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Tag: Recap

  • India’s Massive Millennial and Gen Z Audience Is Highly Fashion-Conscious and Aspirational Says Aditya Modak, Co-founder of Gargi

    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.

    Fashion jewelry, also known as costume jewelry, is jewelry that is made to mimic the style and design of fine jewelry but is typically made with less expensive materials. This includes items such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and brooches that are often made with synthetic stones, plastic, glass, and metal alloys.

    The purpose of fashion jewelry is to provide a way for people to accessorize and add a personal touch to their outfits without the expense of fine jewelry. It also allows for a more dynamic and frequent rotation of jewelry pieces. Many brands, designers, and retailers offer a wide variety of fashion jewelry options to choose from, which allows for a lot of variety and flexibility in how people accessorize.

    According to a research report, the global fashion jewelry market was valued at USD 71.9 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.3% from 2021 to 2028. The increasing popularity of online sales channels and e-commerce platforms, rising disposable income, and changing consumer preferences are the major drivers of market growth.

    For this Interview, we invited Aditya Modak, Co-founder of Gargi Fashion Jewellery, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Fashion Jewelry industry.

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

    Aditya Modak: Gargi is a brand that is an offshoot of the iconic PNG & Sons, a 100-year-old jewelry company. The brand manufactures high-quality fashion jewelry made of sterling silver and brass. I treat Gargi as a brainchild of mine. I had the vision to transform the fashion jewelry space in India and I realized that there was a rapidly growing yet mostly unserved demand for fashionable and high-quality daily wear jewelry. The available products in the market were overpriced and of sub-standard quality. That’s why I decided to transform the space and create pieces that customers could wear with pride. My team and I envisioned Gargi and named after an ancient Indian scholar from Ramayana, to fulfill my vision.

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

    Aditya Modak: Gargi offers a wide range of products, such as Rings, Bracelets, Mangalsutras, Necklaces, Chains, Pendants, Earrings, Anklets, etc. In 2022, the company launched the Signature Collection of silver designer jewelry with over 170 products. The USPs of Gargi by PNGS are the high-quality and fashion quotient that the customers can’t get from other vendors. The brand has rapidly built a
    reputation for creating the right price products that customers can repeatedly wear for a long- time. Gargi’s jewelry is made of 92.5% sterling silver and brass.

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

    Aditya Modak:  Rising economic empowerment and purchase power have made modern consumers more aspirational, and the audience has become more receptive to fashion jewelry. A major change that is being noticed is that millennial and Gen Z customers have become more mindful of their everyday appearance. The demand for unique, high-quality, affordable fashion jewelry is growing in the social media-inspired and remote/hybrid work culture.

    Gargi has built an extensive range of jewelry products with a style and design for everyone. Gargi provides quality and style-befitting designer labels. The combination of 92.5% Sterling silver and brass ensures that the customers get great value for money. This is how Gargi has brought about a change in the market in the last year.

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    Aditya Modak:  I have worked across various profiles while working with PNGS in his career span of 12 years. While in sales, I would interact with consumers directly, and that is when I realized what the market wanted. With this rich understanding of jewelry trends and patterns, I successfully tried to bridge the market gap. Further, I follow all global fashion trends and have a great penchant for creating innovative combinations of Indian sensibilities and global trends.

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

    Aditya Modak:  We look at customer sales and which items have picked well during the quarter. This we do across all product categories. Like we offer a huge variety of earrings, here we will evaluate what kind of earrings are a hit, is plain or with stones, etc. Also, we assess the basis of geographical liking, bracelets are a hit in Maharashtra, but in the northern part of the country, it is chunky neckpieces. We also measure performance basis customer acquisition and sales of products.

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

    Aditya Modak:  As a newly launched brand in the fashion jewelry segment, Gargi had to find the right manufacturers willing to focus more on quality and craftsmanship instead of volumes. That was the biggest challenge of the year, and the brand overcame it. Today, Gargi has a reliable chain of high-quality fashion jewelry makers and an excellent brand reputation for building upon.

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

    Aditya Modak:  Gargi constantly focuses on ensuring the buyers’ unmatched quality of products and style. The brand has retained many early customers but is proliferating due to positive word-of-mouth engagement. Using 92.5% sterling silver with brass makes the products look great and superior in quality. Further, Gargi has been strategically expanding the product range by introducing new SKUs and design elements that ensure that the customers remain engaged and keep making repeat purchases.

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

    Aditya Modak: Gargi is a digital brand that leverages various aspects of digital marketing, such as SEO, search engine marketing through Google Ads, and social media campaigns on Facebook and Instagram to showcase the products. The brand’s 100-year-old legacy, courtesy of the parent company, PN Gadgil & Sons, has given it a great launchpad to benefit from.

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

    Aditya Modak: Gargi is an online retail brand that uses advanced e-commerce tools for retail and marketing. The design process is software-driven, and the latest technologies are used to craft unique pieces, each of which has a story.

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

    Aditya Modak: India’s massive millennial and Gen Z audience is highly fashion-conscious and aspirational. With internet access, even the Tier-II, Tier-III, and Tier-IV cities are now teeming with youth with clear expectations and demands regarding style. Thus, the market potential for a brand like Gargi and the overall fashion jewelry is incredible. High-quality, contemporary Indian fashion jewelry from reputed brands is bound to increase demand overseas. India has a rich cultural diversity, and the local culture often influences jewelry design choices. For instance, the jewelry that will be popular in a northeastern state will likely differ from that in Rajasthan or Tamil Nadu. The growing urban population is becoming more cosmopolitan, and good-quality jewelry has takers everywhere.

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

    Aditya Modak: While data provides insight into the movement of products, styles, etc., it can’t be considered sacrosanct. It is a very dynamic and ever-changing domain. So, while we watch movements, we also go by our overall understanding and experience.

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

    Aditya Modak: We are a designer jewelry brand like all other fashion labels; we aim to launch new collections and designs every quarter in India. The number of SKUs keeps growing for a fashion brand, and we will also be hiring talent as per the growth needs. We might be the only player in the segment with SKUs as high as 15,000 units. In the future, we will only be adding more to the offerings.

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    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?

    Aditya Modak: We are an online brand relying predominantly on social media, search engines, and content marketing channels. However, shortly, we will expand our presence to branded kiosks in shopping malls and that’s when we will adopt an omnichannel marketing approach integrating digital and conventional mediums.

    StartupTalky: So finally Aditya, One tip that you would like to share with another D2C founder?

    Aditya Modak: For any business to thrive, you need to understand your customers. Don’t get affected by what the competition does. Try maintaining your unique identity. Also, never compromise on your brand values and ethos.

    We thank Aditya Modak for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Harsh Kedia of Auburn Digital Solutions Highlights the Growing Trend of Brands Realizing the Benefits of Expanding Their Online Footprint

    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 digital marketing business helps companies promote their products or services through various online channels, such as social media, search engines, email, and websites. The goal of a digital marketing business is to increase brand awareness and drive sales through targeted and measurable campaigns.

    The CAGR of the digital marketing industry varies depending on the source and the specific sub-segment of the market being analyzed. However, generally, the global digital marketing industry has been growing at a steady pace. It is important to note that the CAGR of digital marketing is expected to grow in the future due to the increasing use of mobile devices and the growing popularity of digital channels for reaching customers.

    According to a report by KPMG, the digital advertising market in India has grown to INR 14,000 crore (approximately $2 billion) by the end of 2020, growing at a CAGR of 22.6% between 2016 and 2020.

    For this Interview, we invited Mr. Harsh S Kedia, Co-founder of Auburn Digital Solutions, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Digital Marketing industry.

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

    Harsh Kedia: We help brands build, communicate, and achieve better audience visibility through our services of performance marketing, brand-building strategy, and creative tech and communication solutions. Auburn started with the vision of offering a complete constellation of tech-oriented solutions and today we are the preferred name in offering digital solutions to clients for enhancing their online presence and customer connection. From offering AI-based marketing to brand planning and social media management to Digital PR, we offer a one-stop solution for all your scalability and sustainability needs.

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

    Harsh Kedia: In recent times, we have added a host of services to our portfolio, and prominent among these are AI-based marketing, multidimensional video production, and advanced attribution for targeted reach among prospective buyers. In addition, Auburn has also made comprehensive upgrades to its brand-building solutions while optimizing touch points for delivering brands with better reach, targeted advertisements, and superior customer engagement among others.

    The aspects of maintaining the uniqueness and offering customized solutions are the things that set us apart from our contemporaries. We are proud of our holistic and all-encompassing nature of services that ensure that brands get a complete solution for all their marketing and brand-building requirements in one place.

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

    Harsh Kedia: Although the field of digital marketing has been around for a while, it has only recently started to gain momentum in India. Today brands across industries have begun to realize the tremendous benefits associated with expanding their footprints online. This realization coupled with expanding internet access has revolutionized the digital branding space across the globe.

    Looking at today’s scenario, it can be easily concluded that we are at the cusp of digital transformation today and Auburn is fully geared to participate and contribute to this revolution. We have adapted ourselves and aligned our solutions to meet the fast-changing requirements of clients who want to make it big in the digital world. Auburn today offers the most advanced and sophisticated constellation of digital branding services which are helping brands to effectively scale and sustain their digital branding strategy.

    Harsh Kedia: At Auburn Digital Solutions, we keep a close tab on the changing trends by maintaining constant touch with each and every stakeholder in the business ecosystem. we interact constantly with our clients and gather feedback from them to make necessary changes in our solutions and services. We also closely monitor the pulse of customers and upcoming shifts in the industry by becoming part of international conferences, seminars, symposiums, and other leading events that happen in the domain of digital marketing and allied fields. In addition, we exchange ideas with creative teams, marketing executives, and advertisement professionals in other industries as it helps us to incorporate novel approaches to our brand-building efforts.

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

    Harsh Kedia: Customer satisfaction is a key metric, and we work closely with clients to understand service levels for each account and accordingly make the necessary changes to further, enhance the effectiveness of our solutions. Customer-centric programs that increase retention or advocacy are the second important metric we carefully track to get an accurate idea of how well are our services being received by clients.

    Further, the performance of the organization on both top-line and bottom-line
    parameters of growth such as sales, revenue, profitability, and margin are being
    constantly tracked for evaluating the performance of the company.

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

    Harsh Kedia: The fast-changing nature of the business environment is the biggest challenge that we continue to face in our industry. Especially, the segment of digital marketing is highly volatile which mandates us to constantly evaluate and upgrade our services and solutions.

    We have also witnessed the advent of a large number of digital advertising agencies, leading to more intensified competition in the segment. Further, we operate in a very dynamic industry, so training new hires and subsequently keeping them on board is among the prominent challenges faced by
    us in the past. Although it has been ingrained in us to always be on the lookout for
    new trends, we are inevitably going to miss a few, as indicated, due to the dynamic
    nature of the work we do.

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

    Harsh Kedia: We at Auburn have cultivated a culture of customer-centricity in our functional procedures and operational mechanisms. We exercise the highest level of transparency and work ethics in our business which has helped us to deliver excellent services to our clients. In fact, we have gone to the extent of classifying the job descriptions for various roles in our company in terms of the needs and demands of the customers. Further, we never shirk from making investments in upgrading our services and this has helped us to remain ahead of the learning curve and deliver industry-leading solutions to our clients.

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

    Harsh Kedia: Auburn offers a host of strategies and brand-building solutions for companies to achieve their desired goals and performance in digital marketing and branding requirements. We have excelled in conceptualizing the fundamental aspects of strategic marketing for our clients that include segmentation, targeting, and positioning.

    On the tactical side of the marketing sphere, we offer holistic solutions
    for generating leads, updating social media strategy, creating digital advertisements, and optimizing web pages to garner better visibility and audience interaction. In terms of pulling off a growth hack, we have managed to grow a discount brokerage firm into one of India’s largest stock brokers and have reduced their acquisition costs drastically.

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

    Harsh Kedia: We are fast expanding our global footprints as more prospective clients from countries all across the world are approaching us for digital marketing solutions. We have already expanded our customer base in Canada, the US, and the Middle East, and in the coming years, we expect to cover more countries for achieving high growth in business and profitability. Our experience of working with overseas clients has been fantastic and we would like to further up the momentum of acquiring more foreign clients in the coming years.

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

    Harsh Kedia: Integration of Technology has always remained one of the priority areas of our business. We have successfully integrated new-age solutions such as AI, ML, and automation into our services and continue to experiment with advanced innovations for delivering the best solutions to prospective clients. Our team makes extensive use of Similarweb Pro and for managing media buying and reporting, we use DV360 and Data Studio among others. Moz, Screaming frog, Radian 6, and Simplify 360 for ORM are other tools that are used by us to deliver digital marketing solutions to our clients.

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

    Harsh Kedia: The Digital Revolution is upon us and it has undoubtedly opened new avenues of opportunities for all stakeholders in the business ecosystem. We are witnessing a surge in demand for digital advertisements, brand building, and global marketing outreach campaigns. The influence of digital is also becoming very much apparent in the penetration of OTT, social-media influence, and the rise of virtual worlds in the form of metaverse platforms. To help clients make the most of these opportunities, we have aligned our solutions and upgraded our strategies with new-age innovations and creative technology.

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

    Harsh Kedia: The market dynamics are changing continuously and hence, our team continues to remain focused on changing references of prospective clients. We have very well recognized that in this fast-changing business world, we have to remain agile, nimble, and focused to deliver the highest standards of customer satisfaction. We cannot solely rely on AI and ML as the importance of human touch and service orientation is equally important to achieve the best of both worlds.

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

    Harsh Kedia: We are aggressively working towards providing a digital transformation experience to our clients. We are investing a significant amount of money in technology and strive to build one of the largest digital marketing agencies in India with a significant global presence. The efforts are on to further develop and expand our existing portfolio of services so that the company comes across as a holistic and one-stop solution for all needs related to digital marketing and brand-building exercises in the world of marketing.

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

    Harsh Kedia: Instead of waiting for an opportunity to knock on your door, keep knocking on the doors of opportunities. It’s India Inc. time, thus we should work incredibly hard to achieve a massive global scale like what the US and UK witnessed in the past. Our country is going to be the next growth engine for the global economy and digital transformation is going to play a crucial role in multiplying prosperity across the globe.

    We thank Mr. Harsh Kedia for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Neil Unadkat Co-founder and CTO of Intangles Lab, Advises to Prioritize Solution Development Over Feature Selling

    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.

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is being increasingly used in the field of mobility to improve the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of transportation systems. The goal of mobility planning is to create transportation systems that are sustainable, efficient, and equitable for all users. This can be achieved through a combination of infrastructure improvements, policy changes, and education and outreach programs.

    Mobility planning is the process of designing and implementing transportation systems that are efficient, safe, and accessible for all users. The field of mobility planning has grown in recent years as more emphasis has been placed on creating sustainable, efficient, and accessible transportation systems.

    According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the global smart mobility market is expected to grow from $66.34 billion in 2020 to $173.75 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 21.7% during the forecast period. This growth is driven by factors such as increasing urbanization, the need for sustainable transportation, and advancements in technology. However, please note that this information is based on a specific market research report, and the actual growth rate may vary depending on the specific sources and data.

    For this Interview, we invited Mr. Neil Unadkat, Co-founder and CTO of Intangles Lab Pvt. Ltd., and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Mobility industry.

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

    Neil Unadkat: Intangles Lab started operations in 2016. Our passion for data sciences and automobile technologies led us to the exploration of On-Board Diagnostics data streams on commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses, which opened doors to a vast arena of opportunities.

    With a clear use case in sight, we developed our hardware interface capable of collecting data from CV (Commercial Vehicle) platforms across OEMs, fuel injection, and emissions technologies. This was augmented with a state-of-the-art edge-to-cloud communication backbone and a suite of proprietary algorithms targeted toward predictive health alerts, driver behavior profiling, fuel pilferage, and geospatial intelligence.

    Our vision is to become the global de facto standard for predictive AI in mobility. Our solutions are focused on the health of the vehicle, driver behavior analysis, and efficient operations automation. We have taken the approach of creating digital twins of specialized power-train functions such as battery charging, engine cooling, fuel injection, and assisted air intake. Historic and real-time data helps deliver alerts of possible failures, leading to a significant reduction in the on-road breakdown of vehicles, thereby increasing operational hours and lowering maintenance/repair costs.

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

    Neil Unadkat: In 2022, we launched a new Inline Driving Scorecard feature that enables fleet operators to monitor and analyze erroneous driving practices and incentivizes good driving behavior. The Scorecard provides accurate feedback on
    gear utilization trends, idling instances, and other erroneous driving practices, thereby improving fuel efficiency and the overall health of the vehicle. It takes into consideration different driving and ambient conditions and vehicle specifications. Fleet operators witnessed an impressive 12-15% improvement in fuel economy on utilizing the feature.

    2022 marked our foray into vigorous revamps in the EV sector. We built comprehensive feature sets around cloud-integrated range prediction. Range prediction has always been a major roadblock when it comes to the widespread adoption of EVs and different vehicles on the same route are found to exhibit a high level of variance in battery discharge rates (2%-15%).

    In addition to that, the Digital Information System (DIS) estimates of Distance To Empty (DTE) are highly unreliable. As a result, ad hoc charging sessions based on spurious DTE readings lead to schedule disruption. Intangles’ platform provides comprehensive data on the number of charging cycles from the moment our device is installed on the vehicle, as well as backtracked data from the moment the vehicle hits the roads. This is done by taking into account the Battery Management System (BMS) degradation levels over time. We also provide accurate SOC and DTE predictions considering varying ambient and driving conditions. In addition to weather forecasts, the model has been trained to make predictions around motor torque, wheel speed, and sunset-sunrise trends, which influence HVAC and lighting. This multi-parametric approach enables consistently accurate predictions across dynamic ambients, traffic conditions, and routes.

    Our core differentiator is the derivation of easily discernible, actionable insights from complex telemetry data streams targeted at fulfilling the KPIs of the everyday fleet manager. These envelopes have highly accurate performance statistics (fuel consumption, distance, run hours), predictive alerts for failure with the highest levels of precision, diagnostics alerts with elaborate metadata (causes, repair strategies), and comprehensive reports on schedules and pilferages.

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

    Neil Unadkat: Over the last couple of years, the automotive industry has undergone significant changes. The government’s introduction of new policies and norms has facilitated the development of new and complex technology. These developments have also been accompanied by complications for fleet operators as the inflow of massive amounts of data and the number of unknown variables when the vehicle is on the road keeps increasing. The technology has progressed by leaps and bounds and demands that operators keep pace.

    Our solutions are aimed at helping them navigate these challenges by adapting and updating our technology in accordance with the latest trends. We also aim to provide them with better visibility into their fleets using our ML-driven data insights. This has facilitated better profitability for our customers, growth for our organization, and new and better technology for the industry at large.

    Neil Unadkat: We always encourage interactive and productive discussions with our end users regarding their pain points and difficulties. Our efforts are aimed at centering our offerings based on these discussions. In addition, on-field real-
    time feedback     provided by our fleet operator partners gives us scrupulous insights into the latest trends in the industry.

    When it comes to our OEM partners, we are constantly in touch with experts and thought leaders who drive the industry toward growth. These conversations help us better understand upcoming and projected developments within the industry.

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

    Neil Unadkat: If we talk about metrics and performance, there are a few things I would like to highlight.  

    • We are constantly generating around 1,00,000 predictive alerts per month, which has enabled as much as a 75% reduction in breakdown events.
    • Tracking over 400,000 liters of fuel pilferage through our devices equipped in Indian fleets.
    • Recording a 20-30% improvement in driver behavior through our monitoring of 20+ driver behavior exceptions.
    • Bringing about a 10-30% increase in asset availability owing to a reduction in vehicle breakdowns.
    • Helping reduce vehicle maintenance costs by 5-10%.

    We have witnessed staggering growth when it comes to revenue. As of today, we have onboarded 7 OEMs in the 11 countries where we are now operating. Furthermore, the platform already has over 8,000 fleet operators. We enroll around 800 fleet operators every month and collect an astounding 5 billion sensory data points per day. We estimate 5x growth in FY’23, with some of the top brands in mobility already signed up as customers.

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

    Neil Unadkat: The most significant challenge we have faced in the past year has been keeping up with our staggering growth numbers. We have been pouring all our efforts into upholding the quality standards of our solutions while sustaining our growth. Ensuring that our customers get only the best-in-class service has been our foremost priority, and to maintain that, we have been multiplying our resources on all fronts. We have also had to assess, evaluate and rethink some of our strategies going forward to sustain the progress.

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

    Neil Unadkat: Our aim has always been to ensure our customers overcome the issues they originally approached us with. After resolving those issues, we direct our efforts to keep up with the varying demands of the market to meet their requirements. This is accomplished through constant updation and revamping of our technology and customer experience strategies.

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

    Neil Unadkat: Globally, we have a diverse range of fleet operators in the automotive sector, but they majorly end up suffering from similar pain points. Their efforts are focused on increasing the efficiency of their fleets, gaining better
    visibility, avoiding breakdowns and malfunctions along with saving on expenses. After gaining a comprehensive understanding of our value propositions and solutions, operators across different demographics are keen on adapting our technology.

    We aspire to become the Digital Twin Open-Source Software (OSS) of the world across every segment. Our vision is to bring the power of Digital Twin technology to every segment across the globe so that it is accessible and benefits everyone. While we are cementing our position in the Indian mobility ecosystem, the prospect of new opportunities in North America, Europe, Australia, and APAC is highly promising. Our remarkable development and expansion story exemplifies the game-changing potential of Predictive Analytics enabled by Digital Twin technology. We will continue our efforts to redefine performance benchmarks in mobility and transportation in FY’23.

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

    Neil Unadkat: The majority of the tools we use have been custom-built by us internally and are well-integrated to fulfill the core applications and requirements of our product. We have also integrated third-party systems for internal tooling in
    functions like sales, inventory, and production planning.

    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 between India and the world?

    Neil Unadkat: The Indian government has been heavily investing in improving road infrastructure. We also project significant growth in long-haul travel and last-mile deliveries. The nation is embracing a more connected ecosystem to use data to understand and improve every element within the system. Data sharing positively impacts the operations, service, maintenance, routing, dispatch, and other core functions of a fleet. With more connected vehicles hitting the road and sharing extensive data, the industry is scheduled to be the fastest-growing segment in terms of machine-to-machine connections.

    Electric vehicles have also generated a stir across the industry, with factors like sustainability and efficiency at the forefront. Moreover, automakers are continuously increasing their efforts to provide a diverse range of AI-driven features. For instance, complex driver monitoring systems that evaluate driving behavior, cognitive-behavioral processes, and vehicle health diagnostics are being designed using machine and deep learning algorithms.

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

    Neil Unadkat: We are aiming to deploy our devices across the entire Commercial Vehicle segment. This also involves vigorous revamps in the Electric Vehicle segment through our extensive Ambient Cognitive AI technology that gives you
    real-world performance numbers. We are helping organizations meet the regulatory emission norms in accordance with CPCB – 4 and IUMPR requirements according to OBD regulations. We are also working towards bringing Over-The-Air (OTA) software updates for the ECUs. We are helping fleet operators stay ahead of the curve by getting better visibility on complex powertrains and simplified analysis of their fleet’s health and daily operations.

    To keep pace with our massive demand in the market, we need to maintain a growing workforce that can excel and fulfill requirements. To sustain a growth rate of over 200% year-on-year, we are expanding our workforce on multiple levels throughout the organization. In line with our expansion plans, we plan to expand our workforce domestically and internationally.

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

    Neil Unadkat: Your primary focus should be on developing solutions rather than feature selling. As long as your organization is able to solve a customer’s problems, they will always be open to working and experimenting collaboratively on new features and developments.

    We thank Mr. Neil Unadkat for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Iesh Dixit, Founder and CEO of Powerplay, Discusses How Smart Management Is Helping the Construction Sector Reduce Costs and Time

    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 construction industry in India is a significant contributor to the country’s economy, with a market size of around $126 billion in 2019. The construction industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% during the period of 2020-2025. The report also states that the Indian construction industry is expected to reach a market size of around $340 billion by 2025.

    The Indian construction industry is characterized by a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and unorganized players, with only a few large companies. The sector is also known for its low productivity and low-profit margins. The government’s ‘Housing for All’ initiative, increasing infrastructure development, and rising foreign investment in the real estate sector is expected to drive growth in the Indian construction industry in the coming years.

    For this Interview, we invited Iesh Dixit, Founder & CEO of Powerplay, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Construction Industry.

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

    Iesh Dixit: Powerplay is a freemium app to simplify communication between construction sites and central office teams. It enables specialty contractors, general contractors, and builders to manage site work, materials, and labor on its SaaS platform.

    The platform has multiple modules that offer palpable convenience through its framework of seamless interoperability. The offered free modules are made readily available for the site teams to use on Android, iOS, and web browsers.

    The premium modules include project management, financial management, and procurement management services, which are suitable for office teams. Located in Bengaluru, Powerplay, the SaaS-based construction management platform was founded by Shubham Goyal and me (Iesh Dixit), in the year 2020.

    The initial spark was ignited when my father was building a house for my family, giving me a glimpse into how time and budget estimations go wrong in the Construction industry. But at that time, I never understood the reason for the same.

    Fast forward a couple of years, when Shubham and I moved in together in
    Bangalore to continue their entrepreneurial journey, We decided to get their apartment renovated, and this time again both the budget and timeline were exceeded by 40% — Forcing us to stay with the carpenter and painter for a week to keep the cost & time under control and understand the problem.

    We wondered how such delays affected larger projects if smaller projects like this faced so many issues. That’s when We realized that owners lose a lot of money when construction projects exceed budgets and timelines. We both validated the problem by spending weeks on multiple construction sites and started to build technology to solve those problems. Making plenty of mistakes along the way, we have got some fantastic clients now and a long way to go.

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

    Iesh Dixit: Construction is one of the key contributors to the Indian economy but still uses clunky and archaic solutions. We are helping the sector to reduce its construction costs and time by enabling smart management via the use of technology. We are on a larger mission of accelerating the growth of socioeconomic infrastructure in the country.

    We provide a SaaS base application to construction clients to track and manage their labor, material, and tasks. Meticulously tracking these day-in-day-out details is a painful task for construction businesses. They generally use traditional methods like pen-paper, WhatsApp, and excel spreadsheets to track these details on a daily basis. With Powerplay, we help them reduce their construction cost and time by carefully managing all on-site stakeholders at ease.

    The platform also provides features like – Geo Tagging, Org Level Dashboard, Multiple-languages, etc. It is available on Android, iOS, and the Web.

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

    Iesh Dixit: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, like all other industries, real estate and construction have adopted technology in their day-to-day construction management activities. During the lockdowns, it was difficult for site managers to travel to sites and get real-time updates. We saw an opportunity here as we were doing the right thing at right time. With the Powerplay app, the on-site team can now update their supervisors regarding tasks, labor, and material at a click. When we started in 2020, the task module was the key requirement as site supervisors were keener on observing progress while they worked from home. And since then, we identified two more pain points of construction management and introduced them on our app – labor and material management.

    Iesh Dixit: Being closely connected with our paying and non-paying customers helps us with grass-root-level insights. And this has helped us grow tremendously since our inception. Our teams regularly connect with users and visit sites to understand their pulse, and take corrective actions accordingly.

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

    Iesh Dixit: Being in the growth phase, alongside MMR, we currently very closely measure the number of active users (users who use Powerplay more than 4 days a week) and their engagement with the platform.

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

    Iesh Dixit: Moving people from traditional platforms like Whatsapp and excel was one of the biggest challenges. Bringing a behavioral change is never an easy task. With our freemium approach, people started ‘trailing’ and slowly were confident and motivated enough to access the paid premium version of the platform.

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    StartupTalky: Customer Success has become more important than ever. How do you keep your customer engaged to stop churn?

    Iesh Dixit: With customer centricity as one of our key approaches, we believe in delivering a positive experience for our customers, paid or unpaid. In order to stop churn, we introduce and upsell new features which may be beneficial for their business. We also have a strict policy of resolving customer grievances within a set turn-around time.

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

    Iesh Dixit: At present, our key goal is to build a community of active users who engage deeply on the platform. We have a community on Instagram (@CivilEngineersDiary) which has close to 900K followers. With this page, we are trying to build a strong connection with civil engineers and the on-site engineers’ community. Also, we are using a mix of ATL and BTL marketing activities. Digital Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Referral, PR, E-mail, etc are some mediums we are currently using to create a buzz amongst the target group. Being an extremely niche market, we are yet to explore our fullest potential via marketing.

    StartupTalky: Content marketing and Community building are something everyone is talking about in SaaS, How do you plan to leverage that?

    Iesh Dixit: The success of a SaaS product is highly dependent on the number of active and engaged people on the platform, and hence it gets extremely essential to keep the target group hooked. While content marketing may help in acquiring new clients or generating interest, it is the platform ultimately that will decide how far will they engage. For this, robust troubleshooting, behavior research, and delivering features or updates even before the client thinks of them are extremely necessary. While we do all this, we never forget to keep the app – simple and easy to use. That’s the secret mantra to keep audiences engaged.

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

    Iesh Dixit: Slack and Google suite are the basic software we use company-wide to work effectively. Parallelly, individual teams use much other software like Trello, Whimsical, Mix Panel, etc for their internal work and task tracking.

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

    Iesh Dixit: We launched our product in the US market this year, and by far we have observed minimal differences. While we do have competition in the US market, most of the existing players are currently focusing only on monetization and revenue.

    We would rather want to focus on the user engagement aspect as that is very crucial for scalability. Hence the opportunity is immense. However, the US has more tech-savvy blue-collar workers and higher penetration of iOS users when compared to India.

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

    Iesh Dixit: We have collectively learnt that it is user engagement over monetization. I am sure that this learning will help us grow much faster as a PLG SaaS company globally.

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

    Iesh Dixit: National and international expansion is on our radar. We are working toward making self-serve software and building intuitive product flows. This would reduce human intervention and help us scale faster. While we are expecting to grow our OS user base, we are committed to delivering a glitch-free experience as we scale. To meet this promise, we are working towards expanding our tech team by bringing in a few industry leaders.

    Expanding our software offering to cater to wider segments of global users is our immediate action plan. With the high penetration of iOS users in the US market, creating a universal application that runs cohesively across platforms (android, iOS, and web) will be our key focus area for the next few months.

    StartupTalky: Iesh finally, one tip that you would like to share with another SaaS founder?

    Iesh Dixit: Focus on user engagement and not monetization in the initial phase of your SaaS business.

    We thank Iesh Dixit for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Reviving the Art of Handcrafted Sarees: Ritu Oberoi, Founder of ForSarees, Shares the Need for High-Quality Sarees in Major Cities

    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 saree market in India is a large and diverse market, with a wide variety of sarees available to suit different occasions, styles, and budgets. The saree is a traditional garment that is worn by women in India, and it is considered to be an elegant and versatile piece of clothing.

    In the financial year 2021, the size of the Indian market for sarees, blouses, and petticoats amounted to INR 288 billion, with an estimate of INR 616.67 billion for 2025.

    Sarees are made from a wide variety of fabrics, including silk, cotton, georgette, chiffon, and more. There are many different types of sarees available in the Indian market, each with its own unique characteristics and designs. Some popular types of sarees include Banarasi sarees, Kanjeevaram sarees, Patola sarees, Paithani sarees, and more.

    The saree market has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales have dropped significantly due to lockdowns and closures of physical stores; however, eCommerce platforms have seen a significant boost in saree sales.

    For this Interview, we invited Ritu Oberoi, Founder of ForSarees, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Traditional handloom/Saree industry.

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

    Ritu Oberoi: ForSarees is a platform selling diverse ethnic handcrafted and handloom sarees from different parts of India. I have always been in love with sarees since my college days, and it is a form of dress that crores of Indian women wear every single day.

    However, I was surprised when I discovered that major metro cities needed more high-quality handcrafted sarees. Barring occasional exhibitions or special events, one didn’t see the authentic handloom sarees at most regular saree showrooms. I knew that ample talent and artisans regularly made such sarees, but they suffered due to the lack of market access. That motivated me to build ForSarees as a D2C brand for handmade sarees.

    StartupTalky: Ritu if we talk about ForSarees in specific, what other products/features have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Ritu Oberoi: All sarees from ForSarees are 100% authentic handicraft pieces. I have traveled extensively across India to identify the right talent, and we have established clusters in several states to manufacture the sarees.

    The biggest USP of ForSarees has been finding the right artisans to build a supply chain free of any middlemen. Like there is farm to table concept in agriculture, we have created a channel where handcrafted sarees from artisans are being directly offered to buyers in metro cities through our online platform. We are unique even in terms of quality, authenticity, and affordability of the sarees on the platform. Besides running the eCommerce portal, ForSarees is involved in various developmental projects and supports rural empowerment and gender inclusivity.

    StarupTalky: How has the traditional handloom/saree industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Ritu Oberoi: Sarees have been a perennial favorite among Indian women, and many of them wear sarees daily. However, the industry, especially the retail operators in metro cities, needs to improve in high-quality handmade sarees.

    The talented artisans from rural areas don’t have adequate market access despite the demand for handcrafted sarees in the metros. That’s an area ForSarees
    has managed to address this by building an online platform showcasing collections of sarees by weavers and handlooms from various states. Our digital platform works in tandem with rural artisans and enables customers to buy high-quality sarees directly. Thus, the sarees are authentic, superior in quality, and affordable. This is how we overcome market challenges and improve things for all stakeholders.

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    Ritu Oberoi: ForSarees sells authentic, ethnic, handmade sarees. The artisans design the sarees as per the signature styles of each type and contemporary sensibilities.

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

    Ritu Oberoi: We track sales and customer talking points. Direct sales are never the direct impact. There are always things like people liking the product and not buying it, but they do recommend it to some more friends. Hence we look at overall feedback, and our feedback mechanism is good.

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

    Ritu Oberoi: The biggest challenges we constantly faced were finding the right talent and building an ecosystem where the artisans could generate a steady monthly income by working with ForSarees. We have set up clusters of artists in different states where they make sarees and sell them online through our platform without any middlemen.

    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?

    Ritu Oberoi: The market we target is humongous, and women who wear ethnic sarees seek high-quality and authentic pieces. We scored highly on both parameters and keep contemporary styling and design trends in mind. Thus, every saree from ForSarees is exquisite and affordable hand-crafted brilliance. This has kept our customers happy; many have worn our sarees for years.

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

    Ritu Oberoi: We rely on multiple modes with a prime focus on content and influencer marketing. We have associated with several actors, celebrities, and social media influencers like Vidya Balan and Renuka Shahane, who have worn our sarees on different occasions. We promote the sarees by frequently sharing style guides and dress recommendations to make our audience aware of the easy access to authentic handmade sarees facilitated by ForSarees. It has helped us significantly.

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

    Ritu Oberoi: We use tools like Zoho for our CRM, Shiprocket for delivery, HubSpot for content marketing, and the Sumo app for business ideas and creatives for social media.

    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?

    Ritu Oberoi: There is incredible demand for handmade sarees in Indian metro cities and through e-commerce portals like ForSarees, a change is being ushered in. In the past, conventional saree outlets offered very few affordable handmade saree options.

    However, the D2C retail model is transforming the scenario, and we will see the segment proliferate in the times ahead.

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

    Ritu Oberoi: As a team, we realized that one market channel and single sales channels aren’t enough; hence, we are building up parallel channels to create better brand value and revenue streams. In the future, we will experiment with many more things like new products, new modes of marketing and sales, etc.

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

    Ritu Oberoi: We plan to popularize traditional Indian crafts in urban and modern setups. ForSarees has already achieved significant success in this arena. We work with new artist clusters each year and are onboarding more handloom weavers from the existing clusters. This has helped us expand the variety and diversity of product categories. We will be introducing new product categories such as stoles, scarves, home décor items, and even utility gifts in the times to come.

    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?

    Ritu Oberoi: We rely heavily on SEO, content, and influencer marketing initiatives. Successful women such as entrepreneurs, social media influencers, actors, and celebrities serve as role models and style icons. When women see personalities like Vidya Balan wear our sarees, they take note. This strategy has worked well for us, and we will continue to leverage it in the future.

    StartupTalky: Ritu, one tip that you would like to share with other d2c founders?

    Ritu Oberoi: Keep going, persistence is the key to success.

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

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • The Lending Industry Is Now Focused On Customer Delivery and Delightful Experience- Ajay Chaurasia of RupeeRedee

    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.

    Digital lending refers to the process of borrowing and lending money using online platforms and digital tools. This can include peer-to-peer lending platforms, online banks, and traditional financial institutions that offer digital loan applications and services.

    Digital lending has become increasingly popular in recent years due to the convenience and speed of the process, as well as the potential for lower borrowing costs. The lending market in India grew to Rs 174.3 lakh crore in March 2022, up by 11.1 % on an annual basis, as compared to March 2021. However, it is important to carefully research and compare different digital lending options to ensure that you are getting the best terms and rates available.

    For this Interview, we invited Mr. Ajay Chaurasia, VP of Marketing, Product & Business, RupeeRedee, where we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the lending industry.

    StartupTalky: Ajay, please tell us about RupeeRedee and the vision & motivation behind starting it.

    Ajay Chaurasia: RupeeRedee is a Digital Lending company with an NBFC license to offer lending solutions to Indian customers across the country. We are a tech-enabled company in the financial sector solving gaps in the lending industry with customers.

    Even if it’s 2022, India still has a huge population that is not connected to Digital Banking and Lending Solutions. There is a huge population of Underserved customers, who cannot get a loan from a bank or a big NBFC as they might not have ITR or Proper documentation to take a loan.

    Also, the ticket size that we offer is customized which allows our users to take loans for small purposes as well. The vision is to reach out to the masses and offer them our services when they are in need and fulfill their short-term dreams.

    StartupTalky: Ajay, according to you what are the USPs of your products?

    Ajay Chaurasia: Well since we deal in digital lending, we try to customize loan products for the users and we offer many options like multiple tenors, instant availability and credit check, paperless process, strong KYC process, IMPS transfers post-approval.

    StartupTalky: Ajay, if we talk about the lending industry in particular, how has the Lending industry changed in recent years and how has RupeeRedee adapted to these changes?

    Ajay Chaurasia: Industry has grown more than 2X in recent years as more and more Indians are coming onboard on such platforms for their needs. Technology has enabled every industry to grow and offer the best experience. India has moved on to a mobile app-driven user base, and because of this, the financial sector has transformed drastically. The entire sector has become fast and is now focused on customer delivery and delightful experience.
    Our company has also adopted the same and designed the product accordingly to offer the best to customers and compete with our competition.

    Ajay Chaurasia: RupeeRedee is a part of the IAMAI Fintech convergence council. We also monitor the market, and RBI Guidelines, and thanks to Media stories, we get to know the changes.

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

    Ajay Chaurasia: In our sector growth is dependent upon multiple factors. User Acquisition, User retention, No of loans Disbursals, Repayments, loan portfolio, Collection efficiency. As a Fintech– NBFC we have to look after all the aspects to track growth and stay in profit.

    StartupTalky: You talked about metrics and performances, what were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Ajay Chaurasia: Getting new customers was a challenge in the market as there were so many big giants and players already available. Attracting new customers, building trust and branding was a big challenge for us. We expanded our acquisition channels in the last year. Reached out to the masses via different media. Made a market-fit product to communicate the needs of the customers.

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

    Ajay Chaurasia: We have been using multiple strategies which should be our secret. But broadly we use Affiliate partners, Online campaigns, OEM Channels, Social Media platforms, google, and many publishers-based campaigns to reach out to our audience and deliver the promise.

    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?

    Ajay Chaurasia: Fintech and Lending industry has huge opportunities in the coming time while doing any type of transaction has already become very easy in today’s time which opens up accessibility to consumers in India.

    The world is becoming one, we can see companies crossing borders, Cross border payments are becoming easier. Global brands are connected with multiple fintech based on the countries they are providing their services. There is still a huge population in India and the World who are still connected with Mainstream banking.

    Every state in India has different consumer behavior, values, culture, and languages. This is why most brands have multilingual apps and websites to connect with consumers. Some states have a high demand for certain products, some states have different income groups. Some have different age groups. We have to analyze each city with Pin Codes while running a business like lending to map the risk of the consumers.

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

    Ajay Chaurasia: We certainly know “what not to do” in the coming year. What we can do is still in the plan, we will try to achieve the same for the growth of the company and the satisfaction of our consumers. There is an area for improvement in everything that we do. We also have plans to improve and be better than last year. Our future plans can be summarized in the below points.
    ● Increase customer base
    ● Improve customer satisfaction
    ● Build new products
    ● Improve our position in the Industry

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

    Ajay Chaurasia: We have plans to increase, thanks to Digital Media and Networks getting customers today is not a problem. Problem is to convert them by offering the right fit product. We have tied up with some big agencies and networks to boost traffic on our App and Web Platform.

    Product and team base always increase with the demand and rise in the business. We have been hiring and doubling the size of the team in the last 1 year. We will see how 2023 unfolds for us.

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

    Ajay Chaurasia: Don’t daydream of only making money, today entrepreneurship has been linked with success and money. But in reality, the path to success is very difficult. Do your research, understand the basic things of the business you want to start, and then take the risk. Improve yourself every day and handle the challenges. If all things go well, you never know, maybe you could be building the next unicorn for India and generating jobs.

    We thank Ajay Chaurasia for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Businesses Must Build the Right Mix of Online and Offline Sales Points- Mr. Harshwardhan Patwardhan, Founder of Chappers

    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 footwear industry has grown significantly in recent years, driven by a number of factors like an increase in consumer demand, advancements in technology, and the growth of e-commerce.

    People are becoming more conscious of fashion and are willing to spend more money on high-quality footwear. Additionally, consumers are also becoming more health-conscious and are looking for footwear that provide comfort and support.

    Advances in technology have also played a role in the growth of the footwear industry. New materials and manufacturing techniques have allowed for the creation of new, innovative footwear products.

    Another trend that is driving growth in the footwear industry is the increase in customization and personalization of shoes. With the rise of 3D printing and other technologies, it is becoming easier for consumers to create their own unique shoe designs.

    The Indian footwear market is valued at approximately $13 billion in 2020 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 12% during the forecast period from 2021 to 2028. The production of footwear in India reached around 2.8 billion pairs in the year 2020.

    For this Interview, we invited Harshwardhan Patwardhan, Founder of Chappers, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the footwear industry.

    StartupTalky: Harshwardhan, What’s Chappers all about? What was the motivation/ vision with which you started?

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: Chappers is a footwear brand that offers customization to anyone who loves to have their style using AR technology. We offer various styles right, from Kolhapuri Chappals to Belgian loafers, mojdis, Peshawari sandals, and more, for both men and women.

    I have been fond of Kolhapuri chappals since college, and when I went to study in the UK, I took my favorite footwear along. It received much appreciation from my friends and other people around me, but the only challenge around wearing Kolhapuris was the need for more color and design. This gave me the idea to build a world-class footwear brand that could offer unmatched design and color innovations and give Kolhapuris a contemporary avatar. This is the vision with which I started my journey with Chappers.

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

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: Chappers is a brand unlike any other in the Indian footwear market. We have created a unique fusion of Indian and western footwear to create stylish, high-quality, durable, and comfortable footwear. Alongside expanding the range of Chappers customized footwear, Chappers, which started as a men’s footwear brand, recently introduced some SKUs for female customers with the festive and wedding footwear demand in mind. The uniqueness of Chappers lies in the usage of cutting-edge design and AR technology in order placement. We encourage our customers to create designs with colors, materials, and even personal symbols or accessories for footwear.

    Thus, our customers can make their style statement through footwear. This kind of designer footwear is offered to them at far more affordable prices than other international brands providing such services.

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

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: The footwear industry has been steadily growing in size over the years. However, there has yet to be growth when it comes to innovation. All major brands keep producing thousands of pairs of almost identical-looking footwear. Chappers has identified the unaddressed demand for personalization and introduced a cutting-edge software-driven approach that ensures limitless creativity and options for personalizing footwear. Along with high quality and the right price, our footwear has been gaining rapid market acceptance and is now available for delivery all over India from our e-commerce portal. Customers can also order the footwear through our offline stores in Pune, and we are working towards expanding our retail network to different parts of the country.

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: I attend most of the industry events and exhibitions. It is inspiring to see how Indian entrepreneurs are coming up with newer technology and innovative manufacturing techniques. I also research many foreign brands that have made a mark on the footwear world, like Christian Louboutin, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Giuseppe Zannotti.

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

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: We track Month on Month sales growth and the number of customer touchpoints added. We want all Indians to experience the power of customization. We believe our model will change the footwear industry forever.

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

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: In the early stages of Chappers’ evolution, we faced challenges related to the procurement of raw materials. Still, we overcame those through extensive research and visits to leather makers across Maharashtra, especially the Mumbai region. In recent times, we have had challenges with the pandemic. Still, we have built a full-fledged eCommerce website to ensure that customers can order Chappers footwear from their homes across India now and get them delivered in three to four days from order placement.

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

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: Chappers is a one-of-its-kind footwear brand in India. We offer customers freedom of choice to get their footwear made the way they want. We have built a patented AR software that lets them choose materials and colors and add personalized elements such as accessories or signs. They can visualize the look and feel of the product through AR tools, and if they are satisfied with the design, they can finalize it and place an order. This is the only brand currently offering right-priced footwear options in this country. This has been a critical driver for Chappers retaining its customers and getting many repeat orders. Even the comfort and quality of the products are very high, making the customers choose Chappers over other brands.

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

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: We have been using different content marketing approaches and increasing online brand visibility through media coverage and footwear style guides. Further, Chappers also participates in a lot of exhibitions and fairs. We also run social media and search engine marketing to optimize our customer reach.

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

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: Chappers is a technology-driven brand, and we have built our proprietary AR software to enable customers to design and visualize the footwear even before it takes shape. For sales, we use the latest e-commerce technologies and keep improving the tech stack to streamline operations further.

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

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: As a country of nearly 1.4 billion people, a strong audience is keen to buy stylish, high-quality, personalized footwear. We have revamped the iconic Maharashtrian Kolhapuri footwear and made it apt for consumers worldwide. Chappers has already received several orders from foreign countries. In the long run, my vision is to make Chappers available in every shopping mall across India and through eCommerce channels in every part of the world.

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

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: Covid was a challenging phase for all of us. We must stick through the bad phases in life to see a brighter future. Testing times are always short-lived, and there’s always a ray of light at the end of the tunnel. Never give up! The past year has seen a tremendous rise in sales of high-ticket-value items, which was surprising for us.

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

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: We keep track of the most popular Chappers designs and frequently upgrade our database with new SKUs based on these designs. Chappers recently unveiled a range of footwear for women, and we will expand it in the year ahead. Further, there are plans to introduce kids’ footwear and include products based on various other ethnic footwear from different states of India, such as more from Rajasthan.

    For market coverage, we are leveraging a kiosk franchise model under which we offer franchises to people to set up kiosks in shopping malls. Four such outlets are already operational in Pune, and in the long term, the vision is to have one kiosk in every shopping mall across India. We will expand our team of craftsmen and other professionals in sync with the brand’s growth.

    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?

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: Digital marketing is the key to success for any D2C brand today. Chappers generate many organic leads as customers who use our products recommend the brand to others. We currently use SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and even search engine marketing to engage the audience. In the future, we will leverage influencer marketing and other D2C-centric marketing channels for faster growth.

    StartupTalky: So finally Harshwardhan, one tip that you would like to share with another d2c founder?

    Harshwardhan Patwardhan: I personally believe that d2c is a misunderstood term. People relate d2c just to online businesses. That is not true. Direct to Consumer businesses can run offline sales channels too. Online business is highly overrated. It is good for marketing and customer acquisition. But businesses must build the right mix of online and offline sales points to gain traction. Do not restrict yourself to any particular point of sale. Eventually, sales growth is essential; whether it comes online or offline does not matter.

    We thank Harshwardhan Patwardhan for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • General Awareness is the Major Reason for Employers not Having Group Insurance: Founders of Healthysure

    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.

    Corporate healthcare programs for organizations and their workforce are critical aspects of employee benefits and overall workplace wellness. These are designed to provide employees with access to health services and benefits that can help improve their physical, mental, and financial well-being. Having a corporate Healthcare program can lead to increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and health care costs.

    The growth of insurance and healthcare for organizations and their workforce has been driven by a number of factors. One major factor has been the increasing cost of healthcare, which has led many employers to provide more comprehensive insurance coverage to their employees as a way to manage these costs.

    According to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), around 60-70% of the formal sector workers in India have access to health insurance through their employers. This includes both public and private sector companies. The percentage is even higher in larger companies, as they tend to have more resources to offer benefits such as health insurance. Additionally, the Indian government is also promoting the health insurance for employees through various policies and regulations.

    However, the market still faces challenges, such as a lack of awareness about health insurance, a lack of trust in insurance companies, and a lack of a robust network of healthcare providers.

    For this Interview, we invited Anuj Parekh and Sanil Basutkar Co-founder, HealthySure and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Corporate Health Insurance industry.

    StartupTalky: Anuj, What does Healthysure do?

    Healthysure is a group benefits insurtech. We offer 360-degree insurance and healthcare for organizations and their workforce. Our ultimate vision is to enable affordable and accessible healthcare to the Indian population, and we see the organization-sponsored health programs go a long way to achieving that.

    We genuinely believe that a lot can be done to improve healthcare in the country, and we hope to play a big part in the coming years to help achieve that.

    StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of Healthysure over other platforms?

    We have created a first-of-its-kind platform in India that offers full-stack
    infrastructure as a service for group benefits to intermediaries. What this means is
    that we provide end-to-end support for our partners to sell group insurance and healthcare, right from pricing to operations to claim settlement. We aim to be the turtemint of group insurance.

    StartupTalky: How has the healthcare industry changed in recent years (2022) and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    The insurance industry regulator IRDAI has been swift in enacting reforms after the appointment of its new chairman. These reforms range from lowering the investment thresholds and liberalizing licensing for new insurance companies, opening insurance distribution avenues, developing a new insurance exchange platform and many more. The insurance industry too overall has been growing steadily. Healthysure is benefitting from this growth and as the industry matures, we will be one of the major contributors in the industry.

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    Insurance is a very active industry with respect to community engagements. We generally have plenty of opportunities to interact with stakeholders within the community through live events, networking meets, and webinars. In today’s world of WhatsApp and LinkedIn, it’s not very difficult to be in touch with your peers and stay updated on the newest trends.

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

    We track metrics such as the number of lives covered, the number of clients, gross written premiums, and total turnover.

    StartupTalky: What were your company’s most significant challenges in the past year and how did you overcome them for 2023?

    Our number one challenge is convincing first-time buyers of group health insurance to adopt sponsoring health insurance for their employees. The amount of premium is generally only a small fraction compared to an employee’s annual salary. The benefits that the organization gets are generally much larger than the outlay. Over 2/3rd clients are still first-time adopters, and we feel employers not having group insurance just lack a general awareness. We hope to address this in 2023 and make it easier for organizations to secure their employees’ health with our products, marketing, and technology.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off. (Some of the key things you adopted as a strategy in 2022)

    We use the normal set of marketing strategies that revolve around content, SEO, SEM and outbound activities. What really sets our marketing apart is our channel of partners that help us source and secure deals. We are transitioning to a partner
    focused model. In a B2B business, this is generally a great way to scale.

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

    We use a combination of tools and software such as Apollo, Zoho, Cashfree,
    Microsoft, G-suite among others.

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

    The Indian insurance industry is poised for hyper-growth in the coming years. There is a lot of untapped potential in the Indian market. Despite being the 5th largest economy, India is only the 10th largest insurance market (2021) with premiums of around US$ 125 Bn. For context, the US leads the globe with US 2,700 Bn and China comes in 2nd with US$ 700 Bn. The Indian insurance story alone is a very large one. But we also believe our technology and products could have global use cases.

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

    As any startup grows, they become mature in understanding its industry.
    They realize there are certain problems that they can solve and are certain that they can’t. The hypothesis is that these startups have initially are invalidated and they are replaced by something new. We have a similar story, and through our experience in this industry, we are now working to add more value to this industry. We will continue to have the philosophy of build-learn-iterate and that can help us create something truly valuable to the ecosystem that in turn helps fulfill our vision.

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

    We have invested heavily over the last year in our team, technology, and product. These investments will help us gain new customers faster in the coming year. We again have had the opportunity to create a scalable technology that will support multiple product use cases in the future. We continuously reach out to people that show interest in working with us, we have laid the groundwork to scale our team when we pursue aggressive growth.

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

    A lot of people have ideas for starting up. What makes entrepreneurs different is the intent and ability to execute these ideas.

    We thank Anuj Parekh and Sanil Basutkar for spending their valuable time and sharing their learnings with all of us.

    Happy New Year to all the StartupTalky readers! Here’s to a year of hard work, innovation, growth, profit, and Impact!🚀

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.