Tag: mumbai startups

  • HiGrocer – Catering to the Needs of Your Neighbourhood Grocers

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.

    HiGrocer India offers wide range of Comfort Food Products. HiGrocer enable every retailer to compete with organized giants and e-commerce, by their Last Minute SKU range of Quality Products Chained by Technology.

    HiGrocer has a mission to partner with millions of retailers (by becoming their Trusted Brand and Supply chain partner) making it the biggest and quickest go-to-market channel for products and services. They are focussing on solutions for the grocery online end-to-end management system.

    HiGrocer – Company Highlights

    Startup Name HiGrocer India
    Headquarter Mumbai, India
    Sector Consumer Product Company
    Founders Dharit Parikh & Aniket Sharma
    Founded 2019
    Parent Organization HiGrocer India LLP
    Website higrocer.com
    Contact Email info@higrocer.com

    HiGrocer – Target Market
    How was HiGrocer Started?
    HiGrocer – Product/Services
    Founders of HiGrocer and team
    HiGrocer – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    HiGrocer – Business Model and Revenue Model
    HiGrocer – Startup Launch
    HiGrocer – User Acquisition and Growth
    HiGrocer – Startup Challenges
    HiGrocer – Future Plans
    HiGrocer – Funding and Investors

    HiGrocer – Target Market

    In India, the rate of urbanization has increased to a considerable level since the 2009 census, as per the United Nations (UN) World Urbanization Prospects 2018 report. There has been a noteworthy change in the eating habit in Metropolitan Cities. Due to the fast-paced life in urban cities, about 79% of the urban people prefer to have ready-to-eat food in their regular meal.

    The reasons behind the increase in the use of comfort food in urban cities are the steep rise in income, the standard of living and convenience. Mostly, in a small family where both husband and wife are working, they prefer having ready-to-eat food for their children. It has become the most favorite and convenient part of their meal.

    The Indian middle class is growing and so is their buying capacity and demands. They love to try on new products that come in the market. They prefer premium products; explore comfort food in the ready-to-make mobile SKU and easy-to-eat category.

    Rural India provides a great opportunity for the comfort food and beverages industry. As almost 65% of the total Indian population lives in the rural region. They are attracted to food products of urban cities. The buying capacity of rural households has also increased in recent years due to benefits from investment in infrastructure and rising wages.

    How was HiGrocer Started?

    It was somewhere in mid 2018 when we brainstormed of creating our own Consumer Product Company. Once the calling was clear we left our respective erstwhile FMCG Leadership roles to commenced with our calling in the Business.

    We did dipstick understanding on the sub industry we would like to cater in FMCG with a criteria of continual offtake, counters with higher ticket and demand oriented category; Food which is ever evolving and innovating was an obvious choice of offering.

    Our Product Categorization is an outcome of this focused Customer Segmentation, Secondary being the Unorganized retailers which has become Last minute consumer Shopping Hub because of organised players amidst our Primary Audience which being the Urban consumers aged between 16 to 40 yrs their Fast changing urban lifestyle resulted into the growing demand of Comfort Foods.

    Our Agenda is going National, hence at planning stage itself we brainstormed the possible scale of Operations and Solution towards it. Thinking about the same we developed Integration of SaaS Technology in our business enables market access concept whereby a product can be directly delivered to the retailer’s shop from the manufacturer’s factory through our SalesMax & Delhi mechanisms without having to go through the multiple layers of marketing, thereby providing an efficient & effective Supply Chain system.

    Around mid 2019 we entered One market with our first RTE Product – Idli dosa batter ‘Ayyappa’, since then we have been growing in terms of Product offering and Shelfing Counters.  

    Thereby, Our Go To Market Business Model brings Scalability, Flexibility, Empowers Retailers & Building Brands.

    HiGrocer – Product/Services

    Helping Unorganized Retailers in FMCG with Accessibility, Affordability and Assistance in more Earning Power.

    HiGrocer India as marketer offers wide ranges of Comfort Food Products. As our name suggests we are catering to neighbourhood grocers to answer consumers’ thirst for premium quality and Last Minute SKU Products, as the Urban Indians aged 16 to 40 years are part of fast changing urban lifestyle constitutes the major segment of this market. They spend over 40 percent of their income on food, are ready to experiment, and are willing to pay a premium for better quality, variety, and taste. We under the Name of HiGrocer India cater to these Indians, with our Last Minute Range of Products and its SKU.

    Currently we have 10 Products across 3 categories and 3 Brands, we pivoted with our Idli Dosa Batter ‘Ayyappa’ and gained momentum for other range of products across categories i.e Frozen Snacks and Staples.

    We commenced with Batter as it is a daily need product which gives us accessibility with retailers thereby build relation which makes shelfing of our other products easy and faster.

    Founders of HiGrocer and team

    Dharit Parikh & Aniket Sharma, both are qualified and respect each other domain experts of being an IIM graduate with 15 years of work-ex expert in Sales & Marking & other being CA with 9 years in work experience, managing Finance and Products, respectively. We have a team of 20+ and with each Delivery Centre Opening we will add 10 more in each. Even in Field staff we seek entrepreneurship skills, thereby the culture at HiGrocer is competitive, enabler and proactive.

    Our Business Model is a basket Approach hence Commanding Shelf at the Counters we are present especially at the Kirana Stores. Therefore, We wanted a name which Resonates Trust with Casual atmosphere, thereby ‘Hi’ build friendliness in the conversation and because we in the Consumer product Food business ‘Grocer’ stands for ‘Grocery’ which resonates Trust.

    Secondly, We are Consistent, Respects Boundaries, Show Gratitude and Don’t compromise in maintaining relations are the characteristics we would like to be known for.

    Hence, A friendly neighborhood Grocer is ‘HiGrocer’ as a name builds, under the affirmation of Quality Assurance and at Best Price, which makes out Tagline Quality Bhi, Daam Bhi.

    On our Logo thereby the word has cautiously been written in 2 different fonts and Red is the color of passion, strength, sensitivity, etc. also gets easily identified in the clutter.

    HiGrocer – Business Model and Revenue Model

    We are in the Consumer Product Business, building consumer Brands is what we endeavour for long run, the path to that is the journey we are crafting with our Business Operations

    We have our own plant for one of our category of products and for the rest we do Contract Manufacturing. As we are a firm believr of Basket Approach with a Concept of Shared resource in FMCG to create the most advanced Sales and Distribution model which gives maximum retail coverage which is Marketed by HiGrocer

    We do the Retail tie-ups and ensure product placement, our tie-ups with retailers are made with a committed shelf space or gondola space named “HiGrocer”, and we have a dedicated planogram for the shelf and Trade commission bundled in each every sales made.

    Our Partnered Products are warehoused in vicinity directly from the manufacturers factory and delivered to the retailer shop tethered by our Technology Platform of SalesMax & DelHi mechanism without having to go through the multiple layers of Marketing, thereby providing an efficient & effective Supply Chain system.

    HiGrocer – Startup Launch

    Around mid 2019 we entered One market with our first RTE Product – Idli dosa batter ‘Ayyappa’, we categorically chose this as an entry product as it gives us leverage of providing Regular service and build Relation with retailers being a new entry this was very important for us.

    Today, we are serving almost 2000 Retailers in a single market. We have 10 Products to offer across 2 Categories and 3 Brands (Idli Dosa Batter, Frozen Foods and Staples). Our Go To Market Business Model brings Scalability | Flexibility | Empowering Retailers | Building Brands.

    HiGrocer – User Acquisition and Growth

    As HiGrocer, We are providing Shelf of Hi Quality Premium products with On the GO SKU range, which enhances Customer Needs & Retailers Greed. Our tie-ups with retailers are made with a committed shelf space or gondola space named “HiGrocer – Quality Bhi, Dam Bhi”, and we have a dedicated planogram for the shelf. Idea is to build HiGrocer as a Trusted brand amidst Consumers as we will market all products as ‘Products from HiGrocer’, which Promises Quality and Price. We have and will always have a Basket Approach in building a dedicated HiGrocer Shelf at the Neighborhood Stores. All at the palm reach as we are chained with Technology, which will enable us to keep our operation cost at marginal and enhance off-takes.

    So By the end of Half a Decade existence as per our plans we will have a bank of more then 50 SKU’s across 6 Categories trailing each with a minimum existence of 3 years. We, at the end of 60 months would have our market penetration across 25 cities mix of Metros, Tier 1 and Semi Urban spread over 50k retailers.

    HiGrocer – Startup Challenges

    We are living in a Demand Centric world, which makes our Future with Opportunity; India is the world’s fifth- largest consumer economy by 2025, up from the current 12th position.

    Secondly we are Acing Products and Brand builder in an organized way catering via unorganized market, support to them will generate Push and our Media Marketing will generate SOV and Demand.

    Our Challenges are with the Competition and we have a plan for that, we have identified our competition below in 2 parts:

    Branded Consumer Products

    This is a Direct Competition. They do Contract Manufacturing of their Products and retail it across Shops, with traditional way of Distribution thereby offering minimum margin to retailers and shelving because of Advertising Demand. At HiGrocer, We have multiple advantages in our Trade We Work on Delivery Centre Model (from manufacturer to our warehouse directly), which gives miss to traditional channels of Distribution, and our Ready stock Delivery to retailers ensures regular Service and Product Shelving. Thereby, we offer almost 2- 3 times of the current market margins, with similar high quality Product, as we miss traditional distribution

    Non-branded Consumer Products

    This is a Indirect Competition. They Supply Retailers in loose form, which is either/or, repacked under retailers brand or sold as it is.  We work on Delivery Centre Model, which gives miss, to traditional channels of Distribution. Our Ready stock Delivery to retailers ensures regular Service and Product Shelving likewise to our non- branded product suppliers.

    Margin: We offer similar margins, with high quality Product bundled with Brand Assurance, which is lacking by non-branded suppliers.

    HiGrocer – Future Plans

    We are currently retailing in approx. 2000 stores with 10 Products, 3 Brands, 2 Categories, By the end of Half a Decade existence as per our plans we will have a bank of more then 80 SKU’s across 6 Categories trailing each with a minimum existence of 3 years. We, at the end of 60 months would have our market penetration across 15 cities mix of Metros, Tier1 and Semi Urban spread over 50k retailers.

    Also, by the Decade of existence apart from our respective Brands, HiGrocer would also be a Trusted brand name as all our products are marketed as Products From Higrocer. Which would unfold the potential of future Business integrations and Cross Selling’s.

    HiGrocer – Funding and Investors

    We are Bootstrapped company and have decent runway with us, though we are in talking terms with few VC’s who shown Faith and Interest in HiGrocer, we will come back to you on this space soon.

  • STEPapp – Startup Which Gamifies School Education

    Education is one of the important things for people living in this world. As one important area, we can utilize education in many fields of operation and in our day to day life. Edtech startups in India are changing the scene of education in India. They are making it interesting to learn new things. It ultimately help the nation because we know that children are the future of our country.

    India suffers from skewed pupil-to-teacher ratio, which is rising and it compromises a complete learning experience for students in schools. And hence, these technology-driven learning apps are using gaming elements to help boost the learning process for students and sharpen their basics in various subjects. One such company is EduIsFun providing the product STEPapp. Read this article to know more about STEPapp.

    STEPapp – Company Highlights

    Startup Name EduIsFun
    Headquarter Mumbai
    Sector Education Technology (EdTech)
    Founder Praveen Tyagi
    Founded 2015
    Parent Organization Eduisfun Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
    Website stepapp.ai
    Contact support@stepapp.ai

    Stepapp – Vision and Mission
    Stepapp – Target Market
    How was Stepapp Started?
    Stepapp – Product/Services
    Founders of Stepapp and team
    Stepapp – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    Stepapp – Business Model and Revenue Model
    Stepapp – Startup Launch
    Stepapp – User Acquisition and Growth
    Stepapp – Startup Challenges
    Stepapp – Future Plans
    Stepapp – Funding and Investors
    Stepapp – Advisors and Mentors
    Stepapp – Recognitions and Achievements

    You can also have a look at the top Edtech startups in India for some inspiration.

    Stepapp – Vision and Mission

    STEPapp believe in primarily providing a level playing field in education. The idea is to bolster four key parameters that make education effective and complete. These key parameters are AQEA: Accessibility, Quality, Enjoyability, and Affordability.

    They aim to provide universal access to quality education for every child using technology and gamification. The company’s mission is to create a bank of meritorious children who will be transformed into national assets.

    Stepapp – Target Market

    Stepapp is from the Ed-tech industry. Their target group is school going students and the total market size (as per MHRD statistics) is 255 million students currently. And there will be significant growth in this industry due to two reasons.

    Firstly, India has the youngest population in the world and it will continue to be so at least until 2030 (as per UNESCO). By 2022 the number of school going students will be 300 million. Secondly, the current crisis has strongly underlined the urgent need for education to go digital and technology-enabled.

    How was Stepapp Started?

    After 22+ years of teaching, grooming, guiding, and mentoring some of the finest minds of this country through PACE IIT & Medical, there was already an established niche for them. They know Building a technology solution in education is a new ball game altogether. They are trying to solve the two major issues that prevail in our country:

    1. Educational Inequalities in India
    2. Low Technology Adoption in India

    Both of these issues individually create a divide between the latent potential existing in our country, especially in the villages and towns, and the culmination and representation of that talent on a global scale.

    The startup’s main idea was to bridge this gap between rural and urban educational opportunities and provide a level playing field for students of all classes. Secondly, as the world is moving fast in terms of technology, they wanted to provide students with the latest educational technologies for them to stand stronger and smarter.


    Also read: How Byju’s is Making Millions of Students Fall in Love With Learning


    Stepapp – Product/Services

    STEPapp is a gamified, personalized, interactive and adaptive learning app that makes learning Math & Science fun and interesting for school students. STEPapp offers the students of grades 1st to 12th a great opportunity, to experience a virtual gamified learn from home solution that enables the students to learn and play at the same time. This gives the students a conceptual clarity while making the studies interesting too.

    STEPapp is an innovative way to learn concepts while ensuring that all the stakeholders (parents, principals, teachers, and students) are aware of the learning outcomes at all times.

    Following are some of the features of STEPapp:

    • Gamified Format: The gamified format of STEPapp helps the students learn the topics in an interesting way thus keeping them engaged.
    • The syllabus is broken down into small conceptual quanta: STEPapp makes learning seamless by replacing long lectures into small conceptual quanta.
    • Simplified testing methodology and measurable learning outcomes: STEPapp allows the students to measure their learning outcomes in a simplified manner. The outcomes are measured on the basis of speed, accuracy, and the number of attempts.
    • Self-paced learning: Students can control their learning pace by revising the concepts and relearning the topics.
    • Content created by 400+ IITians and Doctors: For better learning outcomes, the syllabus of STEPapp is designed and curated by the expertise of 400+ IITians and doctors, simplified in gamified format.
    • Rewards and recognition: Students get motivated to learn and study when they are rewarded and recognized.

    Founder of Stepapp and team

    Praveen Tyagi is the founder and CEO of STEPapp. Sandeep Singhal is Chief Business Officer and a Physics Mentor and Gaurav Goyal is the Chief Technology Officer at STEPapp.

    Praveen Tyagi is founder and CEO of Stepapp.
    Praveen Tyagi

    STEPapp is created with a team of 400+ IITians and Doctors with over 5 years of extensive research. The concepts and content are generated and created by the extensive research of these 400+ IITians and Doctors, who have combined their knowledge and intelligence for creating such content that is easily understood by the children without any hindrances.

    Apart from these, they have other teams that are constantly aiming to provide a level playing field for students and help the company in fulfilling its mission and vision.

    STEPapp or Student Talent Enhancement Program is a gamified app that enables the students to have a learning experience through a level playing field. The gamified approach helps the students to learn their concepts in an interesting way.

    STEPapp Logo
    STEPapp Logo

    When the student clears a chapter in the app, the virtual character in the app goes a step up to the next level. This up-gradation of a student from one chapter to another or stepping up to the next level ideated them to give the name STEPapp and also represented in the logo.


    Relevant read: List of EdTech Startups in India | Emerging Education Startups


    Stepapp – Business Model and Revenue Model

    The startup have two products in STEPapp:

    • STEPapp Concepts:
      The unique, gamified content is mapped to the school curriculum and it has been broken down into small nuggets of information so students can grasp the concepts easily. The content has been created by 400+ IITians and Doctors to give students conceptual clarity in math and science. The product is priced at ₹ 5000. This is currently available for 6th – 10th for CBSE and ICSE boards.
    • STEPapp Scholarships:
      Top 10,000 performers from each grade (6th – 12th) win prizes ranging from ₹ 5000 to ₹ 1 crore from a total pool of ₹ 50 crores. The Enrollment fee is priced at an affordable rate of ₹ 500, to ensure that nobody misses out on the opportunity. The rewards encourages the students to perform better. Winners are mentored and guided by the expert team for their future endeavours.
    • Grades 1st to 5th app:
      They are soon rolling out a new product for grades 1st to 5th in the next few days. The aim is to make learning fun and enjoyable for all school students.

    Stepapp – Startup Launch

    The company started its journey by implementing STEPapp in various government and private school chains. They received an extraordinary response and great reviews from students when they played the game while learning the concepts in the app. This is what encouraged them to start implementing STEPapp in more schools and this is how they got their first 100 users.

    We had approximately 1 million downloads within the first month of our launch.  We are focused on improving and innovating more products and services to enhance the students learning experience and that is the only marketing technique we are focusing on – Praveen Tyagi, Founder and CEO of STEPapp.

    Stepapp – User Acquisition and Growth

    This product is not a push product but a pull product. Since the mission of the product is to impart knowledge and provide it to the children, they have always aimed to strategize their activities to fulfill this mission. They aim to provide the students to get the conceptual clarity by the content created by 400+ IITians and Doctors.

    Also, they give the stakeholders, i.e. the parents, the teachers and the policymakers, in-depth data on learning outcomes to make informed decisions about the child’s career through the interactive STEPapp Dashboard.


    Must read: Coursesity- Getting all the Online Courses Under One Umbrella


    Stepapp – Startup Challenges

    One of the biggest challenges that came before STEPapp’s team was to reach out and build connectivity in remote areas and provide them with the e-learning experience. There was also an issue of improper infrastructure to provide school education in many areas in the country.

    After extensive research and development of STEPapp, they successfully implemented the offline feature in their app to provide a platform to educate children in the underprivileged areas. With STEPapp, students can now learn and revise the topics thoroughly without any disruption at the ease of their homes.

    Stepapp – Future Plans

    STEPapp see itself as a global product that has huge potential, not just in the Indian market but in global markets as well. The company is soon rolling out their product for Grades 1st to 5th app. They are also working towards making STEPapp a multilingual product. There are some new features in the product which are currently into BETA testing which will be announced soon.

    Stepapp – Funding and Investors

    Eduisfun has raised a total of $28M in funding over 1 round. This was a Venture round raised on Dec 24, 2019.

    | Date | Stage | Amount | Lead Investors |
    |— |— |— |— |— |—
    | Dec 24, 2019 | Venture Round | $28M | Amitabh Bachhan, Piyush Pandey |

    They are raising funds that will be utilized in strengthening their technological backbone, product enhancement, innovation and distribution on a global level. The startup will be using the funds in innovating more apps that are personalized, gamified, and packed with data analytics features and AI software.

    Stepapp – Advisors and Mentors

    STEPapp have a team of 400+ IITians and doctors with 21 years of experience in teaching and they are the advisors and mentors.

    Stepapp – Recognitions and Achievements

    The company have implemented STEPapp in hundreds of private and public schools, where, after playing on the app, students’ performance has improved remarkably. They have recently signed a deal with the Tamil Nadu government to implement STEPapp in their schools which will benefit over 10 lakh students.

    They have also implemented STEPapp as a learn from home solution in the reputed Podar Group of Schools. Also, they will have approximately 1 million downloads within a month.

  • EdpowerU – How this Startup is Helping Students and Professionals Reach Their Career Highs

    One’s workplace behavior has a lot  to do with one’s performance and progress at workplace. How you deal with your colleagues and team, how you handle stress, your decision making power or your creative skills and innovative thinking, everything plays a crucial role in your career. While traditionally the focus was only on technical skills required for a job, of late the intangible skills required in the workplace is being given importance. Considering this requirement for development of non-technical, intangible and soft skills for career development, EdpowerU, a startup based in Mumbai is offering various programs for students, executives, managers and corporate leaders, to help them give and achieve their best at workplace.

    EdpowerU Highlights

    StartupName EdpowerU
    HeadQuarter (city) Mumbai
    Founder/s Name Shubika Bilkha
    Sector Education, Training and Leadership Development
    Founding Year 2019
    Registered Company Name ImpactU Edu Solutions LLP

    About EdpowerU and How it Works
    EdpowerU – Market and Industry
    Founders of EdpowerU and Team
    How was EdpowerU Started
    EdpowerU – Startup Launch
    EdpowerU – Name, Logo and Tagline
    EdpowerU – Business Model & Revenue Model
    EdpowerU – Startup Challenges
    EdpowerU – Competitors
    EdpowerU – Advisors & Mentors
    EdpowerU – Growth

    About EdpowerU and How it Works

    EdpowerU is a first of its kind initiative in India focused exclusively on workplace behavior and personal leadership development relating to the millennial and GenZ audience through specialized “Campus to Corporate”, “Career Enhancement” “Executive” and “Leadership Development”programs.

    Their unique Workplace Behavior Assessment (WBA) developed by global experts in organizational behavior, works with universities, graduate programs and corporates with a view to assess candidates on the key intangible future ready workplace skills needed in their roles.

    As specialists in workplace behavior through detailed insights and research on the development of the younger (millennial and GenZ) workforce, EdpowerU focuses on building intangible workplace skills, enhanced self-awareness and management, building emotional intelligence, and addressing the challenges of individuals towards career development and acceleration, and corporates towards improved performance, productivity and retention.

    Their specialized Millennial Management Program is designed to work with leaders/managers as they navigate the changing dynamics of a young workforce to become partners of their millennial employees.

    EdpowerU’s 5 point coaching framework of Discovery, Identification, Challenge, Accountability and Transformation, based on the Co-Active model, is an intensive process of self-awareness with a view to enhancing personal effectiveness, finding balance, streamlining objectives, increasing personal accountability and driving individual development through a commitment to change.

    Powered by experts from across industry and guided by the philosophy of ‘Educate to Empower’, Edpower-U is committed to raising the Career Quotient (CQ) and improving the personal leadership development capabilities of 1 million millennials by 2025.

    Services Offered by EdpowerU
    Services Offered by EdpowerU

    EdpowerU – Market and Industry

    At EdpowerU, the focus is on inculcating key workplace behavior skills and leadership development capabilities to drive individual growth, enhance performance, improve productivity and take individuals to the next stage in their professional journeys. Their work with executives, managers, leaders, entrepreneurs and graduates across industries to enable them to manage themselves, their teams, their workplaces and their careers in the 4.0 workplace. They focus primarily on millennials and the GenZ that today constitutes almost ~50% of the workforce slated to increase to 70% by 2025.

    “In the age of the Fourth Revolution or the 4.0 world, we have found that as global connectivity increases, the on-demand culture emanates, machines get smarter, new media comes to the forefront, and mindsets, approaches and behaviors see a shift, an area of significant change is coming in the way we work, what defines work and the skills needed for the evolving workplace.” quotes EdpowerU founder Shubika Bilkha

    The World Economic Forum (WEF) identifies the Top 10 skills for 2020 as cognitive flexibility, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, complex problem solving, creativity, people management, collaboration, judgment and decision making, service orientation and negotiation. Forbes in their August 2018 report added some skills such as awareness and sensitivity, reading intelligently, communication, analytical, leveraging technology and learning how to learn in their recommended future ready skills.

    Whether its feedback received from think thanks, or leaders such as Mukesh Ambani to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the future ready skills for the 2020 world are all largely non-technical or intangible in nature. It has been estimated that 60% of workplace success comes from those intangible skill sets.

    In India, this is a significant shift away from our traditional educational ecosystem that has operated with a keen focus on building technical capabilities rather than individual workplace skills.

    At EdpowerU through the extensive work with millennials and GenZs in the workplace, they have defined these key intangible skills that are slated to contribute to 60-70% of workplace success as follows:

    Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

    • Self- Awareness
    • Self- Management
    • Self- Motivation
    • Communication/Social Skills
    • Empathy
    • Resilience

    Behavioral Skills

    • Business Etiquette
    • Teamwork and Collaboration
    • Negotiation Skills
    • Time Management
    • Navigating Difficult Situations
    • Relationship Building
    • Confidence
    • Commercial Awareness
    • Decision Making

    Other Key Skills

    • Critical Thinking
    • Problem-Solving
    • Cognitive Flexibility
    • Creativity/Innovation

    Relevant Read: The Emerging Edtech Startups of India

    Founders of EdpowerU and Team

    Shubika Bilkha, Amit Bose and Lina Bilkha are the Founding Partners of Edpower-U.  

    Shubika Bilkha is a business advisor, entrepreneur, author, media spokesperson and leadership coach. An alumnus of Mount Holyoke College(USA) and Columbia Business School (USA), Shubika is an Associate Member of the Chartered Securities Institute (CSI) in the UK; and has completed the “Building Excellence in Higher Educational Institutions” program at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. Shubika has rich experience of working with large companies such as Deloitte, and managing two early-stage start-ups in the technology and education sector. She has also experience of working in various positions in financial, e-commerce and real estate sectors in India and internationally. Shubika is also a published author.

    Amit Bose, a mathematics graduate from Mumbai University, and an IIM- Ahmedabad alumnus, Amit has 40 years of rich and diverse experience in Senior Corporate Leadership roles and as an entrepreneur. Amit specializes in Strategy, Marketing and Consumer Technologies and has worked extensively in India and across Asia

    Amit worked as President(Tata Teleservices), President (Reliance Infocom), CEO (Mattel India), Vice President (Pepsico, Asia Pacific) and Head of Marketing Foods (Hindustan Lever) to name a few. He also worked with Bakrie Telecom, and own and investee Startups in E-Commerce, Social Commerce, Mobile Platforms and Enterprise Messaging

    Lina Bilkha, a graduate in German language and Psychology and post graduate in Linguistics, from Bombay University, Lina specializes in Inter-cultural Consulting, Executive and Life Coaching, Leadership and Talent Development, High Performance Team Building and Gender Diversity Consulting. Lina has over 25 years of experience of working with blue chip Companies in Financial Services, Technology, Telecom, Pharmaceuticals, Consulting, and Government Organisations. Lina has international certifications in Executive Coaching and Gestalt Training from the AoEC UK.

    Lina’s latest accreditation is of MEWS – A Managerial and Executive Wellbeing Survey from Eek. Lina is also Director India of Talking Talent ( a Global firm specialising in Parental Transition Coaching, Progression Coaching and Inclusion and Diversity Coaching)  and Cross Cultural  Consulting ( India and UK). Lina is also a member of the International Coaching Federation, the Mumbai Coaching Association and several Business Associations including IBG, CII and BBG.

    Swati Patel Vasan is the Head of Business Development and Training at EdpowerU.  Swati Patel Vasan joined EdPowerU’s network with nearly 14 years of experience with the U.S. Federal Government, 11 of which were as an U.S. Diplomat with the U.S. Department of State.  While Swati was inducted as a Public Relations Officer, she has worked in several portfolios to enhance bilateral or multilateral relations between the U.S. and the countries in which she was assigned.  

    In her last posting with the US Consulate, she oversaw all educational and professional exchange and cultural programs for the USG for all of Western India.  Once settled in India permanently, Swati worked with an educational company as Director of Outreach.

    Swati’s passion is people.  She taps into her experience in public speaking, negotiations, liaison work, mentoring, strategy, soft skills training, leadership and management programs, policy, marketing, etc. to enhance EdPowerU’s work focused on the millennial workforce.  

    Making an impact and actively working on providing opportunities as they develop individuals to maximize their potential is the key motivational factor for all of the core team members.

    How was EdpowerU Started

    There have been a number of factors and influences that have contributed to the creation of EdpowerU.

    The founding partners have been actively involved in the educational landscape in India having established key vocational training institutes that prepare both graduates to improve their employability, as well as executives and leaders to enhance their potential. It is through this insight and experience with key stakeholders across industry, corporates, educational institutions and the government that the gap in terms of honing these key intangible skill-sets was first identified.  

    EdpowerU – Startup Launch

    Before the launch, EdpowerU actively approached corporate and industry leaders, deans of educational institutes, presidents of industry bodies and the investor community across their extensive network for their feedback on the EdpowerU proposition. The team received an encouraging response from all stakeholders, as well as some very helpful insights on how they could build the business.

    The market need for their offering has been so robust that they had customers and business opportunities on Day of the launch of the business. Their repeat customer rate has been extremely high and EdpowerU is growing steadily in this domain to establish themselves as specialists.

    Relevant Read: How You can Use ‘Medium’ to Boost Your Business

    EdpowerU Logo
    EdpowerU Logo

    EdpowerU’s tagline “Educate. Empower. EdPowerU” is driven by the fundamental belief that it is through an increased understanding and insight of oneself and one’s environments, as well as by taking an evolved or educated perspective, everyone can be equally empowered to achieve their fullest potential.

    EdpowerU – Business Model and Revenue Model

    EdpowerU’s revenue model is fee and license based.

    EdpowerU – Startup Challenges

    As a unique proposition that focuses on building workplace skills and developing individuals, EdpowerU envisioned some challenge when explaining their proposition to the customers. However, given the proven initial track record, the teams’ domain expertise, the excellent client feedback that the company received, as well as the overall market need, the EdpowerU team has been able to overcome this proposed challenges.

    EdpowerU – Competitors

    There are a number of players both Indian and International who provide corporate training services and career focused programs. However, the landscape is extremely fragmented with global brands, business schools, as well as independent providers.

    The formula of driving individual growth and development through self-assessment and awareness as a first step is what differentiates EdpowerU’s offering. Their delivery methodology and interactive but practical learning formats make their programs relevant and engaging. Their extensive research on the characteristics of the generation they focus on has enabled them to develop the content in  a manner that resonates with the multi-generational audience.

    Whether in group programs, individual sessions or web formats, it is EdpowerU’s focus on the individual and addressing those personal challenges that has most worked in their favor.

    EdpowerU – Advisors & Mentors

    The EdpowerU team is being mentored by Industry experts like Siddharth Bhansali, Dr. Ann Means and Tina Trikha

    Siddharth Bhansali an alum of the University of Southern California (USC), USA founded Noesis.tech, a technology solutions and services company that focuses on enabling digital transformation for the enterprise. Siddharth has  experience of working extensively across the domains of Banking and Financial Services, Food and Beverage, Education as well as Retail and FMCG.

    Siddharth also serves as a technology advisor and consultant CTO for leading Indian start ups such as StyleCracker, MissMalini and FoxyMoron. Siddharth believes that while India can generate technologists at at a very large scale, these technologists enter the job market with skills that limit their ability to deliver value.

    Dr. Ann Means is MsC and PhD in Organisational Behaviour from Birbeck College, London and a BA in Modern Languages from Birmingham University (UK). Ann has 30+ years of experience in corporate consulting with research, training and government service. She specializes in developing the skills and knowledge essential for success in international business, in particular intercultural, team and leadership capabilities. Ann has experience of training and coaching individuals and groups across industries and locations worldwide.

    Tina Trikha is currently head of communications and talent development for SeaLink Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Mumbai.  She has close to two decades of experience working with companies in the United States, India, and South-East Asia. Prior to SeaLink Capital Partners, Tina was Vice President of corporate planning and strategy at Godrej Industries Limited.  She also worked with Scholastic, a children’s book publisher and distributor in New York, and financial companies like McKinsey & Company (New York) and Credit Suisse (New York and Hong Kong)

    Relevant Read: Excess2Sell – Helping You Profitably Sell Your Excess Business Inventory

    EdpowerU – Growth

    EdpowerU have had an encouraging start since their inception earlier this year and have been growing steadily month on month. Their programs and offerings are increasing on a quarter on quarter basis, and they are seeing very encouraging traction across large conglomerates, fast growing SMEs, funded startups, industry associations and educational institutions.

    Additionally, EdpowerU has a number of key affiliate organizations who are specialists both in India and globally in the realm of leadership development and training. These organizations work extensively with large companies across the world in sectors such the financial services, pharmaceuticals, professional services, technology, among others.

    The focus for the startup is on industries that have a high component of millennials and GenZ leaders and EdpowerU are gradually building their expertise across the digital, technology/IT, financial services, FinTech sectors, to name a few.

    Our biggest achievement today has been the wonderful feedback and support that we have received from all our Clients and participants – Shubika Bilkha

  • Taxidio Taking Care of Your Travel Planning Woes

    Taxidio Startup Success Story

    Startup Name Taxidio
    Headquarter Mumbai
    Founders Vishal Kejariwal & Abhas Desai
    Sector Travel and Tourism
    Founded 2015
    Parent Organization Taxidio Travel India Pvt. Ltd.

    About Taxidio
    Tourism Industry Details
    Founders of Taxidio and Team
    How was Taxidio Started
    Taxidio – Name and Logo
    What is Taxidio
    Taxidio – Business Model and Revenue Model
    Taxidio – User Acquisition
    Taxidio – Funding and Investors
    Taxidio – Startup Challenges
    Taxidio – Competitors
    Taxidio – Recognition and Achievements
    Taxidio – Growth

    Are you one of those who loves and lives to travel? If traveling is your passion and exploring new places is your hobby, than Taxidio is just for you. This Mumbai based DIY trip planner will find you the best-suited travel destinations based on your interest, budget and the duration of your trip.  It will also provide you personalized itineraries and book tickets for you, so that you can enjoy your trip without caring about the nuisances.

    About Taxidio

    Taxidio is an automated travel planner which is continuously working towards inspiring travelers to find the right destination and ease the process of trip planning. Taxidio aims to be the one stop solution for all needs of travelers for trip planning and booking. Taxidio works with the mission to provide a convenient and personalized travel experience for the explorers.

    Tourism Industry Details

    The global tourism market itself is about 10% of the world’s GDP, close to 54% of which comprise of leisure travelers. Taxidio is currently focusing on the Indian market that itself is projected to grow at the rate of 11-11.5% to a $48 billion market by the year 2020 as per a report by Boston Consultancy Group.

    According to IBEF, the online travel market alone is expected to account for around 40%-50% of the total transactions by 2020.

    Relevant Read: What are the Latest Trend in Business Travel

    Founders of Taxidio and Team

    Vishal Kejariwal and Abhas Desai are the founders of Taxidio.

    Vishal Kejariwal is the CEO of Taxidio. Vishal holds an MBA in Finance degree (majors in Capital Markets) from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, India. He also holds an Engineering degree in Computer Science from Mumbai University and has worked for a major Indian conglomerate for over 5 years. After his corporate stint, he moved on to take his passion for traveling and turn it into a full-time work role.

    Abhas Desai is the CTO of Taxidio.  Abhas holds an engineering degree in Computer Science and an Executive MBA degree in Information Technology. He has a prolific 10-year-long experience in the field of IT and firmly believes in integrating everyday human activities with technology.

    Abhas and I have known each other for almost two decades now.

    Convincing Abhas to join me was not a very tough one. Just like me, Abhas had an urge to do something outside the box and use his skills for doing more than he was doing. i.e. to his full potential. We were confident that my passion for traveling combined with the business skills I have learned along with his tech skills would surely create a product to look forward to.

    Besides the co-founders, the team consists of 4 think tanks with an average age of 25 years from different backgrounds, such as IT, finance and media.

    How was Taxidio Started

    The inspiration to start Taxidio came out of our travel experiences,” said Vishal.

    Vishal and Abhas have always loved traveling. The more they traveled, they realized that no matter how easy it sounds to plan a trip, the actual process of planning is rather complicated and highly fragmented.

    The process of researching and validating started by taking a sample of frequent travelers and taking a survey of their entire trip planning process. The idea was to find out if people really find the information available on the internet fragmented and whether they would be open to the idea of using a product that could  do the entire process of trip planning. Vishal and Abhas also spoke to certainly experienced professionals from the hospitality business and took their inputs on the initial idea they had.  They started working on the prototype and launched the beta website of Taxidio in May 2017.

    Relevant Read–  The Story behind Make My Trip

    Taxidio’s name and logo have an interesting story to it. Taxidio means to travel in greek.  

    The name ‘Taxidio’ itself develops a certain amount of inquisitiveness when its read or heard and people often ask us what is the meaning of this word. This increases brand recall. The idea was to keep a word close to travel but at the same time not make it long such that it may not get the necessary brand recall.  

    The idea behind Taxidio’s logo is also quite fascinating and reflects the company’s mission and vision.  Taxidio’s vision and mission is to make travel planning as simplified and convenient as it can be for travelers. More importantly, it is to introduce them to the best of what the world has to offer. The same thought is translated into a clear and minimal design with the globe in the center, in order to establish an association with traveling.

    The idea to hold the globe in a symbol that resembles ‘T’ in the Devanagari script is two-toned. The first stems from Taxidio’s core belief that even though we cater to an international audience, are roots are Indian. We want our brand to resonate with these values and our identity which is attached to them. The second denotes that Taxidio covers destinations all over the world for you to travel to.  

    Taxidio Logo

    What is Taxidio

    Taxidio is an automated travel planner available in web and iOS and Android app. The services provided by Taxidio are-

    • Destination Recommendation
    • Online Itinerary Planning
    • Accommodation Booking
    • Attraction Tickets
    • Readymade Itineraries
    • In-depth Travel Guides
    • Comprehensive Travel Information – top attractions, day-trips, places to stay and party in each city/country
    • B2B Solutions for Hotels
    • Plug and Play Solution for OTAs  

    Taxidio’s USP is that it is the only online DIY trip planner that recommends the right holiday destination based on the travel preferences of the user. The traveler has to input information such as budget, temperature preferences, duration of trip and interest. Taxidio reverse-engineers the information provided by the traveler and helps them create fully customizable itineraries, offers in-depth travel guides, and undertakes hotel and attraction bookings. Taxidio has curated content for 500+ cities across 90 countries.

    The portal also offers pre-planned itineraries which are created by experts to give you a starting point to plan your trip.  

    Furthermore, Taxidio also has a B2B vertical that aims at maximizing the concierge experience across hotels and provides tech-based solutions to independent travel agents and OTAs.

    No other player in the online travel space provides such a huge spectrum of services. We pivoted and we believe it’s a very important stage in the life of the start-up. We changed our model from being just a B2C company to also include the B2B segment which provides healthier cash flow. We also re-looked at our branding and came up with a new website, logo and brand colors which were more relatable to the users globally and also helped us in creating a better interface.  

    Relevant Read: Guidoo- How it Improves Your In-destination Experience

    Taxidio – Business Model and Revenue Model

    Taxidio operates in both B2B and B2C model.  On the B2C front, Taxidio earns revenues through the sale of travel guides and commission earned from the booking of accommodation and attractions.

    Taxidio is also in the final stage of commercializing its B2B revenues which run on a subscription basis from hotels and offline travel agents.

    Taxidio – User Acquisition

    Taxidio extensively uses digital media to market its services. It uses social media marketing channels such as Facebook and Instagram to reach out to the right audience set.   Along with this, Taxidio also has a huge content bank (over 5million words of proprietary content) which has been used aggressively for SEO efforts. Besides, word of mouth publicity has also worked quite well for Taxidio, in attracting the initial users.  

    Taxidio – Funding and Investors

    Taxidio has raised funding close to US$ 275,000 including promoters equity.  

    Funding Date Funding Stage Funding Amount Investors
    2018 Seed $200,000 Undisclosed

    Taxidio – Startup Challenges

    The creation and curation of content have been the biggest challenge for Taxidio team, as said by Vishal.  

    In an industry where content is easy to find and also gets outdated very soon, we wanted to create a niche by our own travel content which is always updated and is free from any plagiarism and is also extremely useful and relatable to all types of travelers. We can relentlessly have worked on this since day one.

    Another issue faced was due to the company’s website. The initial design of the website did not work for the company. The colors were dark and the ability of users to understand the website functionality on their own was minimal. To solve this issue Taxidio soon came up with a new and user-friendly website.  

    Relevant Read: 4 Hidden Methods For Business Growth Strategies

    Taxidio – Competitors

    Travelibro, Triptomatic, Travefy, TripHobo,Utrip, Pebblar, Roadtrippers, YourTour and Tripit are some of the competitors of Taxidio, which are operating in the trip planning domain. However, every platform has its own unique features.

    It would be unfair to pick one company and say that this is the direct competition of Taxidio. Having said that, though there is a certain overlap with few Indian and global players in the planning space, what really differentiates with us the kind of revenue and volume we are drawing to our website and app with minimal funding we have at our disposal. This has been possible only because we have been exceptionally cautious about spending every penny and channelized it in a manner that all our marketing efforts to date have been successful.  

    The kind of content provided by Taxidio takes it a step ahead of the competition.  Other players in the market offer online itinerary planning, hotel and attraction bookings, pre-planned itineraries, etc. But there is no single platform that covers it all. Taxidio is also the only online trip planner that also provides comprehensive Travel Guides and B2B services.

    Taxidio – Recognition and Achievements

    Taxidio is the only Indian startup (and eventually) the only Asian startup to attend a 2-month startup mentoring program in Madeira, Portugal. It was amongst the 9 travel startups to be selected from across the globe for this program. In the program, Taxidio had a chance to learn from various experienced professionals in various aspects of building and scaling and start-up. This was a huge learning opportunity for co-founders.  Taxidio has also been awarded as the winner in Seed stage for consumer internet category by Aeonian and have are also a recognized start-up as per the guidelines laid by the Government of India.    

    Taxidio – Growth

    Taxidio, company has been routing revenues right from the day it went live.  Currently, the company has-  

    • 70000 + visitors  on its site
    • Taxidio has routed booking worth more than US$ 150,000.  
    • It has over 2000 registered users  
    • It has more than 4000 itineraries created.  

    Our plans in coming years are to include newer functionalities to further enhance our existing value chain.