StartupTalky

Tag: Recap

  • 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.

  • Piyush Sahni, Co-founder, Green Grapes Diagnostics, Transforming Healthcare With Cutting-Edge 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.

    Rapid diagnostic tests are medical tests that can quickly and accurately diagnose a disease or condition in a patient. These tests are designed to provide results within a short period of time, usually within minutes to a few hours, and are often used in point-of-care settings such as clinics, hospitals, and emergency departments. Rapid diagnostic tests can be used to detect a wide range of conditions, including infectious diseases, cancer, and other medical conditions.

    According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the global rapid diagnostic test market is projected to have a CAGR of 8.5% during the forecast period of 2020 to 2025. Factors driving the growth of this market include the increasing prevalence of infectious diseases, the growing focus on point-of-care testing, and advancements in technology.

    However, it’s important to note that the COVID-19 pandemic has also had a significant impact on the market for rapid diagnostic tests, as the demand for these tests has increased significantly in recent months. This has led to a higher growth rate for the market.

    For this Interview, we invited Piyush Sahni, Co-founder of Green Grapes Diagnostics, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical industry.

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

    Piyush: The harrowing time of the pandemic in 2020 presented us with several challenges. When everything that my wife and I had built in our previous immersive digital display solutions business called, ‘Green Grapes Devices’ came to a halt, due to the pandemic, we were looking for industries to switch and maneuver. Taking feedback and other suggestions, we quickly developed ‘UV Sterilization boxes’ to oscillate to the healthcare industry as the propeller of the need of the hour.

    The intention of developing this product was to sanitize smaller articles of metal, iron, and other material (which could carry the virus) in under just 3 minutes. The forthcoming response got us media attention which eventually nudged us into dealing and serving the industry with distinguished surgical and diagnostic products such as IV sets, CPAP Machines, and Hematology Analyzer Machines. As an extension to our earlier business, we named this startup Green Grapes Diagnostics.

    Our progressive and forward-looking approach aided us to accelerate and rapidly transform into a leading comprehensive solutions provider of not just surgical and diagnostic products but also look at catering to the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical demands within a few months of operations. This resulted in expanding and establishing synergies with exceptional manufacturers and hospitals in India and across the globe. Within a shorter time, we dilated from serving customers in India to customers in the USA, Africa, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, UAE, and other Middle Eastern Countries.

    We have over 1500 products across categories; however, we are ecstatic to announce the launch of our indigenous Rapid Diagnostic Tests or RDTs which are easy-to-use test kits that provide quicker and faster results; usually under 5-mins for most tests. Manufactured and marketed under our brand name, we have developed testing kits to detect 18+ conditions/diseases such as HIV, Malaria, Dengue, Typhoid, and Pregnancy. Our medical kits have become a popular choice amongst the existing brands in the industry and we are already exporting them to countries such as Africa, UAE, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

    We are also working towards our new mobile application-based Vitamin D Home Test Kits which will hit the markets in 2023. It has been just under 30 months since we started our operations, and we have been profitable since day one. This has allowed us to leave an indelible mark in India and expand our footprint globally.

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

    Piyush: This year, the latest addition to our product portfolio has been our indigenous Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits which are manufactured and marketed under our brand name.

    Rapid Diagnostic Kits are a game-changing solution developed for the screening of several conditions and diseases. The results produced are rapid and accurate. Our test kits are manufactured as per industry standards and per all the necessary compliance outlined by the Government of India.

    Even for next year, we are prepared to incrementally increase our testing kit catalog. Rapid Diagnostic Testing Kits to perform Kidney Function Tests AKA KFT along with our mobile application-based Vitamin D Home Test Kits are some of the newer inventions that will be launched in 2023.

    With more than 18+ categories of conditions to examine, our test kits have been developed using state-of-the-art technology which allows us to provide exceptional standards of quality and assurance to our clients. Our unbelievable price range, customized approach, and distinguished product catalog let organizations choose at their own comfort/preference.

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

    Piyush: The healthcare industry has always been at the center stage, especially in the last two years. The disruption that the pandemic has caused is astonishing and noteworthy at the same time. Technology-enabled solutions and advancements to the existing infrastructure have aided in generating jobs and in the past 1.5 years alone, the industry has witnessed a growth from $220 billion to $280 billion.

    As one of the strongest pillars of growth in our country, the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry has observed tremendous changes which continue to foster development and increased opportunities. The dynamism of the sector has allowed us to mold our products and make use of technological advancements at
    different intervals.

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    Piyush: At Green Grapes Diagnostics, we keep ourselves abreast with the changes and trends by continuously following updates from central agencies, regulatory bodies, etc., and using those to our benefit to develop the highest quality medical test kits. Our feedback loop with our partners, clients, and other stakeholders
    assists us to keep modifying and updating our products from time to time. Additionally, we keep applying technological advancements to our benefit at every given step to automate and ease the process of production.

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

    Piyush: We make use of software which have been developed by startups in India to track our growth not just in terms of the number of clients but also in respect of products added, employee retention rate, etc. This helps us to view our growth holistically. Additionally, we track the number of new clients that we add every single month and the business that we have been able to generate from them. We also follow M-o-M & Y-o-Y percentage growth to learn of opportunity costs, gaps, strategy, etc.

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

    Piyush: Back when we had set up operations in India and stepped into the healthcare industry, we were presented with challenges that every company faces. Winning businesses and clients’ trust have to be my top two challenges in India as well as abroad. Our strategy to secure anyone’s trust in us was achieved with the quality assurance of our products, the use of modern technologies to track shipments, and guaranteed timely delivery.

    After a few months into the business, we realized that the technological aspect, especially in the Rapid Diagnostic industry was missing. So, we actioned on the need gap to produce exceptional standards of Rapid Diagnostic Kits.

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

    Piyush: Since the inception of our startup, we regularly change and continuously update our marketing strategies to stay relevant and attract maximum eyeballs for our products. Given the nature of our industry and the type of products we manufacture, we have tie-ups with several online marketplaces. We also undertake
    lead-generation campaigns and activities using automated tools to generate high-quality and standard leads.

    Additionally, analyzing the market sentiment, positioning our brand, and making use of digital and social media tools have helped us to increase our brand’s voice. In the last few months, we have gauged several digital resources such as content marketing, email marketing, and a combination of other techniques to succeed in our marketing endeavors.

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

    Piyush: We have used multiple automated and software tools to efficiently smoothen the process. Initially, we used Zoho for email marketing then opted for HubSpot’s CRM software along with other tools. Currently, we are using a combination of Google’s resources for accounts-related services. We also make use of other startup software that helps us in generating leads for international business.

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

    Piyush: Since the onset of the pandemic, the healthcare industry has undergone several noteworthy changes. The pitfalls and gaps presented the industry with several challenges during the peak of the covid, however, despite those challenges, there were opportunities. I, personally feel, that the use of technology and a combination of creativity with it will be a game-changer for the future and it still is. Organizations and several industry leaders from different cities in India have already made amendments to their agendas and have started working on them.
    India is already known as the pharmacy of the world; therefore, this is the golden opportunity for startups, businesses, and the government to revolutionize the healthcare and pharma sectors completely.

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

    Piyush: In the last 10-11 months, I and our team have realized that it’s important to be resilient and adaptive to changes. When an organization or an individual has these traits, they can withstand any situation they may encounter. In 2023, we are committed to incorporating all possible learning that we have had this year into our plans to grow and lead.

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

    Piyush: There are significant changes and agendas for us in 2023. Firstly, we aim to increase our global footprint by partnering with additional online B2B marketplaces that will open floodgates for us in other countries. Secondly, next year, we will invest substantially in the technological and marketing front to establish our digital footprint which has a direct correlation with expanding our customer base.

    We thank Piyush Sahni for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Akanksha Sharma, CEO and Co-founder, CITTA, Brings Indian Childcare Wisdom and Science Together for Modern Parents

    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.

    Baby care products are items that are used to care for and support the needs of infants. These products can include items such as diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, baby bottles, baby clothing, baby bedding, and baby hygiene products.

    These cosmetics are formulated to be gentle and safe for a child’s delicate skin and hair and are free of harsh chemicals and irritants. They are also designed to be tear-free, which is important for young children who may have a tendency to rub their eyes.

    According to a report by Research and Markets, the global baby care products market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2020 to 2025. The market is driven by factors such as increasing birth rates, rising disposable income, and growing awareness about child health and nutrition, and it is expected to grow due to increasing awareness about the benefits of using baby-specific personal care products.

    For this Interview, we invited Akanksha Sharma, CEO and Co-founder of CITTA World, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Baby Care & Skincare industry.

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

    Akanksha: Our product range includes premium natural skincare and bath essentials for babies– Moisturizing Baby Balm For Face and Body, Nourishing Baby Massage Oil, Tender Foaming Baby Wash, Gentle Foaming Baby Shampoo, and Soothing Talc-Free Baby Powder. We have also launched our natural face mists – Pure Rose Water Mist and Hydrating Mist with Rose and Aloe Vera – for adults.

    CITTA World was started with the vision of blending Indian childcare wisdom with rigorous science and making it conveniently accessible to modern new parents. We as a founder are a testament to the special connection between a mother and a child.

    At CITTA, we believe that every child deserves to feel the endless love of a
    grandmother. While Akanksha had the wholesome, grounding experience of being cared for by her grandmothers, not every child today has that privilege. CITTA’s goal is to provide babies with that nourishing experience so that maybe one day, they remember the fragrance of CITTA just as fondly as she reminisces the aroma of her grandma’s hands.

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

    Akanksha: Our products are made with the finest natural ingredients in innovative formulations to provide maximum efficacy to the customers. Whether it is the most effective texture or the most convenient technology, we have created all our products after rigorous research to serve our customers in the best way possible. Our products are also cruelty-free and free of harsh chemicals like parabens, sulfates, silicones, mineral oil, toxins, and allergens.

    Following are the USPs of our products:

    Moisturizing Baby Balm:

    • Blend of 7 natural oils, Shea Butter and Vitamin-E
    • Unique thick texture for long-lasting moisturization
    • All-in-one balm for use on the face, body, and nappy area of the baby
    • Prevents rashes and itchiness through anti-microbial ingredients

    Nourishing Baby Massage Oil:

    • A unique blend of 12 natural oils
    • Provides deep nourishment
    • Non-sticky texture
    • Anti-microbial & Anti-inflammatory
    • Promotes growth and bone strength

    Soothing Talc-Free Baby Powder:

    • Made with the safest natural alternatives of talc – Corn Starch, Oat Kernel Flour, Kaolin Clay
    • Naturally absorbs excess moisture and oil
    • Soothes your baby’s skin
    • Prevents rashes and itchiness

    Gentle Foaming Baby Shampoo:

    • Gently cleanses, hydrates, and moisturizes your baby’s scalp and hair
    • Enriched with 3 natural oils
    • Non-drying, no-tears formula
    • India’s 1st Natural Foaming Baby Shampoo

    Tender Foaming Baby Wash:

    • Gently cleanses, hydrates, and nourishes your baby’s skin
    • Infused with Aloe Vera, Coconut Powder Extract, and Hydrolysed Rice Protein
    • Prevents dryness and irritation
    • India’s 1st Natural Foaming Baby Wash

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

    Akanksha: In recent years, customer awareness of the ingredients in personal care and skin care products has increased tremendously. Especially ingredients such as talc in baby powder, which have severe detrimental effects on babies’ health. Fortunately, our company has been able to leverage this to our advantage – since CITTA has focused on creating the safest products from the start. With this rise in awareness, people are discovering our brand organically and then choosing us consciously.

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    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?

    Akanksha: CITTA’s products are currently available on 6 online marketplaces – Amazon, Flipkart, 1mg, The Mom Store, Kindlife, and Purplle. With these marketplaces, we have sold our products throughout India, including 2nd and 3rd Tier cities as well. 25% of customers who order our products from online marketplaces are return customers.

    The efficacy of our products and their unique ingredients are our biggest strengths. Recently, when an internationally reputed brand’s baby powder was deemed unsafe by multiple authorities, people started looking for safer alternatives and discovered our product which is made with the safest natural alternatives of talc and has a soothing effect on the baby’s skin– CITTA Soothing Talc-Free Baby Powder. Our baby powder has been selling rapidly to date. So much so, that it has even run out of stock twice. We have been able to retain 30% of the customers who order our products from our website.

    We are a customer-centric brand and the biggest performance metric for us is the number of repeat customers we have. We have already achieved considerable success in this regard, and we are sure that in the coming years, as more and more people start trusting us, this number will only continue to grow.

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

    Akanksha: CITTA has been employing omnichannel marketing from the start, unlike many other brands that begin with an online-only user experience and expand to offline channels later. We wanted our users to have the choice of interacting with the brand in the way most convenient to them, and our online and offline teams have worked together to achieve that.

    With our offline marketing strategies, our products have reached multiple pharmacies in Pune city. To attract the right customers and make them aware of the brand, we focused on placing our offline advertisements where they could see them – the pharmacies!

    The advertisements were designed to highlight our brand differentiators – unique, safe natural ingredients and product formulations rooted in traditional Indian wisdom and backed with rigorous science. With these campaigns, the customers could directly compare our products with our competitors in the market. This not only boosted our offline sales but also generated curiosity about the brand, leading to traffic to our website.

    Newspaper advertisements helped us to build this customer relationship more and reach a wider audience.  An essential part of our offline strategy was to build trust with doctors – pediatricians and dermatologists. They have started recommending our products to their patients. This number is steadily increasing and is helping us reach more and more physical stores in turn. It has been reassuring to see our products help babies with their skincare issues.

    Our online marketing strategy has been multi-pronged as well. Here too our focus has been on establishing ourselves as a credible and trustworthy premium natural baby bath and skincare brand in India. We achieved this firstly by creating a brand language and identity that visually separates us from the competitors and has a great recall value. This brand identity is maintained throughout all our online channels – website, social media, and marketplaces – and has helped us cement the trust of our customers.

    With our website, we have created a smooth, hassle-free buying experience. Our focus has been on ease of communication. Any customer service issues are dealt with promptly and effectively. We provide our repeat buyers exclusive offers to retain them. The website is also aimed at helping parents with their concerns regarding baby skincare, we have a dedicated space on the website that caters to this. Our social media marketing strategies are also focused on bringing value-addition to our customers – in line with our brand ethos of being a wise grandma-like companion to new-age parents. We achieve this through a mix of
    engaging, community-building, promotional, and informational content. To us, bringing value to the table matters more than jumping on the flashy, short-lived trends.

    Our online marketplace campaigns have been designed similarly, and as a cumulative result of our omnichannel strategy, have been getting traction from customers all across India. We have also tapped into WhatsApp marketing. We run WhatsApp broadcasts weekly to our existing customers with skincare tips and exclusive one-day deals.

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

    Akanksha: Expansion to other states- Modern Trade and General Trade

    With an omnichannel marketing strategy, CITTA has been able to get sales from Tier I, II, and III cities and reach 300 general trade stores in Maharashtra. Now we plan to expand to other states in India in both Modern Trade and General Trade sectors and establish ourselves as India’s best Baby Bath and Skincare brand.

    Reaching doctors across India

    Educating doctors about our products and the research undertaken to create them has been crucial to building people’s trust in our brand and creating demand for our products in offline stores. We want to expand our network to reach leading doctors (pediatricians and dermatologists) across India and become the brand every parent trusts for their baby’s skin.

    Entering the international market as a pioneer of Indian skincare and baby care knowledge and techniques

    We strongly believe that we are sitting on a goldmine of diverse natural ingredients and immense tradition-based expertise in India. Especially so when it comes to skincare and baby care practices. What the rest of the world is only starting to appreciate and emulate, we have been practicing in India for ages – “maalish” or baby massage is a classic example. We want to champion our Indian roots, back them with rigorous science, and bring India’s knowledge to the rest of the world with our range of our products. We want to create our own identity and presence in the international market as a pioneer Indian brand in the baby care and skincare segment.

    Exploring products for women

    CITTA products have resonated with our customers because of their high efficacy. We have received positive feedback from numerous mothers. We want to build on this trust and explore products for women in the coming years. With our commitment to quality and efficacy, we are confident that we will be able to do this well.

    Opening up experiential stores

    In the coming years, we aim to open experiential CITTA stores at multiple locations in India. These stores will be designed such that our potential customers can see, touch, smell, and feel the textures of our products. They will be educated about every ingredient that goes into our unique product formulations in an engaging, fun way so that they can remember it. We believe these experiential stores will help us to establish ourselves as customer-centric premium skincare and baby care brand.

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

    Akanksha: We plan to expand our customer base by reaching more states through physical stores as well as online marketplaces. We are also finding new ways of engaging meaningfully with our customer community – CITTA Care Club is a step towards that. Through this non-profit initiative of ours which is focused on parents’ well-being, we get to interact with parents – our potential customers – and understand their concerns in real time.

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

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Ashish Gupta, Co-founder and CEO of Benori Knowledge, Shares Insights on Providing Customized Research and Actionable 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.

    Research services companies are utilizing data-driven approaches to offer custom knowledge solutions for specific business problems. These services can include competitive intelligence, business intelligence, data analytics, strategy research, and more. The goal of these custom research services is to provide organizations with insights and recommendations based on data, helping them make informed decisions, improve processes, and achieve desired outcomes.

    Market intelligence, business research, and financial services are becoming increasingly data-driven, with organizations seeking custom research and insights to inform their decisions. The growing demand for data-driven decision-making, advancements in technology, and the increasing volume of data generated by businesses have driven the global data analytics market to an expected CAGR of 12% to 15% between 2020 and 2025.

    For this Interview, we invited Ashish Gupta, co-founder & CEO of Benori Knowledge, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the research industry.

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

    Ashish Gupta: We provide customized research and deliver actionable insights across various strategic areas such as market/sector analysis, competitive intelligence, account intelligence, consumer insights, etc. Our custom knowledge solutions and products provide power and flexibility to the insights value chain of our clients enabling them to make intelligent decisions and succeed. Our vision is to reduce the cost of knowledge on the planet and empower our clients with actionable insights.

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

    Ashish Gupta: We developed a market intelligence and data visualization tool which provides a 360-degree view of the life insurance industry with all the important KPIs along with competitive intelligence.
    The product uses a blend of machine and mind approach to tracking the key indicators of the life insurance industry. We also started with our scouting solutions by identifying innovations and innovators to help our clients stay ahead of the changes and make preemptive/disruptive decisions.

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

    Ashish Gupta: The research industry has changed drastically over the past few years and technology adoption has been the critical driver of change, be it the changes in conducting surveys, the use of AI, and big data. Further, the industry has become more customer-oriented with a focus on tailor-made solutions.

    Ashish Gupta: Our value of intellectual curiosity ingrained at both individual and company levels always inspires us to learn and stay current. In fact, we occasionally post several thought leadership papers on our website and other platforms to aid in others’ learning and development.

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

    Ashish Gupta: Clientele, employee count, and revenue are among a few indicators we look at to track our growth and all of them are going quite well. Six of the top eight FMCG companies and the top 10 consulting firms are already served by us, and we have doubled the number of our employees in the past one to one and a half years.

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

    Ashish Gupta: Being just 2 years old when it struck, Covid was one of the biggest challenges we faced, but being an agile new-age, tech-enabled firm, we took it heads on and came out stronger and our team size has doubled in a year after covid.

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

    Ashish Gupta: Client-centricity has been one of our brand pillars since the beginning. 100% of our solutions are customized as per client needs, and the quality of output that we provide at such pricing has always been a perk for our clients.

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

    Ashish Gupta: Frankly speaking, we haven’t invested much in marketing as of now, we believe providing quality output to our clients and striving for 100% client satisfaction is the only growth hack I can think of. But we do use LinkedIn to share interesting insights at regular intervals as most of our target audience uses the platform.

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

    Ashish Gupta: Although we do have several overseas clients, that number will undoubtedly increase in the years to come, this does not mean that we are concentrating more on or just seeking to engage in the worldwide market. In India, there is a great need for the high-caliber research services we offer at such competitive pricing, and we are working to fill that need.

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

    Ashish Gupta: Up until this February, when we moved into our new office and began using a hybrid model of work, we had all been doing our jobs from home for the previous two years. MS Office especially MS Teams is significantly used to connect and communicate within the team and with clients. We also use various other tools such as Power BI for reporting and dashboarding, and CRM for our sales activities.

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

    Ashish Gupta: Given the disruptions happening, the growth opportunity is high as there’s a huge demand for quality research and insights. The uncertainty in the markets has made research a center point for informed decision-making and building strategies.

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

    Ashish Gupta: We have been adapting to newer technologies for the heavy lifting so that ample time can be devoted to analytical and strategic thinking.

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

    Ashish Gupta: While our clientele is growing globally, given the demand for high-quality research, we are working on a few new productized services that will disrupt the industry. Additionally, as was already mentioned, 100% of our solutions are personalized, and we are constantly prepared to come up with solutions to meet the needs of our clients.

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

    Ashish Gupta: Put the customer first, always and every time; and do not try to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.

    We thank Ashish Gupta for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Advait Kumar, Co-founder of Boon, Strives for Improved Water Sustainability Through Tech and Innovation

    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 water-tech industry refers to the development and application of technology for the treatment, distribution, and management of water resources. This includes areas such as desalination, water purification, wastewater treatment, and irrigation systems. Companies in this industry may produce equipment, chemicals, and software for these applications and provide services such as consulting, design, and installation. The water-tech industry is a growing field as access to clean water becomes increasingly important for both developed and developing countries.

    The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the water-tech industry varies depending on the specific market segment and region. However, overall, the global water and wastewater treatment market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 6% during the forecast period from 2020 to 2025. According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the growth of this market is attributed to factors such as population growth, urbanization, and industrialization, which are increasing the demand for clean and safe water. The report also states that the Asia Pacific region is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, driven by factors such as increasing population and industrialization in countries such as China and India.

    For this Interview, we invited Mr. Advait Kumar, co-founder of Boon (formerly known as Swajal), and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Water-Tech industry.

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

    Advait: We want to make drinking water sustainable using technology and innovation. We started Boon (at that time Swajal) with the simple intention of making drinking water affordable for the masses as we believed that drinking water is a fundamental human right and without drinking water that is affordable and healthy, our community as we know it will not survive.

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

    Advait: We use technology platforms IoT and AI to monitor the quality of drinking water and the health of the water purifier. This allows us to have significantly fewer maintenance issues while optimizing the efficiency of our purifiers.

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

    Advait: The industry is changing the pricing model to subscription-based, and we are leading that change in the B2B segment.

    Advait: Podcasts, blogs, and news.

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

    Advait: The number of plastic bottles reduced per day and liters of water saved compared to a traditional water purifier.

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

    Advait: COVID disrupted a majority of our B2B business, we had to pivot to other segments like B2G to be able to maintain our cashflows. Despite the major shock, we were able to get by without any layoffs which was a major success for us.

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

    Advait: As we are mostly in B2B and B2G segments, we have never really worked on marketing channels. In this regard, we are closer to Zara or Arizona Tea as our marketing budget instead goes towards making our products and supply chains stronger. We are one of the very companies in drinking water in India that has its R&D lab. We believe that research and innovation will give us the competitive edge that we need. However, in the future for other products and segments, we may deploy more traditional marketing methods.

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

    Advait: We are very early adopters of technologies that have become ubiquitous now. For that reason, we use a developed on top of an open source CRM system that we have completely customized and built to our needs. So, we have our tech tools for CRM, support, inventory, etc. The major advantage for us is that it is completely customizable and costs are nothing when compared to using similar tools from standard SaaS vendors.

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

    Advait: Drinking water is only getting scarcer and more expensive. Humans will always need drinking water. India is unique in the sense that we have a unique urgency in this compared to other countries; this process is faster for us and there are a lot many more of us. By investing in drinking water innovation and technology now, India could be a global leader in the world in the future as the rest of the world also starts needing more efficient solutions.

    We can see the same thing already within India where states like Tamilnadu have first-hand experience of water shortage and consequently have a greater sense of urgency to get this resolved compared to other states who may be right behind them.

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

    Advait: We are reducing dependencies on key clients or segments so that we are diverse enough to withstand any external market shocks in the future.

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

    Advait: We use a mix of go-to-market strategies depending on the product. We tend to gravitate towards working with established channels rather than creating new ones so we can focus on the product rather than building the channel.

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

    Advait: You do you; it is very difficult for anyone else to understand a founder’s intuition. Have faith in yourself and your vision.

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

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Pawan Kumar, CEO of Elista, Emphasizes the Importance of Understanding Consumer Trends in the Consumer Durables Industry

    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.

    Home appliances, also known as domestic appliances, are electrical machines that help with household functions such as cooking, cleaning, and food preservation. Examples of home appliances include refrigerators, washing machines, ovens, microwave ovens, dishwashers, air conditioners, and vacuum cleaners. These appliances are designed to make household tasks more efficient and convenient, and they have become an essential part of modern life.

    The growth of the consumer electronics and home appliances market in India is forecasted to reach an increase of USD 2.12 billion from 2020 to 2025. Factors such as rising disposable incomes, urbanization, and changing consumer preferences are driving the growth in the market. Additionally, the government’s focus on promoting the use of energy-efficient appliances and the increasing adoption of smart home appliances are also expected to boost the growth of the home appliance market in India.

    For this Interview, we invited Pawan Kumar, CEO of Elista, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the home appliances and consumer durables industry.

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

    Pawan: 2022 is the year of opportunity for Elista. We have expanded our product offering in the Smart TV, accessory, washing machines, and computer peripherals categories. We have seen tremendous success in the Smart TV category and registered over 20% growth y-o-y. We started with the motivation to offer technologically advanced products at affordable prices. Our vision is to Make in India for the world. With this objective, we have recently entered the UAE markets and plan to launch in the CIS and MENA markets in the coming year.

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

    Pawan:  We have been focused on providing a superior experience to the users on a budget. Earlier, we disrupted the Dishwasher category, which was considered premium. This year we have launched UHD webOS TV-powered ultra-premium Smart LED TVs in India. These are large-screen TVs that offer a clutter-free experience to our users. It also comes with an easy-to-use that can be maneuvered using voice commands. Elista also launched its Tower speakers, which have 140W of sound output to ramp up the home-party scene, making for a totally immersive experience.

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

    Pawan: The most significant shift that has happened is the change in the production base. Most organizations have shifted most of their production from China to India. There is greater accessibility for Make in India products. The manufacturing capabilities in India have improved significantly, and the ecosystem has also matured.

    At Elista, we have been extremely bullish about Make in India. This is our third year running, and we manufacture most of the products in India. Even for the international markets we are entering, we are aligned to Make In India and are already in talks to set up a manufacturing facility in India in 2023.

    Pawan: Manufacturers must be cognizant of consumer behavior in the consumer durable industry. In addition, technological changes are taking place at a break-neck speed. We have our pulse on the market and track all the changes taking place in the sector. Elista also has a full-fledged R&D center where we study all the changes and work on innovations.

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

    Pawan: Given that we are still in the infancy stage, we track two parameters for our growth. First is our distribution width and growth in revenue. It is our endeavor to spread our presence in the country and continue to grow on a year-by-year basis. For the current year, we have set a target to achieve Rs 250 crore in revenue and looking to clock over Rs 1,500 crore by 2025.

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

    Pawan: In the past year, the biggest challenge has been the persistent demand-supply imbalances that have impacted the demand momentum. Another big challenge the industry has to face inflationary pressures due to the ongoing geopolitical situation. To overcome these, we have strengthened our India manufacturing. Despite the rise in prices, through our quality offerings, we have been able not just to sustain the demand but even grow in the categories in which we are present in.

    The burgeoning middle class in urban areas and aspirational demand from rural India is an excellent opportunity for us. We will continue to offer technologically-
    advanced, feature-rich products at competitive prices to suit their needs.

    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?

    Pawan: For us, data is oil. We use the data that we have at our disposal to cross-sell. When someone buys our product, he/she is already exposed to the product and our promise. We try to entice them with our great product offering and even offer them exciting offers and discounts to buy the following product.

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

    Pawan: Values-driven consumption in India is rising, and we have been able to tap this segment well. We have two iconic cricketers as brand ambassadors – Suresh Raina and Ishan Kishan. They have worked wonders for our brand, and we have used them well by making our packaging stand out with a popular face in the market. We are essentially strong in the Tier 2/3 brand, and to sustain our growth in these markets, we continue to invest in retail branding. We are also aware that the consumer from tier 2/3 are also digitally savvy and hence promote our brand digitally to reach out to them.

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

    Pawan: We are currently using Zoho people and Zoho Expense for the smooth functioning of our business.

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

    Pawan: There is considerable growth potential in the product categories we are operating in, as the penetration level is still low. India is a large country with diverse cultures and needs. In many ways, our country is equal to many countries in size and consumer preference. The product needs of one state can be very different from the others.

    For example, in dry areas, consumers prefer to buy desert coolers, while in many other states, the requirement is that of window coolers. We offer a diverse portfolio to cater to these varied needs. Our product promotion strategy is also customized as per the region’s preference.

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

    Pawan: Despite the inflammatory challenges, the consumer durable sector has seen healthy growth this year. This year’s most prominent lesson that we have learnt is that consumers will always continue to prioritize their needs. They will also seek affordable quality products. They may put off buying luxury products, but the demand for coolers, washing machines, and refrigerators will continue to be strong. Keeping this in mind, we will be looking at strengthening our product offerings in these segments.

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

    Pawan: We will expand our footprint in India and internationally in the coming year. We are also looking to enter into new product categories and will diversify into water dispensers and deep freezers. We are also looking at launching at expanding our presence in the trolly speakers. The team base will be enhanced, keeping these requirements in mind. We are hoping that the consumers that consumers will connect with these product categories that we are launching and will continue to trust us as they have been doing.

    StartupTalky: With so much hype around D2C brands spending on ads, what will be your growth strategy, organic or inorganic? How do you plan to work around SEO and content marketing?

    Pawan: Since we are a budding brand, we are looking for organic growth as there is a lot of scope in the market. We continue to invest strategically in enhancing our reach and are focusing on over 50 keywords.

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

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Director Deepti Sharma Highlights ThinkerPlace’s Focus on Independent Toy Making in India

    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.

    STEM DIY projects for children can help to develop their critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity skills. These projects also allow children to discover and explore their interests in STEM fields. Additionally, some STEM DIY (do-it-yourself) projects can help children develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

    It’s important to note that it’s not necessary to have advanced knowledge or skills in STEM fields to conduct STEM DIY projects with children. There are many resources and tutorials available online, and most of the projects can be done with household materials or inexpensive materials that can be found at craft stores.

    Developing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills in children is important because it can help to prepare them for the future and for the increasing number of jobs in STEM fields.

    The Ed-tech industry has seen significant growth in recent years, as technology continues to play an increasingly important role in education. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global ed-tech market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 7.5% from 2020 to 2027.

    For this Interview, we invited Deepti Sharma, Director of ThinkerPlace, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the e-learning industry.

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

    Deepti Sharma: ThinkerPlace aims to create a dynamic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) universe for kids. We make educational STEM DIY (do-it-yourself) toys that introduce various futuristic skills to them like robotics, coding, automation, IoT, and more.

    Presently, with technology being constantly updated and innovations every day, there is a high demand in the STEM industry for skilled and professional individuals. To fill in this increasing demand, a base in STEM from an early age and a career-focused education is very important. This is where ThinkerPlace comes in. We want to be the first point of contact for children and parents when
    it comes to the introduction of S.T.E.M and its infinite possibilities through our DIY educational toys.

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

    Deepti Sharma: ThinkerPlace offers a 360 Degree STEM learning experience along with DIY Toys. All our STEM DIY (do-it-yourself) Kits come with the Learning Management System which is a fun-learning platform where kids can learn many innovative skills like robotics, coding, automation, IoT, and more. With various instructional videos and 3D animations, kids can understand the various aspects of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) easily and also have a lot of fun while making the toy. Children also get expert guidance from our STEM experts when they face any problems during the learning process.

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

    Deepti Sharma: In the past few years, the government had increased import duties on Chinese toys. We are associated with different vendors across India. We always aimed to Make in India and independently make and manufacture toys in India.

    Deepti Sharma: Our research team rigorously keeps tabs on the latest toys that are launched in the market. After thorough research, they do various product tests in terms of its function and design and analyze what is working in the market and what kids will love to play with.

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

    Deepti Sharma: We use various key metrics like website visitors, conversion ratios, social media engagement, repeat customer rates, sales engagement, etc.

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

    Deepti Sharma: We are very stern about the ideology of “Make in India”. From conceptualizing to physically producing all parts of the toys and their dispatch nationally and internationally – everything is done in India. To achieve this at a national level, we have faced a lot of challenges but the results have been great.

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

    Deepti Sharma: We use various channels for marketing like Digital Marketing which is one of the most popular and effective channels to reach your target audience. Apart from that we regularly host workshops with different schools to enhance STEM Awareness. We also set up stalls and kiosks for various events and
    schools to reach our target audience and analyze what they like and what they don’t. We recently collaborated with Jio TV and Padhega Bharat to spread the roots of STEM Learning to about 50 Lakh households.

    StartupTalky: What are the essential tools and software you use to run ThinkerPlace smoothly?

    Deepti Sharma: We use tools like CRM software, accounting software, and Adobe Suite.

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

    Deepti Sharma: The future of STEM is bright. It is an in-demand stream in our country and even the government is pushing STEM Learning for children with its new guidelines in the NEP 2020 (National Education Policy 2020) The new guidelines say it is necessary for schools and educational institutes to have a learning system that is more goal-oriented and practical. This will nurture the children toward concept-building and practical thinking. ThinkerPlace has been successful in implementing the same in several schools across the country.

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

    Deepti Sharma: We faced a few challenges when we started like researching and developing unique products that the target audience will like and launching a product line that will do well in the market. Another challenge that we faced was scaling up & optimizing various digital channels to reach our target group.

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

    Deepti Sharma: Currently, ThinkerPlace is working on expanding its client base to reach the level of preschools. We have developed unique products that are well-received by children belonging to the preschool age. The launch has been pretty successful so far. ThinkerPlace has become the only company in India that provides S.T.E.M-based educational DIY (do-it-yourself) toys for preschoolers. We are also working on developing new and innovative toys to cater to a wide age group of 3 years to 14 years.

    We recently collaborated in Nigeria to set up The Rehla Academy Makerspace (TRAM), a STEM Innovation hub at The Rehla Academy, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria in partnership with TechGen Africa. We are planning to expand to other countries like the UAE and the USA to set up STEM Innovation Labs for kids. We are also working on setting up STEM labs in different schools across India. The concept behind STEM Labs is to introduce children to the complex concepts of science technology, engineering, and mathematics in a fun and exciting way.

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

    Deepti Sharma: I have always believed in learning from shortcomings. My mantra is ‘Learn Fast, Fail Fast, Move Fast’. If you fail at one thing, move on to your next solution. Never stop even if you fail, there is always a chance to start from the beginning.

    We thank Deepti Sharma for spending her valuable time and sharing her learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Jayant Pal Singh, Co-founder of FemTech India, Discusses the Nature and Services of the FemTech Startup

    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.

    FemTech, short for “Female Technology,” refers to technology and products that are specifically designed to meet the health and wellness needs of women. This can include products such as period-tracking apps, fertility-tracking devices, and telemedicine platforms for women’s health consultations. FemTech is a growing field, as technology is increasingly being used to address gaps in healthcare and improve access to information and resources for women.

    The global FemTech market is projected to reach $50 billion by 2025 with a CAGR of more than 20% during the forecast period. The growth of Femtech is driven by the increasing number of women in the workforce, rising awareness of women’s healthcare issues, and the growing adoption of digital technologies in healthcare.

    For this Interview, we invited Jayant Pal Singh, co-founder of FemTech India, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the FemTech industry.

    StartupTalky: Jayant, What services does your company provide? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Jayant Pal Singh: FemTech India is an authority on all things FemTech. The platform recognizes the need that no professional in the FemTech industry should exist in a vacuum and has created a repository of content, and curated experiences to enable the professionals to step up. FemTech India also offers curated community-based events, inspiring podcasts, exclusive databases, and cutting-edge industry insights for our audience which is reflective of the current times that we live in.

    The driving motivation to launch the platform was to raise awareness about women’s health issues, provide access to exclusive databases, and also give a roundup of contemporary news. We also aim to be a significant contributor to the women’s health technology ecosystem.

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

    Jayant Pal Singh: FemTech India offers a host of services. Some of the unique opportunities include- a convergence of domestic and global companies. The platform provides a unique opportunity for domestic companies to scale up in the international market and conversely enables global companies to step into the Indian market. The platform enables students, and FemTech enthusiasts to network and build their eminence in the space. The platform also offers hands-on workshops to FemTech Companies to help them scale up. The flagship ‘Mentorship Program’ includes individual mentorship with successful FemTech entrepreneurs as well as workshops with prominent experts. Additionally, FemTech India is also building the largest community for doctors, and FemTech enthusiasts, to foster a spirit of community building.

    On the whole, FemTech India offers an opportunity for everyone to learn from women’s health experts, share information and support each other in a safe ecosystem.

    StartupTalky: What other products/features/services you are planning to add in the coming year?

    Jayant Pal Singh: FemTech India’s flagship weekly newsletter –‘FemTech Friday’ is a snapshot of the industry insights on a weekly basis. The newsletter covers everything related to Indian FemTech and Healthcare and offers insights on new product launches, job alerts, and funding insights, among others.

    FemTech India also has its ‘Podcast Series’, which is India’s first podcast series
    focusing on creating awareness about women’s health. The podcast brings real stories from FemTech founders, health experts, legal professionals, and Industry leaders, among others. The podcast brings out inspiring stories in the form of freewheeling chat, which makes the podcast all the more relatable to the audience.

    Additionally, FemTech India also serves as a hub for Indian and Global companies to launch their products. Our platform provides a unique opportunity for FemTech
    companies to easily scale up in the geographies of their choice. We also have ‘Investment Relations’, in the pipeline to help companies get access to details of upcoming investment opportunities.

    StartupTalky: Can you share the name of some industry players associated with you?

    Jayant Pal Singh: We have FemTech companies as part of the company directory with well-known FemTech startups like Mylo, Allo Health, Sirona, Peesafe, Hummcare, Kindlyhers, Salad, Femisafe, CervAstra, Sassiest, Elda Health, Mind My Mind, Newmi, Femisafe, Prev, Mywelme, Savage Club, Healthfab and many others. These startups deal with personalized solutions for women’s menstrual hygiene products, Perimenopause, menopause, contraceptive, Pregnancy, Post-partum, sexual health, Motherhood, fertility, mental wellness, Hormone health, diagnostics, and other areas related to women’s health overall.

    We have also recently done a market entry for one of the global startup relationship apps – Coupleness (An app for your relationship). We strongly feel that relationship has a powerful influence on our health. We as a platform want to empower women’s health overall to bring positive collaborations to make a change.

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

    Jayant Pal Singh: While the term FemTech is no longer new, the industry is booming and is welcoming newer players, and the landscape is poised for a positive uptrend. In the course of just a few years, it has grown to encompass a range of technology-enabled, consumer-centric products and solutions. Depending on the scope, estimates for FemTech’s current market size range from $500 million to $1 billion and are expected to grow at a CAGR of 15-17% by 2030. Forecasts suggest opportunities for double-digit revenue growth. On the digital health front, FemTech companies currently receive 3 percent of all digital health funding.

    In the Indian market space, there are a lot of companies that are launching new
    products and services. Additionally, with the user adoption rate in the industry on the positive side, FemTech India senses a lot of opportunity in the ecosystem. With
    companies looking for smooth and streamlined ways to enter and scale up the market, most of them are driven by passion, but they lack a complete understanding of the market entry strategies in the region. FemTech India serves as the perfect strategic partner. like to offer numbers, insights, surveys, and trends in collaboration.

    Jayant Pal Singh: FemTech India has strategic advisors on board, who bring with them deep industry experience and expertise. They have roots in different countries, and each of our advisors brings a strong niche area of expertise. Through regular stand-up meetings and team check-ins, we collectively benefit from each other’s wisdom. Our advisors and team members meet regularly to discuss and analyze market trends and industry insights.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced throughout the inception journey and how did you face it?

    Jayant Pal Singh: Since the concept of FemTech is new in India, and aiming to be the first FemTech company in India to be the platform for resources on Women’s health innovation, onboarding partners was a mild hiccup for us. Further, there were mild challenges in explaining and illustrating the concept of FemTech in newer markets.

    Since the concept of ‘FemTech’ is still catching up, it was initially challenging to get
    people to open up and boldly speak up about the issues in the FemTech space. Investors are looking at most money-making segments in Femtech versus attractive segments; quick ROI is the new mantra.

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

    Jayant Pal Singh: Currently, we have been relying on social media platforms to build a niche for our brands. We have been building a strong profile for ourselves on varied platforms, for instance-we share all major updates and news through LinkedIn, which is one of the largest platforms for us to connect with professionals. On the podcast front, we have been receiving a lot of traction as we are currently the first podcast dedicated to raising awareness of women’s health.
    Additionally, we have also been holding virtual and in-person networking events.
    Both the virtual strategies and in-person networking events have been yielding
    good results for us.

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

    Jayant Pal Singh: With the world opening up newer avenues, there certainly seems to be a lot of changes. People are pivoting towards opening up in seeking to get awareness about FemTech-related issues. Further, with the awareness getting spread in the digital medium, it is becoming a lot easier for us to disseminate information. The market is poised for positive growth.

    On the business front, there is also a lot of traction on the B2B front, which will open up newer avenues of growth. E-Commerce platforms, B2C products, customized diagnostic solutions, innovative products in the women’s health category, and products that are backed by science all are likely to see an uptick in the near future.

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

    Jayant Pal Singh: Since we are less than a year old in the market, we are still in the nascent stages of growth. We are waiting to spend some more time in the market to devise future plans and strategies.

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

    Jayant Pal Singh: In terms of future plans, we are taking one step at a time. At this point in time, we are focusing on our existing Go-To-Market strategy which focuses on building the community and bridging the ecosystem together. Currently, we have over 40 companies on board and are looking to partner with and onboard newer companies on our platform.

    We are also starting workshops, which would be available to founders, academics, and any of those who are passionate about FemTech.

    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?

    Jayant Pal Singh: Right now, we are aiming to foster a spirit of community and are working on building an excellent ecosystem for FemTech. Right now, we are focusing on the community-building aspect, and are not focused on advertisement-oriented SEO or content marketing strategies.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with other founders in the industry?

    Jayant Pal Singh: We are really new to the industry and still learning. All we can say is FemTech for us is more than women’s health, it’s about women’s safety, and freedom, and making decisions about your body is a basic human right. We don’t look at FemTech as a competition, we believe that we have to be collaborative and not competitive.

    FemTech is driven by passion. Since we are all working towards one unified goal – to make women’s health better. By supporting one another, and by collectively having each other’s back. According to us, we can all achieve better as a community. The only way ahead is great partnerships and collaborations.

    We thank Jayant Pal Singh for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.