelerators such as IAMAI which provides us with guidance on regulatory issues and helps to connect startups with potential partners and investors
    • Invest in compliance and regulatory affairs: We have hired a team of legal professionals in order to ensure that the company and products meet regulatory requirements and avoid any potential legal and reputational risks.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Mayank: moneyHOP has seen a 30% month-on-month growth over the last year and a half. We were able to achieve this growth through the combination of offline and online sales channels. moneyHOP not only uses digital channels like Google ads and social media for awareness and conversion campaigns but it has also partnered with several foreign education and foreign travel ecosystem partners across pan India, through which we obtain a high level of conversions.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Mayank: There are a number of important tools that we use for our work are:

    • Customer relationship management (CRM) software: We use HubSpot as a CRM, to manage customer interactions and to collect data that can be used to track sales leads, customer inquiries, and customer service issues.
    • Project management software: We use Jira as a project management tool to, track, and collaborate on projects, assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor
      progress.
    • Accounting and financial management software: We use Zoho books to manage financial transactions, including invoicing, billing, and payroll. It can also be used to generate financial reports and analyze business performance.
    • Human resources (HR) software: We use RayzorpayXPayroll to manage
      attendance, employee data, and benefits, and also to track employee time off,
      performance, and training.
    • Marketing/Product automation software: We use a lot of automation tools in the marketing and product side like Hubspot, Botspace, Mixpanel, etc to automate marketing tasks like push notifications, email campaigns, social media posts, and lead generation.
    • Collaboration and communication tools: We use Slack and Gmail for
      collaboration and communication with team members and partners remotely

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world?

    Mayank: Following are the top 4 opportunities I see in the industry:

    Better Payment Rails: Fintech companies are leveraging faster payment
    mechanisms to offer seamless cross-border banking services. For instance, India
    and Singapore are working to link their payments system to enable low-cost
    digital transfers via UPI.

    With UPI, cross-border transactions can be completed quickly and securely, without the need for intermediaries such as banks or payment gateways. This can greatly reduce the costs and complexity of international payments, making it easier for individuals and businesses to conduct cross-border transactions. Additionally, UPI has the potential to facilitate cross-border trade and commerce, which can contribute to the growth of the Indian economy.

    Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT): Distributed ledger technology, also
    known as the blockchain, has the potential to revolutionize cross-border payments by providing a secure and transparent platform for financial transactions.

    By using a decentralized database, distributed ledger technology allows for the creation of a tamper-proof record of transactions that can be accessed by all parties involved.

    This eliminates the need for intermediaries thus facilitating the transfer of funds
    between countries, which can significantly reduce the cost and time required for
    cross-border payments.

    In addition, the use of smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code can further streamline the payment process.

    While there are still challenges to be addressed, such as scalability and regulatory compliance, the adoption of distributed ledger technology in cross-border payments has the potential to greatly improve the efficiency and security
    of global financial transactions.

    Emerging markets: As economies in emerging markets continue to grow, there is an opportunity for cross-border banks to expand their operations and tap into new markets. This includes providing financial services to individuals and businesses in these markets, as well as partnering with local banks to offer joint products and services.

    New products and services: The cross-border banking industry is constantly evolving, and there is an opportunity for banks to innovate and offer new products and services to meet the changing needs of their customers. This could include the development of new payment methods, investment products, or financial education and literacy programs.

    StartupTalky: What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Mayank: The level of financial literacy is directly correlated to the adoption of digital financial services. This is less dependent on states but rather on cities where the overall education level is higher.

    We have also observed that in cities where primary education is better, the adoption across the age spectrum is high since the younger generation help the older population migrate to digital solution.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Mayank: One key learning we have had in the last few years is that the key to building a successful business is having deep conviction in the vision and following it with perseverance and grit. The market conditions will change over the course of the business but it’s important to follow your vision supported by the data.

    We started this business in Jan 2020, not knowing that it could possibly be the worst time in the last century to start a cross-border business but we stuck to our conviction and have seen a big turnaround in our business.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Mayank: We want to offer a truly a global banking experience for consumers and businesses in emerging markets and to that end, we want to hire folks who believe in this vision and can help us make this vision a success.

    We are expanding our teams in London and Dubai to make sure we have global coverage for our global products.

    Lastly, we want to do more work around direct-to-consumer marketing in order to build brand awareness and become a household name for cross-border banking products.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship?

    Mayank: Starting a business can be a challenging but rewarding experience. Here are some tips that may be helpful for those who are considering entrepreneurship:

    1. Do thorough research and planning before launching your business
    2. Be willing to take risks and be persistent.
    3. Network and seek out mentors
    4. Stay up to date on industry trends and changes
    5. Find solutions to problems, not the other way around

    But most importantly don’t chase valuations. Build a sustainable and profitable business and money will follow. Be true to your vision.

    We thank Mayank Goyal for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Krishna Kumar, Founder and CEO, Learnbay, Providing Comprehensive Data Science, AI, and ML Education With Career Advancement Support

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    Career coaching and upskilling are professional support services that help individuals identify their strengths, skills, and interests and guide them in finding and pursuing meaningful career paths. The goal of career coaching is to help individuals achieve career satisfaction and success.

    The career coaching industry is a rapidly growing field that provides support to individuals seeking help with their career development and job search. The career coaching industry has evolved with the use of technology and has increased the accessibility of career coaching services while also making them more affordable for individuals seeking career support.

    According to a report by Grand View Research, the global EdTech market was valued at $252.7 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.8% from 2021 to 2028.

    For this Interview, we invited Krishna Kumar, Founder & CEO of Learnbay, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Ed-Tech industry.

    StartupTalky: What does your company do? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Krishna: Learnbay was founded to offer young aspirants and working professionals high-quality education. There is a common fallacy that someone without a technical background cannot work in the IT business, or, more accurately, cannot have a profitable career. Learnbay aids students in expanding a pleasant job, profitable pay, and constant professional advancement in the Information and Technology industry to overcome this unsatisfied mindset.

    Our team started the business in November 2015 with Mrs. Nisha Kumari, Mr. Abhishek Gupta, and me. The goal is to offer complete career coaching and assistance to professionals looking to make smart and successful career changes. LearnBay was founded to provide those who are already employed access to the in-demand skills they need to pursue expanding professions. Though conceptual knowledge is essential, practical skill and insight should supersede, we created Project Innovation Labs to meet this demand.

    At LearnBay, we assist candidates looking to enhance their skills through challenging industry-based live projects and capstones. Live interactive classes, facilitated by experienced MAANG experts, and peer-to-peer discussions provide students with a university-level learning experience in the comfort of their own homes. We are committed to providing an effective learning environment for professionals.

    StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of your product?

    Krishna: Learnbay has upgraded its workforce with experienced trainers and successful working professionals with the aid of Data Science, AI, and ML courses offering Data Science, a Full Stack Development Program, and a DSA & System Design Program, thereby putting a star on the company’s name.

    Learnbay provides industry-recognized certificates not only for course completion but also for project work and micro-skills through IBM to help individuals get the job. The live faculty with one-on-one discussion sessions and hybrid learning mode, where learners can learn via live online classes as well as can do the capstone project in offline mode is the major USP.

    We have such centers in multiple cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Delhi. At Learnbay, we have dedicated Career Counseling Coaches that help to reveal the best of data science career paths as per your educational and professional qualifications. Based on the current and targeted career stage, personal abilities, and interests, every aspirant gets a customized learning plan, modules, and assistance.

    StartupTalky: How has the ed-tech industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Krishna: The past 24 months have been crucial in the ed-tech field. Indian ed-tech companies prospered abroad, gaining significant momentum in both North America and South East Asia. This enabled them to generate more income and supply services that would have had limited demand at home. China banned for-profit tutoring services in 2021, which proved disastrous for Chinese EdTech enterprises.

    India gained as an alternative emerging market to invest in substantial quantities of global capital that had previously flowed into Chinese Edtech. While investment in China’s EdTech sector fell by 75% from 2020 to 2021, and funding in India’s EdTech market surged by 60% during the same period. Learnbay is passionate about delivering enough skills to fuel India’s growth and is committed to collaborating with the ecosystem to provide a strong training system for forthcoming skills required for successful enterprises. Learnbay seeks to contribute to India’s “Skills India” mission by providing students with opportunities to create meaningful jobs through interactions.

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    Krishna: The past 2 years have caused us to reconsider our strategy. Based on our findings, we divided the strategy into three axes: age group serviced, core work to be done, and paying customer persona. Businesses that are not directly involved in teaching but serve the education industry as a whole have been identified as catalysts.

    Instead of focusing on the revenue model (B2B versus B2C), we examine the underlying consumer motivations that influence how often and when they will pay, how they will identify the platform, and how they will engage with the product. We began with Python training seven years ago and subsequently discovered the huge need for data science and AI. Rather than asking the individuals to upskill in completely different professional courses, we provide professional training that typically supports you in growing the skills in your prior working domain to provide career progress and job security. Based on the changing nature of the employment market, we have now broadened our training to include full-stack software, web, and system design.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance? What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Krishna: The main challenge was to help several individuals convert their careers from service-based technical job profiles to product-based tech job profiles with significant pay raises. Learnbay accomplished a solid job in system design training from 2015 to 2017.

    However, there were a plethora of courses thriving in a related subject in the interim. Few of them offered certificates for the workplace or even for foreign countries. It was difficult for us to compete with them. Even though we offered live learning-supported end-to-end training, applicants were still more drawn to the industrial certification. Instead of focusing on the certification label, we started highlighting the project-based learning and hands-on learning components of our courses. IBM offered to engage with us for certification as a result of the hard effort. Later, at the start of 2020, we faced the most difficult task. We were quite concerned about the shifting nature of the data science employment market.

    But rapidly figured it out and introduced data science and AI courses with domain specialization. The present area of data science is suffering from a lack of domain-expertise experts. We now employ more than 30 trainers and subject matter experts from various MAANG companies and are much more equipped to provide our applicants with flexible, in-depth, and customized training. To track the company’s overall growth and success, Learnbay aims to touch 4x growth in 2023 by crossing a significant 100 cr revenue.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Krishna: An innovative digital marketing campaign is known as “Peanut campaign: Earning in Peanuts” has assisted us in achieving a robust online presence. Organic SEO is the most suggested, efficient, and cost-effective traffic-generating method for our official EdTech website. Keyword research to guarantee that related keywords linked to our course contents have consistently positioned us on the top. Our long-format content even draws viewers’ attention to a certain topic and assists readers in finding solutions to all queries.

    UX, or user experience, is another key component of our marketing approach. To assist people in easily locating what they are searching for rather than relying on guessing, we maintain intuitive and useful navigation across the website. Learnbay has placed a lot of emphasis on social media, which is essential for improving audience engagement and establishing a unified brand experience across all touchpoints. The main growth hack of Learnbay is to help working people enhance their existing careers. We’ve already assisted over 10,000 professionals and intend to increase it to at least 30K in the upcoming six months. Quality content that’s well-researched and offers value for the business made a huge difference.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Krishna: We use digital technology to help students study more effectively, enhance engagement, and improve achievement. It assists to streamline and customize lesson planning as well as tracking students’ development.

    Learnbay currently uses digital solutions such as education CRM, chatbots and live chat, application form manager, and so on. We are continually expanding our product and service offerings to guarantee that our students have everything they need to develop and bloom their technical abilities.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Krishna: After China and the USA, India has risen to become one of the top three nations in the world for receiving venture capital funding in the Edtech industry. The post-K-12 market is now experiencing considerable growth in the Edtechindustry, which was formerly dominated by the K-12 segment. The K–12, higher education, test preparation, and upskilling categories are anticipated to be the main drivers of the Edtech industry’s growth in India.

    However, for the industry to sustain steady development, stakeholders must improve the overall user experience. Stakeholders must address the demand for reasonably priced Edtech solutions to increase Edtech adoption. Rural India is slowly but steadily embracing Edtech platforms, creating new opportunities. Segments including online tuition and competitive test preparation might experience rapid development, especially in Tier 3/4 cities.

    Due to the price element, students from all socioeconomic backgrounds and social classes could receive a high-quality education that includes engaging visuals and expert teachers. Collaboration with governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions has a significant positive impact on the adoption of EdTech within different states. Through programs like the SWAYAM program and DIKSHA, the Government of India is doing all in its power to advance online learning throughout the nation.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your plans and strategies?

    Krishna: When we entered the market, our primary concern was to give students well-designed course elements so they could have successful careers. We gradually discovered that whereas experienced professionals (mostly non-techies) struggle a lot to advance in their careers and even maintain them, freshers get employment quite quickly.

    In 2017, when there was a tonne of websites offering a variety of online industry-based certificates, we were at the height of our popularity for python classes, but there were some substantial obstacles to overcome.

    The learner’s trust was our major point of concern. At first, we just paid attention to the caliber of the teachers, but subsequently, we learned that the highly efficient content management system and placement opportunities are also crucial. We implemented projects like project innovation labs, live learning, and domain specialization as a result of this insight (no need to change domain, just upgrade yourself.) For the next six months, we will strive to assist our students in pushing beyond the status quo of their current careers to drive tremendous advancement. At Learnbay, we are a firm believer in providing sufficient skills opportunities to fuel India’s employment growth.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Krishna: To retain the same effectiveness as offline classes for working professionals, we have greatly increased the number of online courses and introduced instructed-led live sessions. When we introduced our domain-specific
    data science course, we made a big change to maintain consistency and quality standards.

    We have introduced a few new courses on full-stack development, DSA, and data science as part of our ongoing development. These courses feature successful industrial-based projects and internationally famous IBM certifications. We will give more emphasis on assessing and upgrading the course modules in response to organizational sector needs by enhancing the industry-based interview calls and placements. To guarantee the availability of qualified personnel in the IT industry, Learnbay will offer cutting-edge tech upskilling and reskilling programs, such as
    the Full Stack Software Development program. We plan to increase our team base to 300 people and grow 4x in terms of revenue.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship?

    Krishna: Today’s technological market is expanding rapidly, and with the current situation, every enterprise should prioritize quality over quantity. Getting ahead in a business or leading an organization with high-quality products will undoubtedly help an entrepreneur achieve enormous success. Develop and advance your product from the customer’s viewpoint instead of the profit-related viewpoint. The revenue growth might pick up a bit, but it will become highly sustainable. Nowadays, companies are struggling to sustain themselves. So this becomes the most important factor for any entrepreneur.

    We thank Krishna Kumar for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, CEO and Co-founder, Gizmore, Attributes Brand Success to Technology, Quality, and Affordability

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    Smart accessories are devices or products that are designed to enhance the functionality of other devices, such as smartphones or smart home systems. Examples of smart accessories include smart watches, fitness trackers, smart home cameras, and smart speakers. These accessories typically connect to the main device through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and can be controlled through a mobile app or voice commands. They often have built-in sensors and can collect and transmit data, allowing users to track their activity, monitor their homes, or control other devices in their homes.

    The smart accessories market has been growing rapidly in recent years due to the increasing popularity of connected devices and the Internet of Things (IoT). The industry is expected to continue growing at a significant pace in the coming years.

    According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the smart accessories market is projected to grow from USD 22.2 billion in 2020 to USD 38.8 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period.

    For this Interview, we invited Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, CEO and Co-founder, Gizmore, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Consumer Electronics industry.

    StartupTalky: Sanjay, what products does your company sell? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Sanjay: We are in the business of smart accessories and home audio products.
    Operating in the hearable, wearable, and speakers categories, we started with the
    the vision of creating a trustworthy brand in the market that focuses on bringing the latest technology at an affordable price to every city in India.

    StartupTalky: What other products/features have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Sanjay: We have launched a complete range of smartwatches that are Made in India and come with the latest features like Bluetooth calls, connectivity, and tracking. The latest Gizmore Amoled range of smartwatches – the Glow series – has been able to deliver on customer expectations and has achieved a positive response from the market. Our other innovative products, like neckbands with touch control, hall switch, and incoming call alert, have strongly impacted the segment. We have also launched a unified app for all our smartwatches and IoT devices in partnership with AI-based health tracking solution Tres Care.

    StartupTalky: How has the consumer electronics industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Sanjay: The industry’s most significant change has been that consumers expect the latest features at an affordable price. As manufacturers like Gizmore have been able to deliver on customer expectations, it has made the wearable category one of the most significant and fast-moving categories.

    There has been a dramatic shift towards online platforms. As part of our strategy,
    we have launched our D2C website recently. In addition, we are working closely with partners like Flipkart and other e-commerce players to build our online presence. Our primary focus is smartwatches, and we have ensured that our products are available across major channels.

    Sanjay: We work closely with our distribution partners and category buyers to understand the requirement of the market and customer expectations. This approach helps us to understand what the consumer is expecting. The latest trend in smartwatches is the Amoled display. It is a type of OLED display that contains thin strips of thin-film transistors (TFT) behind each pixel. As it provides a superior user experience, we have been able to offer an AMOLED display in Gizmore products to meet customer expectations.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track for company growth and performance?

    Sanjay: We track the top-line sales growth and net margin retention to check the growth and performance of the company.

    StartupTalky: What were your company’s most significant challenges in the past year, and how did you overcome them?

    Sanjay: The most significant challenge for our business was the rising dollar cost and the difficulty in imports from China. We handled both these challenges by shifting our manufacturing to India and focusing on introducing Made in India products.

    StartupTalky: Repeat purchase is one of the essential parameters on which most e-commerce brands are betting. How do you keep your customer engaged in stopping churn?

    Sanjay: Our consistent focus on technology, quality, and affordable price points has ensured success for the brand. At the same time, we continue to add the latest features to our products. This approach has helped us build a loyal customer base that expects nothing but the best from us.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Sanjay: We signed Dinesh Karthik as the brand ambassador for Gizmore. It has helped us to gain consumers’ trust and establish ourselves as a stable brand in the market. At the same time, we focused on expanding our online presence with a D2C website, partnership with Flipkart and other popular e-commerce brands and dedicated social media campaigns, and building an engaged audience on leading social platforms like Instagram.

    StartupTalky: What important tools and software do you use to run your business smoothly?

    Sanjay: We rely on our in-house CRM for customer service needs. We use BUSY for our accounting and billing requirements. These are some of the tools that help us run our business smoothly.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Sanjay: Smart accessories is an ever-evolving industry. As new technology comes in, it can generate its own demand in the market. It will continue in the future as well. The market will increasingly move towards branded products and the average selling price for the products in the categories we operate in will continue to increase.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year, and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Sanjay: Our lesson in the past year has been to focus on the right product mix and offer adequate choices for the customers. We will continue to innovate.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, SKUS, and team base in the future?

    Sanjay: We plan to enhance our digital presence and, at the same time, build our offline presence. It will help to increase our customer base and SKUs in the market.

    StartupTalky: With so much hype around d2c brands spending on ads, What will be your growth strategy, organic or inorganic? How to plan to work around SEO and content marketing?

    Sanjay: For any D2C brand to be successful, the initial growth comes from an inorganic push with ad spending. Once the brand is established, it is time to sustain the momentum and go for organic marketing. We plan to focus on content marketing and SEO heavily in the near future.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with another D2C founder?

    Sanjay: It is crucial to have patience, and numbers will follow gradually.

    We thank Sanjay Kumar Kalirona for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • People are reading the labels, the fine print, now more than ever- BlushBee Founders

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    The makeup industry refers to the production, distribution, and sales of cosmetic products for personal grooming and enhancement of physical appearance. It includes a wide range of products such as foundations, concealers, powders, lipsticks, mascaras, eye shadows, blushes, and many others.

    The online makeup industry in India has seen significant growth in recent years, with increasing numbers of consumers turning to e-commerce platforms to purchase cosmetics. The rise of social media, influencer marketing, and the convenience of online shopping have all contributed to this growth. In addition, the increasing purchasing power of Indian consumers, as well as a greater awareness of and interest in personal grooming, has also played a role.

    The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the makeup industry in India is expected to be around 15-20% from 2021 to 2026. This growth can be attributed to factors such as increasing disposable incomes, rising awareness of personal grooming and beauty, and the growing popularity of e-commerce.

    For this Interview, we invited Shobana and Navaneet, Founders of BlushBee, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the industry.

    StartupTalky: Shobana & Navaneet, what products does Blushbee sells? What was the motivation/ vision with which you started?

    Shobana: There were a lot of players in the skincare space, but negligible options in the cosmetics line when it came to conscious ingredients. We wanted to fill this void and provide something that’s not easily available. We started by creating new organic alternatives and formulations.

    Our first product was lipstick. It said that women on average consume nearly 2 kg of lipstick in their lifetime. So, we wanted to build an all-edible but chic formulation. We achieved that. Following this, we started to build products focusing on daily essentials.

    StartupTalky: What new products have you added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Navaneet: We began the year with just three products and have since expanded to 10 categories with 64 unique SKUs. We started from scratch this year and have seen massive organic growth in our customer base.

    Our edge is that we have a consumer-first attitude. I was first a consumer and I wanted something like BlushBee. So, we as a brand have a consumer lens. BlushBee as a cosmetics line is a product of careful decisions in choosing what we want and in steering clear of what we didn’t want for ourselves as cosmetics consumers.

    The other advantage is that we are a beauty brand first, but with the huge advantage of being clean and green. This is an important factor in the value proposition. In addition to this is the affordable pricing. This was to align with our aim to make it effortless for people to switch from chemical-based to organic cosmetics.

    StartupTalky: How has the cosmetics industry changed in recent years and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Shobana: Going green. Going organic.

    It is a viscerally growing trend. People are more conscious about what they put into and on themselves. They are reading the labels, the fine print, now more than ever. So brands have a very important pivot—move into clean, green beauty. I think it’s already happening with the demand. BlushBees’ growth is a testament to that.

    Navaneet: More conversations with fellow industry mates and lots of data analysis keep us in pace with the industry.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Navaneet: We use key data from our customers in terms of feedback, to keep improvising and growing, and also various sale-level pivots help us grow.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Navaneet: The value of inclusion cannot be taken for granted. Collaborations in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Other Technologies Consumers place a premium on individualized service and Beauty subscriptions.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with another d2c founder?

    Navaneet: Be conscious. Be aware. Your consumers are going to be, most solutions are close to where you are: so go local, go indigenous. People expect to interact with conscious products so be the ones. On top of everything, add value.

    We thank Shobana and Navaneet for spending their valuable time and sharing their learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Mugdha Pradhan, Founder and CEO, iThrive, Pioneers a Functional Nutrition Approach to Tackle Chronic Health Issues

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    The nutritional supplements industry was valued at USD 151.9 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.9% between 2022 and 2030.  The driving factor for the growth of this industry is the increasing awareness towards personal health and wellbeing.  

    Many businesses within the industry are centered around promoting healthy living through functional nutrition and dietary supplements.  

    For this Interview, we invited Mugdha Pradhan, founder & CEO, iThrive, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Health and Wellness industry.

    StartupTalky: Mugdha, what service does your company provide? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Mugdha: We are a healthcare company based on the principles of functional nutrition and we provide multiple services:

    Health and nutrition consultation and therapy: We provide a one-time consultation where we analyze the individual’s blood tests and do a root cause analysis. Our primary product, the ALIVE program is a 3-month health transformation program where the client is guided full-time by a nutritionist and health coach.

    Functional Nutrition course: Our education vertical, iThrive Academy offers India’s only functional nutrition course. It is a 4-month course.

    Supplements: Our supplements line, iThrive Essentials consists of supplements
    formulated in-house by our R&D team.

    iThrive’s vision- “We create healthier, happier, lifestyle-disease-free communities across the world every single day” guides all our work.

    StartupTalky: What new services have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your service?

    Mugdha: Our supplements line, iThrive Essentials, recently completed one year this November. iThrive supplements are formulated in-house by our R&D team and are at par with the top international brands but at an affordable price suitable for the Indian market. iThrive Evolve, our sports nutrition program was rolled out very recently. This is targeted at athletes, looking to utilize the power of functional nutrition and cutting-edge modern medical science to maximize their performance.

    StartupTalky: How has the health and wellness industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Mugdha: Conventional medicine is dreadfully inept at curing people of chronic lifestyle diseases, instead just focusing on suppressing the symptoms with drugs. More and more people are starting to realize this and as a result, good evidence-based alternative medicine practices such as functional nutrition and integrative medicine that focus on holistic health are getting more and more popular. The alternative health and wellness industry is estimated to be 4.2 Trillion USD.

    iThrive is India’s leading functional nutrition platform. We ourselves are the change that the industry is witnessing. Functional medicine has often been described as the future of medicine.

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    Mugdha: We have an extensive R&D department that updates our treatment protocols and course curriculum every single week. The team keeps itself informed through various resources like published papers and podcasts and articles put out by leading functional medicine practitioners globally.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Mugdha: We keep track of our clinical data thoroughly including the number of clients enrolled, the number of successfully healed, the number of successful reversals of specific medical conditions, etc.

    We also track our revenue and finances intricately. The performance of individual employees and teams in the organization is tracked via key performance indicators(KPIs) that are determined based on the role.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Mugdha: Our company has scaled up quite significantly in the past year, especially in terms of our workforce. A lot of things that were previously done very informally could not be continued in the same way. We introduced a proper hierarchical structure in the organization with defined teams. Additionally, all of our data including client data and other internal company data has been properly organized with additional security measures added.

    All of this has optimized our workflow and increased efficiency. It also sets us to scale up further more easily.

    StartupTalky: Good service, is something everyone is talking about in the service industry. How do you ensure that your clients are happy?

    Mugdha: Client satisfaction is our topmost priority. We have separate roles in the organization to specifically, focus on client services. When clients enroll for our program they are assigned both a nutritionist and a health coach who is available for support round the clock both through calling and via text.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Mugdha: The biggest strategy we use is to create brand awareness. iThrive is a pioneer of Functional Nutrition in India. The term Functional Nutrition in itself is a novel concept that has only recently reached India but it’s a method we have been following for a long time.

    In order to market this we have been using social media to create awareness. We have three main verticals we market in a similar manner by posting reels, posts, and advertisements. We also conduct webinars monthly to educate people and build trust among our audience.

    The recent new marketing strategy we used was to create a campaign around Diwali. It was one of our biggest projects. We had a 60-second advertisement around it, social media promotions, PR, and more. The campaign gained great traction. And it paid off really well. We gained a lot of recognition.

    StartupTalky: Foreign clients- this is what most of the service-based companies are looking for. What has been your experience?

    Mugdha: We have had our fair share of foreign clients. Our vision is to create healthier, happier, lifestyle-disease-free communities across the world every single day. So like many service brands we do target foreign audiences but we do not focus on them majorly.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Mugdha: We use many different tools to make our work easier. One such tool is Height, a project management tool that we use to keep track of all ongoing projects across all three verticals and the myriad of platforms we market on. Each department like the design team, the content team, the production team, etc has its own set of tools, specific to its niche.

    Our design team uses Figma to make everything right from social media posts to websites. Also, our nutrition team uses Trello to consolidate clients’ documentation. And of course, we use many features that google provides like Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Meet, etc.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in the health and wellness industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen between India and the world?

    Mugdha: Functional Nutrition, though a novel concept has been gaining popularity as it fills a major gap- evidence-based practices in alternative healthcare. And as a pioneer, we see a graph that increases exponentially. Especially with the next round of funding just around the corner, we have projected iThrive to become a household name.

    Just in India, we have projected revenue of $14 M in the next 5 years. Globally, we
    have clients from UAE, the USA, Australia, and Pakistan.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Mugdha: Since last year our team has grown 3x. What the initial team learned was that manifesting does work. We understood how important was it to be true to our morals and culture. It was very important that how much ever big our team grows, we need to keep our culture intact.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, service offering, and team base in the future?

    Mugdha: We are working towards expanding our customer base globally. Our current global client base is mostly referral clients but we are looking forward to marketing iThrive and its subsidiaries across the globe. Especially Australia, UAE, and USA.

    As far as our services go, we have three verticals, iThrive ALIVE, our parent company that focuses on the reversal and prevention of chronic lifestyle diseases, iThrive Academy, our teaching platform, and iThrive Essentials, our supplements vertical.

    iThrive ALIVE itself has different programs that the client can choose from as per their requirements. Other than these, we just recently rolled out our sports nutrition vertical, iThrive Evolve.

    In the last year, we have increased our team from 20 employees to almost 60
    employees and are expecting to hire more. With the company growing exponentially the need for more resources has increased.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with another Service company founder?

    Mugdha: Be true to your vision and surround yourself with people who can help you achieve it. You do not have to do everything by yourself. Hire experts who can help you in areas you are not proficient in. And always look for people, especially your core members, who challenge you. Nothing drives you to become better than someone who can challenge you.

    We thank Mugdha Pradhan for spending her valuable time and sharing her learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.