StartupTalky

Tag: 📄Company Profiles

  • Apple – The Development Of iEcosystem

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

    The Apple logo is very identifiable whether you’re walking down a crowded street in a major city or travelling through the highways. Whenever you spot a MacBook, an iPad, or an iPhone, you immediately recognize the logo and know who built it. Apple has accomplished more than just technological domination. The corporation has achieved something that many people strive for: international name recognition and a reputation that will outlast everyone alive today.

    The company’s tagline from 1997 to 2002, “Think Different,” may have contributed to Apple’s success. While not always hailed as a triumph, it is the result of foresight in the current competitive market. While many of us possess Apple devices, few are familiar with their history. When did Apple get its start, and how popular was it at its inception? When did Apple become well-known? And why did Apple come so close to going bankrupt? However, such achievement does not happen instantly and is difficult to duplicate. So, what is this mysterious Apple sauce? Let’s have a look.

    Apple – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Apple
    Formerly Called Apple Computer Company (1976–1977), Apple Computer, Inc. (1977–2007)
    Industry Consumer electronics, Software, and Online services
    Headquarter 1 Apple Park Way, Cupertino, California, U.S.
    Founders Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne
    Founded April 1, 1976
    CEO Tim Cook
    Areas Served Worldwide
    Website www.apple.com

    About Apple, and How it Works?
    Apple – Industry
    Apple – Name, Logo, and Tagline
    Apple – Founders
    Apple – Startup Story
    Apple – Apple without Jobs
    Apple – The Fall
    Apple – When Did It Become A Big Name?
    Apple – Vision, and Mission
    Apple – Business Model
    Apple – Investments
    Apple – Acquisitions
    Apple – Competitors
    Apple – Future Plans

    About Apple, and How it Works?

    Apple Inc. is a global technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, that specialises in portable electronics, software applications, and internet services. Apple is the fourth-largest personal computer vendor by unit sales, the world’s second-most valuable company, the largest information technology company by revenue (totalling US$365.8 billion in 2021) and the second-largest mobile phone manufacturer. Along with Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta, it is one of the five American behemoths in information technology businesses.

    Apple Inc. produces, builds, and sells computers and associated computing and communication devices, as well as services, software, networking solutions, and peripherals. Apple distributes its goods through its online shops, retail locations, direct sales representatives, resellers, and third-party wholesalers all around the globe.

    The iPhone is Apple’s series of cell phones that run on Apple’s operating system called iOS. The Mac range of computers is centered also on the business’s macOS operating system.

    The iPad is a range of multi-purpose tablets from Apple that run on the iPad OS operating system. Apple TV, Air Pods, Apple Watch, Home Pod, Beats products, iPod touch, and other Apple-branded and third-party accessories are included under Home, Wearables, and Accessories.

    The Company’s wireless headphones that interface with Siri are known as Air Pods. The Apple Watch is the firm’s smartwatch series. AppleCare, Advertising, Cloud Services, Digital Content, and Payment Services are among its offerings.

    Apple – Industry

    The worldwide economy has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many end-user sectors, including electronics manufacturing, have been impacted. According to data from an IPC study conducted in March 2020, 40% of global electronics manufacturers and suppliers polled anticipate that the COVID-19 outbreak will have the greatest impact on consumer electronics. Another 24% of respondents said that industrial electronics would be the worst hit, with 19% predicting that the automotive electronics category would be the most brutal damage.

    Electronic computers, such as mainframes, laptops, pcs, workstations, and software services, as well as computer peripheral devices, are manufactured by companies in this business. Apple, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Dell, IBM, Lenovo (Hong Kong), ASUS (Taiwan), and Canon (Japan) are the companies that belong to this sector or industry.

    Annual global unit sales for 2021 hit 340 million units, up 15% from the previous year. With large exports, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, as well as the Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, led to the rise of this industry. During the projected period, which is 2021-2026, the Electronics Manufacturing Services Market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9%.

    Apple – Name, Logo, and Tagline

    Jobs revealed in his biography written down by Walter Isaacson that he was now on one of his fruitarian diets. He was driving back from an apple farm when he came up with the name for the firm that would transform his life. Steve Wozniak’s book, “iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon,” confirms this. Wozniak, who drove Jobs home from the airport following that trip, claimed that the firm name came to him during the journey. According to Jobs, the “apple orchard” he mentioned was a commune.

    According to Jobs’ biography, he believed the name “Apple Computer” sounded “energetic, fun, and not intimidating” – all crucial elements for a firm that intended to transform computing and make it far more approachable. And, that’s where the logo came from.

    Apple Logo
    Apple Logo

    Apple’s tagline says, “Think Different.”

    Apple – Founders

    Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers Company as a business deal on April 1, 1976.

    Founders of Apple - Steve Jobs (left) and Steve Wozniak (right)
    Founders of Apple – Steve Jobs (left) and Steve Wozniak (right)

    Steve Jobs

    Steve Jobs was the co-founder and former CEO of Apple and Pixar Animation Studios. Jobs attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon after graduating from Homestead High School in Cupertino, California in 1972. He dropped out after one semester and went on to study philosophy and other cultures.

    Steve Jobs had a keen passion for technology, therefore he went to work for Atari Inc, a major video game producer at the time. He became acquainted with Steve Wozniak, a fellow designer, and attended Homebrew Computer Club meetings with him. On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned as Apple’s CEO and became Chairman of the Board of Directors. Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011.

    Ronald Wayne

    Ronald G. Wayne is mainly remembered as one of the co-founders of the Apple tech firm, with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the company’s primary drivers. It was a brief journey compared to the years he spent inventing and manufacturing slot machines and other professional gaming devices. He’s a skilled innovator with over a dozen US patents under his belt, covering a wide spectrum of essential concepts.

    Steve Wozniak

    For the past three decades, Steve Wozniak has been a Silicon Valley star and philanthropist. His design of Apple’s original line of devices, the Apple I and II, impacted the popular Macintosh.

    With Wozniak’s Apple I personal computer, Wozniak and Steve Jobs launched Apple Computer Inc. in 1976. He unveiled his Apple II personal computer the next year, which had a central processing unit, a keyboard, colour graphics, and a floppy disc drive.

    Wozniak was active in several corporate and humanitarian endeavours after leaving Apple in 1985, concentrating mostly on computer capabilities in schools and emphasising hands-on learning and promoting student creativity.

    Apple vs. Samsung: A Case Study on the Biggest Tech Rivalry
    Here’s a brief case study on how Apple and Samsung rivalry was started and how Apple won the lawsuit.
    StartupTalkyHarshit Verma

    Apple – Startup Story

    The garage where Apple-I was developed
    The garage where Apple-I was developed

    Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne created Apple in 1976 to sell Wozniak’s hand-built PC, the Apple 1. The Apple 1 was supplied as a motherboard that had a Central processing unit, RAM, and some rudimentary textual-video chips. It had no built-in keyboard, monitor, casing, or other Human Interface Devices at the time.

    The Apple 1 was released in July 1976 and sold for $666.66. Only a few weeks after the firm was created, Wayne chose to quit. He accepted an $800 check, which was worth about $72 billion forty years later. Wayne was the one who hand-drew the initial Apple logo, which was later replaced with Rob Janoff’s bitten apple symbol in 1977.

    On January 3rd, 1977, Apple Computer Inc. was founded. Mike Markkula, who was interested in the Apple-1, gave the team the necessary funds and commercial acumen. Mike Markkula, the third employee, owned a third of the firm. He nominated Michael Scott as the company’s first president and CEO because he believed Steve was too young and not responsible enough to handle the role.

    The Apple II, designed by Wozniak, was released in 1977. The Apple II computers were able to stay on top of market leaders Tandy and Commodore PET thanks to VisiCalc (the world’s first ‘killer-app’), a revolutionary spreadsheet and computing software. Because of its office compatibility, VisiCalc provided customers with another reason to acquire the Apple II. The Apple II was able to change the computer industry by introducing colour graphics. Apple had a genuine office with many workers by 1978, as well as an Apple II production sector.

    Revenues for Apple doubled every four months in the following years. Between September 1977 and September 1980, their annual revenues increased from $775,000 to $118 million (an average annual growth rate of 533 per cent).

    On December 12, 1980, Apple came out publicly for $22 per share. Apple’s $4.6 million shares sold out very instantly, raising more money than just about any other IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956. Steve Jobs, the largest shareholder, gained $217 million from the IPO. The company’s IPO also made 300 additional people millionaires overnight.

    Apple – Apple without Jobs

    As tensions between Jobs and John Sculley, the company’s third CEO, developed, Jobs sought to depose Sculley through a revolt, which collapsed. Apple’s board of directors sided with Sculley and relieved Jobs of his work responsibilities. Jobs subsequently left his position and started NeXT, a firm that makes powerful workstations. Around the same time, Steve Wozniak sold most of his stock, and left the company, claiming that the firm was heading in the wrong way.

    With Jobs gone, the board members were willing to decide what type of computers Apple might create. They chose to sell more costly Macs to high-end clients. Because Steve Jobs was resistant to raising prices, this strategy could not be implemented until after he had departed. They concluded that even if lesser units are sold, profitability will be comparable or greater. This approach was known as “55 or die,” and Jean-Louis Gassée required that the Macintosh II had to make at least 55% profit per unit. Sculley hired Gassée to take the role of Steve Jobs.

    Although Apple computers were more costly than other computers on the market, they offered advantages such as the UI that attracted customers. In 1991, Apple released the PowerBook laptop with the System 7 operating system. System 7 was responsible for providing the Macintosh OS colour, and it was utilised until 2001 when OS X was introduced.

    Apple attempted to expand into new areas throughout the 1990s. Gassée was also involved in the creation of innovative products like the eMate and the Newton MessagePad, with the hope that they would propel the business to an unprecedented level.

    Top 20 Biggest Failed Products of Apple in History
    As we all know Apple is a trillion-dollar company but here are a few failed products of Apple that Apple wants you to forget.
    StartupTalkyRoshni Tamta

    Apple – The Fall

    When IBM clones became inexpensive and Microsoft’s influence grew in the latter part of the decade, Apple’s “55 or die” strategy failed. Even while Macs had an extensive software library, they were constrained. On the other hand, Windows 3.0 was on sale for low-cost commodity machines.

    Apple intended to re-enter the industry, so they released a new range of devices called the Quadra, Centris, and Performa. Because Apple computers were only accessible by mail or authorised dealers at the time, the Performa was designed to be a stocking item for lifestyle merchants and department stores. Back then, there has been no Apple Stores. Customers, on the other hand, were confused by this since they didn’t comprehend the differences among the variants.

    Apple has tried portable CD audio players, digital cameras, speakers, TV appliances, and other items, but they all failed. Apple’s stock price and market share dropped sharply. To compound the error, Sculley spent a significant amount of time and money porting System 7 to the new IBM/ Motorola PowerPC CPU rather than the Intel processor. Apple had no luck regaining market share since most software was designed on Intel CPUs, which were cheaper.

    The Apple board had enough with the very disappointing line of devices and the pricey choice to switch to PowerPC. Sculley was then replaced as CEO by Michael Spindler, a German expatriate who had worked with Apple since the 1980s. Gil Amelio succeeded Spindler as CEO in 1996.

    Amelio implemented significant reforms, including mass layoffs and cost reductions. His term was also marred by the shares of Apple hitting a 12-year low. In February 1997, Amelio chose to buy Jobs’ NeXT Computer for $429 million, bringing Steve Jobs back to Apple.

    Apple – When Did It Become A Big Name?

    The iPod, another Apple invention, was introduced in 2001. It was advertised as having thousands of music tracks worth of memory on its 5GB hard drive, which was an astonishing accomplishment for an MP3 player at that very time.

    In 2003, Apple launched the iTunes Music Store to augment this. This followed the introduction two years before of iTunes, Apple’s digital music software solutions. In 2003, Apple introduced a variant for Windows, and over the next several years, it began moving out to the rest of the globe. The iTunes Music Store was a convenient method for US residents to legally purchase music online; in 2006, it changed its name to the iTunes Store to include video services too. In 2005, Apple computers had Intel chips, allowing them to run Windows. All Apple PC hardware, including iMacs and MacBook Pros, will be Intel-based in the future.

    In 2007, Apple Computer Inc. changed its name to Apple Inc. to reflect its expanded product line. 270,000 iPhones were ordered during the first 30 hours after its release, earning it the moniker “Apple’s destiny changer.”

    The debut of the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices were met with overwhelming success. Apple introduced the App Store in July 2008 to offer third-party iPhone and iPod-Touch software. The App Store sold 60 million apps in a month and generated an average daily income of $1 million. Because of the iPhone’s success, Apple became the world’s third-largest mobile device provider.

    In October 2010, Apple stock achieved an all-time high of $300. On August 24, 2011, Steve Jobs stepped down from his role as CEO owing to health concerns and was succeeded by Tim Cook. Jobs died on October 5, 2011, bringing an end to a great period for Apple and a major shift in the company’s history.

    Apple, on the other hand, continues to dominate the market with ground-breaking technical marvels.

    Apple Marketing Strategy: The Secret Behind its Simple Yet Effective Marketing Strategy
    Are you someone who is fascinated by Apple’s marketing strategy and how they pull it off? So, Here’s a detailed look at Apple’s marketing strategy.
    StartupTalkyPV Vyshnavi

    Apple – Vision, and Mission

    Apple’s mission is “to bring the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services.”

    Apple – Business Model

    Apple’s business model is divided into two parts: products and services. In 2021, Apple earned more than $365 billion in revenue, with $191.9 billion coming from iPhone sales, and $38.3 billion from accessories and wearables (AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, Home Pod, iPod touch, and accessories),  $35.2 billion from Mac sales, $31.86 billion from iPad sales, and $68.4 billion from services.

    • Products – iPhone, Mac, iPad, as well as wearables, home, and accessory devices, are among the product lines (Air Pods, Apple-Watch and more)
    • Services –  AppleCare+, Digital Content Stores and Streaming Services, and the AppleCare Protection Plan, Apple’s Cloud Services, Licensing, and other services like Apple ArcadeTM, Apple News+, Apple CardTM, and Apple Pay, a cashless payment service, are all part of the services business.

    Apple – Investments

    Date Organization Name Round Amount
    May 5, 2022 CNote Corporate Round $25M
    Dec 6, 2021 Trala Venture Round $6.9M
    Nov 4, 2021 Lime Convertible Note $418M
    Aug 26, 2021 VamosVentures Corporate Round –
    Aug 26, 2021 SweetBio Corporate Round –
    Jun 22, 2021 Alabama A & M University Grant $1.3M
    Jun 17, 2021 Morgan State University Grant $6.3M
    May 7, 2021 II-VI Post-IPO-Equity $410M
    Mar 31, 2021 UnitedMasters Series B $50M
    May 7, 2020 Copan Diagnostics Grant $10M

    Apple – Acquisitions

    Acquiree Name About Acquiree Date Amount
    Joby Aviation Joby Aviation is an aerospace transportation company developing electric aircrafts. Apr 1, 2022 –
    Credit Kudos Credit Kudos is a credit bureau that uses financial behavior and data through open banking to measure creditworthiness. Mar 23, 2022 $150M
    AI Music Exploring the relationship between music and AI to enable a new age of music consumption Feb 7, 2022 –
    Paws, Inc Paws, Inc., was founded in 1981 by cartoonist Jim Davis, as a creative house to support Garfield licensing. Aug 30, 2021 –
    SourceDNA SourceDNA is a code similarity engine enabling companies that make or sell code to track what’s inside apps. May 6, 2021 –
    Vilynx Vilynx increases engagement, efficiency, and insight with leading products for Publishers in the digital world. Oct 27, 2020 $50M
    Scout FM Scout FM is a hand-curated podcast radio stations personalized with the power of data and artificial intelligence. Sep 24, 2020 –
    Spaces SPACES designs VR, AR and MR experiences for theme parks, retail, and other public locations worldwide. Aug 24, 2020 –
    Mobeewave Mobeewave is a Canadian-based startup that allows any mobile app to accept in-person payments with no extra hardware. Aug 1, 2020 $100M
    Fleetsmith Fleetsmith puts Apple device management and security on auto-pilot. Jun 24, 2020 –

    Apple – Competitors

    Microsoft, Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, Sony, HP, Xiaomi, Asus, Huawei, and Oppo are the top competitors of Apple.

    Apple – Future Plans

    Every year in June, Apple has its global Annual Developers Conference, and in 2022, the keynote will be held on June 6. Apple will use the event to debut its next-generation software, which will be available in the autumn.

    Apple is said to be developing a folding iPhone with a screen size of 7.5 to 8 inches and a release date of 2023 at the utmost. Apple is reported to be working on interactive virtual goggles with an inbuilt processor, dedicated high-end displays, and a Reality Operating System. The gadget will combine hand gestures, touch panels, and voice activation for interaction, and it is projected to cost around $3,000. In 2023, the AR/VR headset is projected to be released.

    Apple is working on upgraded 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro and M2 Max processors. The M2 Max processor will include a 12-core CPU and a 38-core GPU, and the new computers will be available in 2023.

    The storyline of Apple’s electric vehicle research has undergone numerous plot twists, but reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that the company is still targeting a completely autonomous automobile, instead of just a technology offering, with a launch date between 2023 and 2025.

    Apple – FAQs

    What does Apple do?

    Apple Inc. is a global software company headquartered in Cupertino, California, that specialises in portable electronics, software applications, and internet services

    When was Apple founded?

    Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers Company as a business deal on April 1, 1976.

    Which companies do Apple compete with?

    Microsoft, Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, Sony, HP, Xiaomi, Asus, Huawei, and Oppo are some of the companies Apple competes with.

  • Lido Learning – Democratizing Education For Children, Or Not?

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

    These days conventional on-campus, in-person education is being replaced by online education.  According to some research done in 2019, it was shown that the online education industry will surpass $230 billion by 2025, and considering the significant influence of the COVID-19 outbreak, online programmes are expected to experience much more growth by 2025.

    In reality, the pandemic has proved how effective and long-lasting e-learning can be. It ensures that education is available in the event of a public health emergency, natural calamity, or another event that prevents students and instructors from travelling. It may serve students from all around one country and beyond, bringing in perspectives from all over the world. In addition, it has also been observed that the e-learning atmosphere promotes a better work-life balance.

    Lido Learning is an ed-tech business that uses an engaging online platform to transform education for every kid in India. So, there are several other online platforms for Indian students to engage with. What is Lido Learning doing differently?

    In Lido Learning’s online platform, students benefit from cutting-edge content such as interactive games and animated videos as well as a personalised platform for homework, quizzes, tasks, and motivating professors, thanks to their fascinating and enjoyable live online lessons. Despite all such perks, Lido Learning surprisingly shut down its operations in February 2022.

    Read this article further to know more about Lido Learning’s founder, business model, revenue model, funding, downfall, and more.

    Lido Learning – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Lido Learning
    Also Known As Lido
    Legal Name Quality Tutorials Pvt Ltd.
    Industry Ed-tech
    Headquarter Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
    Founders Sahil Sheth
    Founded 2019
    Areas Served India
    Website www.lidolearning.com

    About Lido Learning and How it Works?
    Lido Learning – Industry
    Lido Learning – Name, Logo and Tagline
    Lido Learning – Founders
    Lido Learning – Startup Story
    Lido Learning – Vision and Mission
    Lido Learning – Business Model
    Lido Learning – Funding and Investors
    Lido Learning – Competitors
    Lido Learning – Downfall

    About Lido Learning and How it Works?

    Lido is India’s top Small Group Tuitions platform, offering sessions in Math, Science, English, and Coding to children from Kindergarten to children in 10th standard. Cutting-edge interactive animated video material and gamified learning taught by India’s top 5% of teachers are part of the Lido experience. Each class has a maximum teacher-to-student ratio of 1:6 to ensure that the students get ample mentoring, feedback, and clarification.

    A student requires a face-to-face connection in a group of no more than 6 students with an instructor to educate them, interactive content to keep them interested, and tailored technology to boost results for optimal student learning. These three elements have been integrated at Lido to create a 21st-century classroom that is entertaining for children, trustworthy for parents, and empowering for its instructors.

    Lido Learning’s exclusive Roblox game development platform is for kids to take their first leap in a game development environment.

    Roblox teaches youngsters how to:

    • Basic understanding of the Lua code language for Roblox studio scripting.
    • Roblox game development fundamentals such as model creation, terrain editing, cutting through portions, and adjusting game lighting.
    • How to use Roblox to publish and share functional games so that others could benefit from their new game production abilities.

    Lido is the finest option for kids because it outperforms all other digital learning applications and tutors.

    • Individual Attention: Every Lido lesson is engaging and interactive with just 6 students, ensuring that each child receives personal attention, continuous feedback, and the chance to clear up any doubts right away.
    • Interesting Content: Each lesson includes interactive games, HD animated films,  and live quiz contests in class, all designed by Stanford, Harvard, and IIT alumni to ensure that the kids learn ideas and enjoy learning.
    • Real-world Qualities: Lido addresses both school and non-school abilities such as teamwork, leadership, and imagination, preparing children to be job creators rather than job seekers.

    Smartail – AI solutions for Learning | Founder | Products
    Smartail provides an AI-Powered Tool – Deepgrade to make learning effective. Know about smartail, Deepgrade, its founders & business model.
    StartupTalkyPreeti Karna

    Lido Learning – Industry

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, the education sector in India has been the most impacted. Today’s learning is no longer restricted to specific conventional classrooms. The government’s limits and tight safety measures have prepared the way for the new approaches.

    The government, public and private schools, coaches, coaching institutions, students, and instructors have all been inclined towards embracing the digital style of the learning experience, which is a result of COVID disruptions, resulting in the EdTech revolution we are experiencing today.

    The Indian EdTech business is reported to have garnered $16.1 billion in venture capital financing, up from $500 million in 2010. The K-12 segment, higher education, and upskilling sectors are driving this industry’s expansion.

    India’s EdTech business is expected to reach $30 billion in the next ten years, thanks to the increasing popularity of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and distance education.

    The widespread usage of mobile phones, on the other hand, is thought to improve students’ connectivity and learning capacities. Nevertheless, even as accessibility improves, pricing remains an issue for specialised EdTech devices, particularly for lower and lower-middle-income families, restricting their reach.

    EdTech startups in India are looking forward to focusing on improving educational objectives, results, and student engagement through improved technical and innovative solutions.

    Lido Learning – Name, Logo and Tagline

    Lido Logo
    Lido Logo

    The tagline of Lido Learning says, “#MakeSuccessAHabit”

    Lido Learning – Founders

    Founder of Lido Learning - Sahil Sheth
    Founder of Lido Learning – Sahil Sheth

    Lido Learning was founded by Sahil Sheth in 2019.

    Sahil Sheth

    Lido’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer is Sahil Sheth’s purpose is to use technology to aid students to realise their maximum potential by making learning engaging and exciting. Sahil has been involved in India’s EdTech movement since its inception, about a decade ago. He sold his first firm, Infinite Student, to Byjus and served as the business’s vice president until 2018.

    During his time at Byjus, Sahil discovered that, while children enjoyed viewing self-paced videos, they favoured the real-time engagement and flow of opinions with friends and peers which can only be achieved during face-to-face, small group, live tuition lessons. Sahil completed his bachelor’s in science, mathematics, and economics from Duke University, America.

    BYJU’S Success Story – Latest News | Story | Funding
    This is the story of how Byju Raveendran started Byju’s and revolutionized the Indian education industry. Also check the Byju’s funding, news, and more.
    StartupTalkyAnik Banerjee

    Lido Learning – Startup Story

    Sahil has been involved in India’s EdTech movement since its inception, about a decade ago. He sold his first firm, Infinite Student, to Byjus and served as the business’s vice president until 2018. During his time at Byjus, Sahil discovered that, while children enjoyed viewing self-paced videos, they favoured the real-time engagement and flow of opinions with friends and peers which can only be achieved during face-to-face, small group, live tuition lessons.

    After figuring out all the prevailing shortcomings of conventional tuition classes, Sahil created Lido learning to compensate for the same. Lido Learning was founded with one clear aim, which is, to revolutionize the conventional local group tuition class sector by providing tech-enabled learning tools to tutors and world-class learning to all children, allowing them to achieve their maximum capabilities in the classroom and even beyond.

    In 73 days, Sahil Sheth and his team built the platform. The platform’s testing began with kids in Delhi and Mumbai, followed by Chandigarh and Lucknow.
    Moreover, the creators discovered that their concept was more interesting and engaging than traditional tuitions throughout the testing.

    During the trials, they discovered that parents in smaller cities were delighted that their children were receiving the same high-quality education as children in larger cities.

    Sahil Sheth commented on this, saying, “Students in smaller towns were thrilled to be getting the same product and the same quality of teachers that students in the bigger cities were getting. That is when Lido’s vision changed. It was not just about making tuition classes convenient anymore, it was about democratizing education for all.”

    The student-to-teacher ratio at LIDO is 1:6. LIDO is also giving their kids a “Rockstar teacher” who will educate them with “interactive content” to keep them engaged. They also have a customised platform to help them enhance their outcomes.

    Lido Learning – Vision and Mission

    Lido’s mission is to inspire and empower every child for the future.

    Lido Learning – Business Model

    Lido’s business model is B2C Education Solutions – companies that provide online courses, tutoring, educational materials, interactive toys, learning games, and so on.  

    Lido is a platform enabling students to take live online lessons. Math, English, and science are among the disciplines taught online. It offers self-paced lessons, discussion-based lectures, individualised practice, performance monitoring, and other features for smaller groups of students.

    Its income strategy is subscription-based. Lido Learning now offers materials and tutorials for classes V through X, however, for the firm to stay afloat, customers must pay a price to have yearly access to the tutoring.

    Lido Learning – Funding, and Investors

    Some of the most well-known angel investors sponsored the EdTech firm, Lido Learning. Mukesh Bansal, founder of Myntra, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm, Anupam Mittal, founder of Shaadi.com and a Shark Tank India judge, Ronnie Screwvala, founder of UpGrad, and Ananth Narayanan, founder of MedLife.

    Date Round Amount Lead Investors
    Sep 10, 2021 Series C $10M Unilazer Ventures
    Nov 25, 2020 Seed Round – –
    Mar 29, 2020 Series B $7.5M BAce Capital
    Nov 11, 2019 Series A $3M Ronnie Screwvala

    Lido Learning – Competitors

    Lido Learning’s top competitors include Vretta, Cuemath, WhiteHat Jr., Vedantu, BYJU’s, ENpower, Lawpilots and Uvaro.

    Lido Learning – Downfall

    Lido Learning is an EdTech firm, based in India, whose demise came as a huge surprise to the market. Lido Learning abruptly pulled the plug on February 4, 2022, leaving 150 employees with serious doubts about the future of the company.

    Inability to Pay the Workforce Their Salaries

    Employees are a firm’s foundation; without them, the firm would not be able to run properly. Now, a corporation must adequately care for its employees to achieve this. When the teachers and personnel of Lido Learning were not paid, a red flag was raised. Teachers and employees resorted to social media to express their dissatisfaction with the firm when their salaries were not paid. They still haven’t paid pending salaries for the people they fired back in January 2022.

    Inability for Collecting Funding

    Even though Lido Learning has raised $24 million in funding to date from well-known investors such as Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Anupam Mittal, several organisations who intended to participate in the startup backed out at the last minute owing to the epidemic. Several investment arrangements with firms like CureFit and ByteDance were cancelled. As a result, the company’s reserves were depleted, causing financial troubles.

    No Refunds for Customers

    Another major cause for this EdTech’s collapse is that the company’s consumers were not effectively treated, their needs were not satisfied, and the service was poor.  Some expectations were not met when clients requested to end the trial period, and refunds were not issued. The termination of their memberships resulted in poor word of mouth and negative comments from consumers, and the company’s image suffered as a result.

    Top Startups That Got Rejected in Shark Tank India
    Shark Tank India business reality show gave great deals to some startups and refused many. Here are top startups rejected in Shark Tank India.
    StartupTalkyMuskaan Kapoor

    Lido Learning – FAQs

    What does Lido Learning do?

    Lido Learning is an ed-tech business that uses an engaging online platform to transform education for every kid in India.

    When was Lido Learning founded?

    Lido Learning was founded by Sahil Sheth in 2019.

    Who founded Lido Learning?

    Sahil Sheth founded Lido Learning in 2019.

    Has Lido Learning shut its operations?

    Yes, Lido Learning abruptly pulled the plug on February 4, 2022.

  • Symbo – Providing Tech-Enabled Embedded Insurance Services for Businesses

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

    India is the second-largest insurance technology market in Asia-Pacific. Through technology, the insurance industry is revolutionized to a great extent. Indian customers are inclined toward tech-enabled services as it makes the process easier and more accessible. With the main insurance sectors being life insurance, health insurance, property insurance, and commercial insurance, insurance companies are innovating their services. Symbo is an insurtech startup that provides insurance covers for different businesses. Their newly launched insurance services are eyewear insurance, footwear insurance, and even fitness insurance.

    Read the success story of Symbo, its founders, business model, insurance services, funding, and their marketing strategy.

    Symbo – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Symbo
    Headquarters Mumbai
    Industry Insurtech
    Founder Anik Jain, Mitesh Jain, and Adrit Raha
    Founded 2017
    Total Funding Raised $9.4 Million
    Website symbo.co

    Symbo – About
    Symbo – Industry
    Symbo – Founders and Team
    Symbo – The Idea and Startup Story
    Symbo – Services
    Symbo – Business Model and Revenue Model
    Symbo – Customer Acquisition
    Symbo – Challenges Faced
    Symbo – Marketing Strategy
    Symbo – Growth
    Symbo – Funding
    Symbo – Advisors and Mentors
    Symbo – Acquisitions
    Symbo – Competitors
    Symbo – Tools Used in the Company
    Symbo – Recognition and Achievements
    Symbo – Future Plans

    Anik Jain, Co-founder and CEO of Symbo

    Symbo – About

    Symbo is a leading embedded insurtech platform that enables any business to offer customized insurance and protection plans to their customers, right at the point of purchase. Its vision and mission are to be the world’s largest embedded insurance distribution platform providing best-in-class claims, consulting, and buying experiences to its customers and partners.

    Insurance has always been a product that has been “sold” and not bought by the customer. However, they strongly believe that if you offer relevant coverage to the user in a contextual setting, the adoption of insurance will increase. They want to be the company that offers these innovative and relevant insurance products, with a very seamless and frictionless buying experience.

    The core belief of the team is that insurance penetration can increase in a market like India if customers can experience the benefits of insurance at a smaller ticket size. An embedded distribution model can take this approach to masses.

    Symbo – Industry

    The global InsurTech market size is valued at $9.4bn as of 2020. India is the second-largest insurance technology market in Asia-Pacific and including Symbo, India has at least 66 insurtech companies accounting for 35% of the $3.66 billion in insurtech-focused venture capital invested in the APAC region.

    According to a recent survey of 500+ bank customers in India from SurveyMonkey, 91% of Indian digital bank customers would be highly interested in receiving embedded insurance offers based on their transaction data, as would 95% of traditional bank customers. ‘Convenience’ is the primary driver for their interest, stated by 63%. This stands as a testimony that Indian customers are welcoming embedded insurance and the industry has a major shift toward the tech side of it while making the process of Insurance even easier and more accessible to all. It will not be long before all insurance companies will start going digital and get into the Insurtech space that Symbo is in today. While the space and services will go digital, they will also evolve drastically in their technology capabilities that will be used even 5 years from now. It is safe to say that there might be a time when Insurance of any kind will be available online and the customers will not have to worry about filling out cumbersome paperwork for the same. The next couple of years is going to be very intriguing to look forward to and see how fast this digitally driven world will change the insurance space in the best way possible.

    Symbo – Founders and Team

    Anik Jain, Mitesh Jain, and Adrit Raha are the founders of Symbo.

    Anik Jain

    He is the CEO & Co-founder of Symbo. He has 17 + years of experience working in various fields. He also has experience in leading business units at various levels like start-ups, changes management in a mature organization. He also tends to specialize in the areas of strategy, change management, P&L responsibility, insurance, team management, channel management, business development B2B, broking and sales.

    Mitesh Jain

    He is a CTO & Co-founder and is an Experienced Founder with a demonstrated history of working in Technology Consulting and product management. He is also an Entrepreneur with experience in incubating business initiatives, evangelizing stakeholders, influencing industry thinking, and launching and scaling up products to deliver strong business impact. He also has Strong experience in solving large-scale problems in a complex regulatory environment through deep product thinking and focus on impact.

    Adrit Raha

    As a Co-Founder & Co-CEO, he has shared responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the business – from the company’s mission, vision and goals to setting strategy, and direction, and, most significantly, managing my super talented troupe. He is of the strong belief that technology, platforms and protection (be it health or insurance) have, is, and will always continue to evolve, and it so happens that tech innovation is the current now. Hence – Symbo

    Symbo has 100+ employees giving out their best services

    Symbo – The Idea and Startup Story

    Symbo was founded in 2017 with a focus on context-based, need-focused insurance that aims to help customers buy insurance covers based on their personalized needs. During the initial years, they tried to solve the problem of insurance distribution via multiple mechanisms because their vision was always to make insurance accessible to the masses. At one point they had an agent network of 1000s of agents who were using Symbo’s technology platform to distribute insurance.

    One such mechanism they experimented with was embedded insurance. They worked closely with an initial set of partners to understand what kind of risks and issues their customers are facing and they co-created unique insurance products for them.

    Some of the categories they launched were eyewear insurance, footwear insurance, and even fitness insurance. The customer response to these products was extremely encouraging prompting them to double down on the embedded distribution.

    As of today, Symbo has over 30+ insurance partners and over 30 insurance products which are being distributed via partners.

    Symbo – Services

    Symbo works with partners across e-commerce, retail, fintech, and other categories. By integrating Symbo’s powerful Covergateway API, a business can instantly start offering insurance products to their customers, right at the point of purchase.

    The API issues policies in real-time and Symbo has deep integrations with leading insurers in India. The entire buying journey for the users is very seamless, they can choose to purchase the coverage for the product they are buying with a simple opt-in.  The claims are also handled in a digital-first way. Customers need to just upload their policy details and photographs and within 48 hours, Symbo’s claim specialists review the claims.

    Their USP is that they give customized embedded insurance to the customers according to their needs, and providing API to other businesses not only benefits their customers but the online sellers as well. With a simple opt-in in the purchase journey, consumers can insure the product they are buying against common issues like accidental damage, theft, etc which standard warranties might not cover. The insurance coverage is powered by leading insurers in India and some of their largest partners include Lenskart, Bata, and Decathlon, among others.

    While Symbo’s core vision was always to make insurance accessible by innovative distribution methods, Symbo pivoted from an agent-first business model (POSP) to an embedded distribution platform in the last year. The Symbo is a part of Symbo Platforms Pte, which also runs an Enterprise SAAS platform for insurance companies to manage their distribution.

    Symbo – Business Model and Revenue Model

    Being a platform business, Symbo’s business model is to enable distribution along with its partners and monetize by having a share in every transaction.

    SAAS Platform

    Insurance companies buy their product to enable capabilities for themselves to have a fleet of insurance agents at their fingertips who are accompanied by a dashboard. This product acts as a centralized tool with tons of features to make the insurance journey better for agents, buyers, and companies. As an InsurTech company, all Symbo wants to do is make insurance better by implementing automation in the tool. This entire stack has all the capabilities and features that companies would want for example monthly subscription, data, analytics, reports, super-admin, 5-level user roles, agent onboarding, and state-of-the-art UI. They have crossed $1M in this line of business.

    Embedded

    This is the heart and soul of Symbo. In this model, they sell $1.5 per policy (which is their average order value) contributing to their overall GWP. Part of this is sent to the Insurer to the onboard partner and they take a certain revenue share out of this as Monthly Recurring Revenue. Currently, they have 10 partners onboarded with them with around 150k policies solder per month.

    Symbo – Customer Acquisition

    In the early days of Symbo’s embedded business, they used to spend time at the store understanding customers’ buying behaviour. They worked with the brands to learn about the top reasons their customers were unhappy and created coverage plans that were relevant to the brand’s customers.

    They spoke to as many customers as possible during their store visit and explained to them the benefits of insurance and started to sell the initial set of policies.

    A lot of their learnings during the initial days of their field visit came to use as they started to scale. They spent a lot of time with store managers and staff to train them on how to sell Symbo’s products. Their marketing collaterals are designed to keep the end customer in mind.

    They also ran a few joint offers and promotions with their partner brands that have led to significant product awareness and growth.

    Business Model of HDFC Life Insurance Company
    HDFC Life Insurance Company offers insurance solutions. Let’s get an insight of how HDFC Life make money. Know about HDFC Life Business Model.
    StartupTalkySushree Sangeeta Behera

    Symbo – Challenges Faced

    Pivots are always challenging. As they moved from a traditional broker to a technology-first insurtech platform, they had to build the product to support the new use cases, at scale. Since they enable sales of insurance within the partner’s point of sale, they had to build the right integrations and user journeys to ensure the purchase journey is seamless for the user.

    Their relationships with insurer partners were one key element that helped them execute the pivot smoothly. They had tremendous support from all the insurers for them to become an embedded insurtech platform, right from the product they wanted to enable integrations with their systems.

    It is hard to market a product that lacks quality and easy for products that shine bright with quality. They knew that they have the best technology for embedding insurance be it any way possible – standee QR code or website integration. And with that, they needed to market strongly.

    The moment they received a few references from their clients they immediately knew they are marketing it right. The joy of achieving successful word-of-mouth in the days of the Internet is as overwhelming as getting ample leads with low costing clicks as they have been doing before. However, they think there is still a long way to go.

    Symbo – Marketing Strategy

    They invite you to have a look at the Kanban board at their office where they have brainstormed many marketing campaigns and PR ideas. They have sufficient ideas with them (inside the Insurance sector itself) to create an ever-lasting dent within the subconscious of the masses. They have not set out any campaigns right now as they have kept them occupied with digital advertisements on different platforms. They will be capitalizing on our data and coming out “strong and viral” with their campaigns very soon.

    Symbo – Growth

    The embedded insurance business is focused on India, while the SAAS platform business has customers across Southeast Asia.

    Some of their notable insurer partners are:

    • Reliance General Insurance
    • TATA AIG Insurance
    • HDFC ERGO
    • Max Bupa Health Insurance
    • BAJAJ Allianz
    • Religare

    The list of distribution partners continues to grow with brands like Lenskart, Red tape, and Decathlon being some of their key relationships. With over 2M policies issued, they are growing over 30% MoM.

    The plan for the next 2 years is to be able to provide customized embedded insurance in as many spaces as it is possible for us. Like most high-growth startups they are in talks with a bunch of investors and would bring in the right strategic partner who can help them fuel the business expansion.

    Symbo – Funding

    Symbo has raised a funding of $9.4 Million in March 2021.

    Date Stage Amount Investors
    March 2021 Series A $9.4 Million Led by CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund and San-Francisco-based investment firm. Think Investments, with participation from existing investors Integra Partners, Insignia Ventures, and AJ Capital

    Symbo – Advisors and Mentors

    Mr Sanjeev Jha has been their mentor. He has worked, and had experience, across geographies including India, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, Europe and North America. He has been an advisory board member for Symbo for a year now. Apart from Symbo, he is also an advisory board member for many other companies.

    Business Model of Acko | How does Acko Make Money
    Acko is a general insurance company founded by Varun Dua that provides car, bike, health and phone insurance. Here’s a detailed look at Acko’s business model.
    StartupTalkyMedha Shukla

    Symbo – Acquisitions

    Symbo has acquired ReLeague Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. in August 2018.

    Symbo – Competitors

    Some of the top competitors of Symbo are:

    • Acko Insurance
    • Turtlemint
    • Cover Genius
    • Toffee Insurance
    • Zopper Insurance.

    Symbo – Tools Used in the Company

    They use all the white-label assets and make full use of open source tools and data available and give due credits wherever required.

    Symbo – Recognition and Achievements

    Symbo has been awarded the “Digital Insurance Innovation” of the year award from ET BFSI at the World BFSI Congress and Awards 2020.

    The startup has also won the “Digital-Insurance Broker” award at SBR Technology Excellence Awards in the year 2020.

    Symbo – Future Plans

    At this point, they are focused on growing their partner base and growing the number of policies. Having seen some of their initial categories like eyewear, and footwear scale, they are working with the insurer to make the program and coverage a lot more exciting for the customers as well as introduce newer categories.

    FAQs

    Who is the founder of Symbo?

    Anik Jain, Mitesh Jain, and Adrit Raha are the founders of Symbo.

    When was Symbo founded?

    Symbo was founded in 2017.

    What are the services offered by Symbo?

    Symbo provides embedded insurance for different Businesses.

    • Logistics Business
    • Healthcare Business
    • Retail Business
    • Eyewear Business
    • Travel Business
    • Footwear Business
    • Digital Business
    • Fintech Business
    • Furniture Business

    Who are the top Competitors of Symbo?

    Some of the top competitors of Symbo are:

    • Acko Insurance
    • Turtlemint
    • Cover Genius
    • Toffee Insurance
    • Zopper Insurance.

  • Hyper Connect Asia – Shaping Brands in the Digital Age

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

    Digital marketing and advertising have seen unprecedented growth in the past few years. Digital media is witnessing phenomenal growth in terms of marketing skills and has become one of the essentials to building trust among customers. Surviving in the digitally transformed world needs a strong marketing strategy, design, and development needs for a business. Technologies have brought innovative ways to promote your brand and services effectively on digital media platforms. Hyper Connect is a digital marketing agency that offers brand strategy, campaign management,  content designing, e-commerce development, UI and UX designing, and more.

    Read the success story of Hyper Connect, a digital marketing agency to bring all the solutions required to keep your business alive and grow in this hyper-connected world. Know about Hyper Connect, its founders, the startup story, and more.

    Hyper Connect – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Hyper Connect
    Headquarters Mumbai
    Industry Digital Marketing Agency
    Founder Ankur Pujari and Kiran Khadke
    Founded 2018
    Website hyperconnect.asia

    Hyper Connect – About
    Hyper Connect – Industry
    Hyper Connect – Founders and Team
    Hyper Connect – The Idea and Startup Story
    Hyper Connect – Service
    Hyper Connect – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    Hyper Connect – Business Model
    Hyper Connect – Customer Acquisition
    Hyper Connect – Challenges Faced
    Hyper Connect – Most Successful Marketing Campaigns
    Hyper Connect – Growth
    Hyper Connect – Future plans

    Hyper Connect – About

    Hyper Connect helps brands shape up for the digital age! As digital mediums have become mainstream, they fuse strategy, and creative ideas with data-driven media to help brands realize their ambition. Their suite of services encompasses brand strategy, communication design, mar-tech development, and media outreach.

    One philosophy that they imbibe in every engagement is Clarity is Power and, in every work, showcase you will see the clarity creating effective solutions.

    Hyper Connect – Industry

    The industry is very bullish as more and more brands are entering the market, competition is getting intense and in the age of consumerism, a differentiated brand is the only way to success. They are witnessing this growth in their rapidly growing client base & revenues.

    Indian digital advertising industry crossed the 22,000 Cr mark at a CAGR of 35% from last as per Dentsu-e4m Digital Advertising in India 2022’ report. The industry will cross the 36,000 Cr mark by next year.

    Hyper Connect – Founders and Team

    Ankur Pujari - Co-founder of Hyper Connect
    Ankur Pujari – Co-founder of Hyper Connect

    Ankur Pujari and Kiran Khadke are the co-founders of Hyper Connect.

    They were friends first and founders later. They both worked on different sides of advertising, Kiran came from pure mainline agencies, and Ankur worked across digital 1st clients from as early as 2009 in India and later in Singapore. While their mediums were different, the world was converging to brand solutions anchored in digital and that’s where their skills together became a force to reckon with. They started discussing this increasing gap of agencies where mainline agencies had the understanding of brands and digital agencies were mostly tactical media focused. They created an agency that converged a strategy anchored in digital and shaping up brands for the digital age.

    Kiran Khadke - Co-founder of Hyper Connect
    Kiran Khadke – Co-founder of Hyper Connect

    In Hyper Connect, they work around strengths. Kiran Khadke leads the creative vision and Ankur Pujari drives business and growth. When it comes to hiring, they look for bright energetic minds who have a passion for different things in life, like the ones who love to travel, cook, review beauty products, foodies, etc. This helps them get a diverse talent where passion drives the client’s business and their processes ensure that they deliver a solid solution.

    Hyper Connect – The Idea and Startup Story

    Back in 2015-16, when digital had started to take the front seat in driving brand outcomes, ace digital managers were then being promoted to the helm of marketing & digital transformation. They saw a huge gap for an agency that understands traditional brand building along with digital platforms. Kiran Khadke had been part of building large-scale brands in India during his stints with O&M, L&K and most prominently with Saints & Warriors while managing creative & Delhi brand on the other hand Ankur was honing experience of managing A listed integrated brands in South East Asia based out of Singapore. They felt that the vortex of their experience is where the future of brand building lies and they spoke to their mentors from precious agencies, chalked out a plan for the next 6 months and Ankur packed his bags lock, stock & barrel to meet Kiran in India and kick-start Hyper Connect in September 2017.

    How to Start a Digital Marketing Company? – A Guide
    If you want to excel in digital marketing industry, then here is a guide to help you with the steps to start a Digital Marketing Company.
    StartupTalkyAniket Mandal

    Hyper Connect Logo
    Hyper Connect Logo

    When Ankur was in Singapore, he was discussing this new company with his colleagues and came up with this line called An agency for the hyper-connected world and that’s where they struck gold. Kiran & Ankur unanimously came up with the name Hyper Connect.

    Hyper Connect – Service

    Hyper Connect team believe in Clarity as Power and they strive hard to imbibe this into every brand solution they work on. They have always worked on strategy-led communication solutions and they have extended their offering across social, digital, data-driven media, and web builds.

    Hyper Connect – Business Model

    Hyper Connect’s business model is fairly straightforward. They go after clients who are looking for strategic work and respect strategic thinking.

    Hyper Connect – Customer Acquisition

    Well, honestly it was a punt but their anchor was strategic and robust.. they could sense the brewing trend and needed a gap for this agency that would build brands for the digital age. So personal relationships worked as they got their 1st 2 clients who were ready to take a leap of faith with us and they proved their decision right.. Then good work and good word spread fast, they started getting more leads from references.. and till date, 70% of their clients have come through recommendation.

    Hyper Connect – Challenges Faced

    The major challenge they faced was nurturing a team that was able to deliver for the rapidly changing media landscape. Brand building in the digital age is not easy, there are multitudes of factors that can make a campaign successful for a tank. They need to consider all of that through the lens of search, social, reach, campaign idea, measurement, actual impact, etc. Train a team is the biggest hurdle they are able to overcome successfully.

    Hyper Connect – Most Successful Marketing Campaigns

    Hyper Connect’s Set Wet Year-End Campaign

    Some of the successful marketing campaigns of Hyper Connect are:

    • Set Wet Year-End Campaign
    • Kotak Mr SIP
    • Kotak – It’s Automatic
    • Twitter for Delhi Police
    • Bio-Oil Natural launch
    • Sodabottleopenerwala Kolkata launch

    Top 5 Digital Marketing Agencies in India 2021
    Digital marketing is an essential part of marketing strategy and finding the right agency can be tough. So, here are top 5 Digital Marketing Agencies in India.
    StartupTalkyDamini Bhandary

    Hyper Connect – Growth

    Hyper Connect is growing at a healthy pace doubling its growth year on year.  And the future looks very bright. They hope to cross and enter the league of big agencies revenue-wise in the next 1-2 years.

    Hyper Connect – Future plans

    They plan to expand more into delivering experiential solutions in AR/VR/XR but with long-term strategic implications.

    FAQs

    Who is the founder of Hyper Connect?

    Ankur Pujari and Kiran Khadke are the co-founders of Hyper Connect.

    When was Hyper Connect founded?

    Hyper Connect was founded in 2018.

    What service is offered by Hyper Connect Asia?

    Hyper Connect Asia offers digital services, that are:

    • Digital Marketing Services
    • UI/UX Designing
    • Technology and Development

  • uKnowva HRMS – Secure and User-Friendly Workforce Management Solution

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

    Be it a small, medium scale, or large organization, all types of businesses need HRMS software to manage their workforce efficiently. HRMS facilitates employee satisfaction and productivity and helps the Human Resource department with all the employee details and their activity tracks. As entrepreneurship is evolving with advancements in technology, the need for HRMS software is also increasing. Human Resources Management Software (HRMS) Market is estimated to hit 33.57 Billion by 2030. Different Businesses need different software to manage, develop and engage their workforce. uKnowva HRMS provides a holistic HRMS to systematically acquire, manage, develop, and engage your employees. It has all the advanced features like dashboard and analytics, E-recruitment, automated payroll & appraisal management, and more. It can be fully customized according to your business needs.

    Read the startup story of uKnowva, its founders, product, growth, and more about it.

    uKnowva – Company Highlights

    Startup Name uKnowva
    Headquarters Mumbai
    Industry HRMS
    Founders Vicky Jain, Priyanka Jain,and Abhay Talekar
    Founded 2012
    Website uknowva.com

    uKnowva – About
    uKnowva – Industry
    uKnowva – Founders and Team
    uKnowva – The Idea and Startup Story
    uKnowva – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    uKnowva – Product
    uKnowva – Business Model
    uKnowva – Customer Acquisition
    uKnowva – Challenges Faced
    uKnowva – Marketing
    uKnowva – Growth
    uKnowva – Advisors and Mentors
    uKnowva – Acquisitions
    uKnowva – Competitors
    uKnowva – Tools Used in the Company
    uKnowva – Recognition and Achievements
    uKnowva – Future Plans

    About uKnowva HRMS

    uKnowva – About

    uKnowva is a cloud-based HRMS that offers a secure and private platform to employees for engaging in seamless communication and networking, knowledge-sharing and utilising the capabilities of high-yielding tools to attain increased productivity and accelerated growth.

    Their vision is to become the world’s SMARTEST HR platform. SMART means 360 degree HRMS software that is easy to use and administer, cost-effective and highly intelligent.

    They work with the core belief that growth should be encouraged within the organisation and that work should be enjoyable. They constantly adapt their approach and embrace transformation to stay ahead of the curve.

    uKnowva – Industry

    There are nearly 3 billion employees/workers across the globe as per the World Bank Data, which makes the overall market size to be around 24 billion USD per year. The HRMS market is gaining significant traction. HRMS provides digital solutions to manage human and material resources with versatility. Using HRMS results in increased efficiency through minimal errors due to automation of manual HR activities and assists HR departments to analyze the organization’s operational trends. Also, the rapidly evolving IoT and wireless technology have a positive impact on the market value. According to a report by Market Research Future (MRFR), the HRMS market is forecasted to reach USD 33.57 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 12.2%.

    Additionally, the cloud-based HRMS segment is anticipated to gain more traction during the forecast period.

    uKnowva – Founders and Team

    uKnowva Founders - Vicky Jain, Priyanka Jain,and Abhay Talekar
    uKnowva Founders – Vicky Jain, Priyanka Jain,and Abhay Talekar

    Vicky Jain, Priyanka Jain, and Abhay Talekar have founded uKnowva in 2012.

    After completing his engineering and MBA, Vicky Jain started to learn languages like Java, Oracle and Applets. It was when his cousin asked him to develop a certain software, life took him to a new course. His work was well appreciated and he got a complete assignment to build a website for his cousin’s company. Vicky along with Priyanka Jain, who also completed her engineering at the same college, worked on this project. As work started to come in, they decided to set up a company, Convergence Services. Since they started off as a service company they had to go through numerous challenges while developing their first flagship product, uKnowva. Vicky, Priyanka and Abhay Talekar (also co-founder of Convergence Services) started uKnowva back in 2012. While they all have individual roles to play within the organisation, they all come together to make sure that the business operates smoothly. It takes plenty of time and energy to juggle everything involved. Startup founders need to be self-motivated to keep up with the challenges at all times.

    uKnowva – The Idea and Startup Story

    uKnowva initially started off as a web development company. They created a few tools for better collaboration and people management, internally. When some customers approached them with similar requirements, they came to realize that this could be developed as a product and offered to consumers. They then tweaked some of its features and gave it to a few customers like Prime focus technologies, Capital first, etc., and the response was awesome. That gave them the confidence to take this initiative to a whole new level to develop uKnowva HRMS.

    Vicky Jain and Priyanka were in Lonavala, Maharashtra just brainstorming on the ideas to keep an apt name for the start-up. Their main objective was to have the letters U, V and W in the name as some renowned numerologists had suggested keeping U, V and W in the startup name to attract good growth. And after hours of brainstorming, they decided upon the name uKnowva. The logo was designed by Priyanka who is the creative director and the tagline of extending collaboration was adopted over a period of time.

    uKnowva – Product

    uKnowva HRMS
    uKnowva HRMS

    uKnowva HRMS has every core component of Human Resource Management starting from an employee directory to a self-service portal to automated payroll to leave management and work reports to a special disability feature to virtual biometrics and much more that employees and HRs love to use. By adopting uKnowva’s HRMS, one can step up productivity and manage everyday activities much more efficiently. The Employee Payroll system automatically calculates salary from the data available i.e. leaves, investment declarations, holidays, tax deductions etc. Virtual attendance management allows employees to punch in and out from any device. Also, uKnowva is the first HR tech company in India to launch the disability feature within uKnowva HRMS for visually challenged employees.

    Easy to use, Cost-effective, Intelligent and Flexible are some of the major USPs of their product. In general, cloud-based HRMS are developed to be intuitive and user-friendly to those who need to access or use them. That’s why uKnowva’s HRMS has been designed keeping the end-user in mind, based on the requests/suggestions of real HR and payroll administrators.

    Best Time & Attendance Software with Pricing – 2022
    HR departments uses time & attendance software to make employee attendance tracking easier. Here are listed some best Time & Attendance Software.
    StartupTalkyRia Puneyani

    uKnowva – Business Model

    Our’s is a SaaS based product and the pricing model is simple with per user per month pricing, which starts at USD 2 per user per month.

    uKnowva – Customer Acquisition

    uKnowva had a few customers who appreciated uKnowva product and the word of mouth also proved to be beneficial. They tried to onboard their existing customers initially. Other than that, they focused their efforts on building their website and enhanced their SEO efforts to reach out to more customers. This significantly helped them to expand their customer base and strengthen their efforts to maintain business continuity.

    Over the years, while they have invested in increasing their reach and making more businesses aware of what they do and how uKnowva can help, a good product and support system has helped them retain their customers. So far, attracting new customers has worked best via referral channels.

    uKnowva – Challenges Faced

    While they were transforming from a “Service” company to a “Product” company, the major challenge was changing the mindset of the people involved. Initially it was like they visited the customers and asked them about their requirements and then built a product based on their needs or preferences. But, while transforming into a “product” company, things changed completely as they needed to ask themselves what would customers need and then build it and sell it to the customers. This entire process actually involved a change in the mindset of the entire team which was the biggest challenge. They overcame it through regular sessions with the team and made them understand how to think like a product owner.

    uKnowva – Marketing

    When it comes to content and social media, their main focus is on brand awareness and organic visibility. uKnowva is mostly active on Linkedin and they don’t promote and/or boost their posts or campaigns as such. It’s all organic and for brand awareness predominantly.

    They had done a campaign called #InsideuKnowva where they introduced relevant topical memes featuring Shark Tank India. The memes garnered good impressions.

    Also on Quora, they have crossed 65,000 views within a span of 2 months. Their polls do extremely well and garner good impressions on LinkedIn.

    uKnowva – Growth

    As technology continues to be at the forefront of a transforming business environment, there are vast opportunities for growth for HR tech companies. So far, their journey has been satisfactory and uKnowva is doing pretty well in terms of growth, innovation, and extending its footprint. They have more than 75+ customers with a doubling ARR per year. uKnowva is all set for further developments in the future.

    List of Top Applicant Tracking Systems in 2022
    ATS is a software application that enables the computerized process of hiring & tracking candidates. Here are Top 6 Applicant Tracking Systems.
    StartupTalkyMuskaan Kapoor

    uKnowva – Advisors and Mentors

    These are the people who mentor/advise the startup:

    • Ganesh Sankaran: COO and Business Head-WUBS & New Initiatives at Weizmann Forex Ltd
    • Deepak Agarwal: Cofounder and CEO at TurboHire
    • Krishna Kabra: Head of Major Service Center, Orange Business Services
    • Ranu Parwal: COO & Business Head at Weizmann Forex Ltd.

    uKnowva – Acquisitions

    uKnowva acquired a company called Apptroid which is a digital agency helping businesses of all size get a better return from online activities like Website Design, Mobile Apps Development , SEO, etc.

    uKnowva – Competitors

    Following are some of the top competitors of uKnowva:

    • Darwinbox
    • SAP Successfactors
    • Workday
    • Keka
    • Oracle Peoplesoft
    • ZingHR

    uKnowva – Tools Used in the Company

    A few tools that they use to run the startups are:

    • uKnowva HRMS
    • Metabase
    • Azure Dev Ops
    • Intuit
    • Zoho CRM

    uKnowva – Recognition and Achievements

    uKnowva recently received the “Entrepreneurial Company of the Year” award from Frost & Sullivan. The award recognises the efforts in keeping growth and innovation at the forefront of their vision while effectively addressing upcoming new opportunities and challenges for their business. In the Product Excellence Matrix Report in 2014 by Nasscom in association with Frost and Sullivan, uKnowva was featured in the “Unified Communication And Collaboration” category.

    uKnowva – Future Plans

    Currently, they are focused on increasing its footprints in India and the MENA region. The MENA region has huge potential for Indian technology start-ups as the region has a highly diverse, tech-savvy and distributed workforce whose priorities are flexibility and ease of access in their flow of work. The countries they are basically targeting include KSA, UAE, and Egypt to start and then we’ll cover the complete gulf region. Few customers they have onboarded in the MENA region are Ravin, Masdar, Khansaheb, Puregroup, etc.

    FAQs

    Who is the founder of uKnowva?

    Vicky Jain, Priyanka Jain, and Abhay Talekar are the founders of uKnowva.

    When was uKnowva founded?

    uKnowva was founded in 2012.

    What is uKnowva HRMS?

    uKnowva HRMS is Human Resource Management tool that offers employee directory, automated payroll, leave management, work reports, and more employee management features.

    Who are the competitors of uKnowva?

    Top competitors of uKnowva are:

    • Darwinbox
    • Keka
    • Oracle Peoplesoft
    • SAP Successfactors
    • Workday
    • ZingHR

  • Smartail: Empowering Education System Using AI-Powered Tool Deepgrade

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

    Education is one of the most influenced industries by technology. The application of AI is not limited to healthcare, retail, or marketing only, AI in the education market is the new trend. AI is helping to enhance the learning experience and provide interactive solutions to the education system. AI in the education market is expected to grow at a  40% CAGR from 2021 to 2027.

    Smartail has brought up the solutions to fill the learning gap among students and enhance teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom. Deepgrade is a Smartail’s AI-powered tool that improves teaching methodology.

    Read the startup story of Smartail, its founders, business model, and more about Smartail and Deepgrade.

    Smartail – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Smartail
    Headquarters Bangalore
    Industry Edtech
    Founder Swaminathan Ganesan and Aslam Sheriff Basha
    Founded 2019
    Website smartail.ai

    Smartail – About
    Smartail – Industry
    Smartail – Founders and Team
    Smartail – The Idea and Startup Story
    Smartail – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    Smartail – The Product and Service
    Smartail – Business Model and Revenue Model
    Smartail – Customer Acquisition
    Smartail – Challenges Faced
    Smartail – Marketing
    Smartail – Growth
    Smartail – Advisors and Mentors
    Smartail – Recognitions and Achievements
    Smartail – Funding
    Smartail – Competitors
    Smartail – Tools Used in the Company
    Smartail – Future Plans

    About Smartail Deepgrade

    Smartail – About

    Smartail was founded in 2019 for bringing innovative and efficient solutions to address problems in the education sector with the power of Artificial Intelligence. Its flagship product is an AI-powered tool – Deepgrade.

    Smartail – Industry

    Smartail is in B2B SaaS EdTech (Education Sector). The total market size (APAC, Middle East, North America US, Canada) for AI In Education is expected to reach $20-25 Billion by 2030. Smartail is focused on AI in education using NLP, Deep Learning, and Computer Vision.

    Smartail – Founders and Team

    Smartail founders & Team
    Swaminathan Ganesan, Kannan Ganesan, and Aslam Sheriff Basha

    Swaminathan Ganesan and Aslam Sheriff Basha are the co-founders of Smartail. Aslam Sheriff Basha is the CGO and Swaminathan Ganesan is the CEO of Smartail. Kannan Ganesan is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the startup.

    Swami is a technologist and a product visionary, and Aslam a business expert and a magician in emotional intelligence complemented each other towards driving solutions for various customers in their previous stints as colleagues. As the entrepreneurial bug bit both, the next logical step was to build a product and take it out to the market.

    Swaminathan Ganesan is an Experienced Technology Specialist and Product Leader with 19+ years of experience in building software applications for renowned organizations globally. Proven solution architect and Subject matter expert with business acumen to identify pain points/challenges/use cases and solve them using a design thinking approach. Swami’s previous role was with Terralogic Inc as VP of Digital Transformation, has to experience managing globally distributed teams across Sanjose, New York (Digital Media Customers), Ho Chi Minh City (VN) and Bangalore.

    Aslam Sherieff is an Experienced Business Leader and Growth Strategist with 19+ years of experience in building software engineering teams to deliver cutting-edge products for renowned organizations as a part of an extension to engineering teams across Sanjose (US), Bangalore and Ho Chi Minh City (VN). People person where the strength lies in taking new requirements, scoping, Proposal, SOW, business closure, planning resources, hiring, onboarding, ramp up and delivering as per KPI metrics and Governance defined. Aslam’s previous role was with Terralogic Inc as VP of Software Services managing India, US, VN engineering deliver teams and Inside Sales, and growth planning.

    Kannan Ganesan (CTO) is an Experienced Technical & Product Leader with 15+ years of experience in the software application development domain. Solution architect and Subject matter expert in software engineering practices, Industry trends, tools, techniques, and approaches. A leader with a passion for technology has served organizations such as JP Morgan Chase, HSN and Cognizant respectively in various roles. Kannan has close to a decade of experience working in the US for JP Morgan Chase and HSN based out of Tampa, Florida. His previous role as VP at JP Morgan Service India Private Limited drove the payments development division.

    Smartail – The Idea and Startup Story

    Smartail Office
    Smartail startup Team

    Founders of DeepGrade having been in the industry for nearly 20 years and hiring fresh talent out of colleges, they felt there was still a huge gap in terms of Industry expectation and talent availability. It pushed them to get to the root cause of this perennial problem and find a solution for this – Thus Smartail was created.

    One of their key findings was that this pain area is something that must be addressed from the grassroots, right from school. They also believe that Artificial intelligence can make a significant impact in driving this solution, also the key is not only to address the pain of the students but their gurus, for a simple reason you empower and enable one teacher you impact thousands of students. Thus, the first product of Smartail “Deepgrade” came into existence.

    Smartail Logo
    Smartail Logo

    Smartail full form stands at Smart AI labs. Hence shorter representation is Smartail and their tagline is enabling and empowering the teaching community with AI.

    Smartail – The Product and Service

    Deepgrade Logo
    Deepgrade Logo

    Smartail’s artificial intelligence-based flagship platform Deepgrade empowers institutions with state-of-the-art answer paper correction. Deepgrade is an AI-powered answer paper correction platform for educational Institutions. Using Deep Learning, Machine learning, NLP, and Computer vision, not only correct your MCQs but all your descriptive text answers, diagrammatic answers, Maps, Chemical formulas & more. With Deepgrade correction you get to see never seen deep reports that enable you to make intelligent decisions.

    Smartail – Business Model and Revenue Model

    It’s a SaaS B2B and they have a Subscription-based revenue model. The subscription price per student per month is provided to educational institutions. Their pricing range is 25 to 35 INR per student per month.

    Smartail – Customer Acquisition

    Initial customers/users are someone who believed in your purpose and objective that they intended to achieve. As said before DeepGrade is a solution that addressed the pain points of the most important people – teachers and students. DeepGrade as a product and benefits spoke for itself, this helped them grow bigger.

    Their most important userbase are academicians who believe in lifelong learning and continuous upliftment. DeepGrade gives both teachers and management greater visibility into students’ performance and their understanding quotients. Positive effects of this Data-driven decision in every classroom are greatly welcomed by many educators and help in improving the holistic development of their institution.

    Smartail – Challenges Faced

    Every startup has its own challenges which decide its growth tenure. Likewise, Smartail’s DeepGrade is a whole new invention in its own way. It is not a single-day transformation. It has its own limitations in everyday usage.

    When it comes to its customers/users, using DeepGrade is an acceptance of the journey towards growth than buying a product. They grow together!!

    Embibe, This AI Powered Edtech is Making Learning Fun & Easy
    Embibe is changing the way students learn. About Embibe, Embibe founder, funding, Embibe business & revenue model, Embibe competitors & Growth
    StartupTalkyHimaya Presthitha

    Smartail – Marketing

    Their flagship product is not just a service or process, it is a seed for this century’s greatest technology transformation in the education industry. Making people understand the purpose and objectives of DeepGrade helped them gain more support from every educationist in this industry.

    They have conducted seminars, workshops and conventions with thousands of scholars from various subject areas. This took the Smartail product into the hands of their customers today.

    Smartail – Growth

    They have two office locations and the users are all the stakeholders of the education industry spread across the earth. Smartail plans to spread the pitch across nations and make DeepGrade adaptable to every educationist interested in data-driven decisions to improve the quality of their future generations.

    Smartail – Advisors and Mentors

    Key people who Advise and Guide Smartail are:

    • Prof. C Panduranga Bhatta – Honorary Advisor (Former Professor, IIM Calcutta, Honorary advisor)
    • Dr P Ravi – Strategic Advisor – Academics (Former Regional Director, National Institute of Open Schooling, Chennai)
    • Mr Priyadarshi Nayak – Strategic Advisor & Transformationalist (Founder & Chairman of CED FOUNDATION TRUST)

    Smartail – Recognitions and Achievements

    The startup has got recognition as mentioned below:

    • Selected for #RevvUpcohort2 startup acceleration program by the Telangana AI Mission (T-AIM) & NASSCOM AI mission.
    • Smartail is listed in the top 10 recommended AI startups in 2021.
    • INDIAAi Recognized as reinventing the education sector with AI Startup – Startupindia.

    Smartail – Funding

    Smartail is bootstrapped and funding is through friends and family investors. They are currently in discussion with lead investors like F&F. They are looking for funding for product scaling and revenue generation.

    Top 17 Emerging Edtech Startups in India 2022
    The edtech industry in India is one of the most profitable and successful industries. Take a look at emerging edtech startups in the industry.
    StartupTalkyAshwini

    Smartail – Competitors

    Top Competitors of Smartail are:

    • Gradescope
    • Copy Leaks
    • Swift Grade (not direct 1-1)

    Smartail – Tools Used in the Company

    Tools they use in the startup are:

    • OKR
    • Agile/Sprint
    • Cloud SaaS
    • CRM

    Smartail – Future Plans

    They have future plan to build and validate NLP for regional languages.

    FAQs

    When was Smartail founded?

    Smartail was founded in 2019.

    Who are the founders of Smartail?

    Swaminathan Ganesan and Aslam Sheriff Basha are the co-founders of Smartail.

    What is Deepgrade?

    DeepGrade is an AI-powered learning and grading platform by Smartail. It helps in identifying learning gaps among students and improving learning efficiency.

  • Ownex – Simplifying Property Rentals Both for Owners and Tenants

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

    Real estate market is fastly growing market. The market size of Real estate industry in India is expected to reach US$ 1 trillion by 2030. With the growth in market size, startups are coming up with real estate services to find solutions for different requirements of property services. Rental platforms are also growing subsequently. Owners and Tenants both need services for managing and finding properties respectively.

    Ownex is a Real Estate service provider that provides tech-enabled real estate rental platform for owners and tenants to get benefitted from. Read to know about Ownex, founders, services, and the startup story.

    Ownex – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Ownex
    Headquarters Mumbai
    Industry Real Estate
    Founder Mohd. Sajid, Muhammed Ali, and Pratik Mishra
    Founded 2022
    Website ownex.in

    Ownex – About
    Ownex – Vision
    Ownex – Core Belief
    Ownex – Industry
    Ownex – Founder and Team
    Ownex – The Idea and Startup Story
    Ownex – Service
    Ownex – USP
    Ownex – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    Ownex – Business Model and Revenue Model
    Ownex – Customer Acquisition
    Ownex – Challenges Faced
    Ownex – Marketing
    Ownex – Growth
    Ownex – Funding
    Ownex – Tools Used in the Company
    Ownex – Competitors
    Ownex – Future Plans

    Ownex – About

    About Ownex
    About Ownex

    Ownex is Mumbai’s 1st tech-enabled real estate rental platform that offers 15 Days Renting Guarantee along with free tenant replacement and complimentary property management solutions that help you maximize the worth of your home and enhance the quality of your lifestyle.

    They are an end-to-end tech-enabled real estate Property management solution. They manage residential rental properties. Get the best rent, expert maintenance and take care of tenant hassles throughout the life cycle of the agreement.

    They currently serve in Mumbai.

    Ownex Provide 2 set of service to their clients:

    1. Property management package for flat owner
    2. House finding package for tenant

    Ownex – Vision

    Ownex Handles Landlords Concerns about Tenants
    Ownex Handles Landlords Concerns about Tenants

    Company short term vision is to serve 400+ Clients and take 200+ Paid property under Management by April 2023.

    Ownex Vision is to make the average turn around time of tenant finding/property renting to 7 days and to onboard 10k paid property under management.

    Ownex – Core Belief

    They believe in solving the real issue in real estate rental transaction like:

    • Rental loss
    • Tenant replacement charges
    • Delay in renting
    • High brokerage

    Ownex – Industry

    Real estate sector in India is expected to reach a market size of US$ 1 trillion by 2030 (Sources: ibef.org).

    Ownex aim at capturing a big opportunity in the O2O (offline to online) real estate services market.

    In India, about $32 billion (about Rs 2.27 lakh crore) of rent transactions take place annually and the brokerage opportunity of $3 billion (about Rs 21,300 crore) is expected to grow further as more consumers are inclining towards shared economy from asset ownership models. (Sources: Knightfrank.Com)

    Over 20 lakh houses in 12 Indian cities, including 5 lakh in MMR alone, are lying vacant because landlords are reluctant to let them out. Low rentals amounting to barely 2-5% of the flat cost, high transaction costs, brokerage and stamp duty are among the reasons, said a report released on Tuesday. (Sources: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)).

    Mumbai has a large number of empty flats due to the following reasons:

    • Unsold stock of tier II builder flats (currently with the Builder)
    • Unsold stock of investment (currently with the Investor)
    • Vacant flats that the owner do not want to put on rent
    • Vacant flats that does not go on rent (variety of reasons: high rent/land lord issues/society issues, etc.)

    Ownex – Founder and Team

    Mohd. Sajid, Muhammed Ali, and Pratik Mishra - Founders of Ownex
    Pratik Mishra, Mohd. Sajid, and Muhammed Ali – Founders of Ownex

    Mohd. Sajid, Muhammed Ali, and Pratik Mishra are the founders of Ownex.

    They are a trio of Sr Manager, Manager and Associate. Whenever they got time they always discussed about the current and possible  upcoming challenges in this industry and the possible overcome they can suggest.

    They always discuss about the wrong move by few startups in this domain.

    There is one thing common in all 3 of them and that is the love towards the real estate industry.

    Mohd. Sajid: Co -founder and CEO

    Sajid has completed MBA in Marketing from SIBM and has 6 years of exxperience as senior manager in square yards and PMS vertical, Worked with company like Accenture, and MRF. He is a Visionary. His key skills includes Leadership, Marketing, Problem Solving, and Budget Management.

    Mohd Sajid take cares of all operations, Marketing and Business development, technology.

    Pratik Mishra: Co- founder and CCO

    Pratik Mishra handle  Field Sales and Supply addition.

    He has a Bachelors degree in Commerce from KJ Somaiya and an experience of 10 years in Business Development. He earlier worked with companies like Azuro, NJ Relocations, Exide Life Insurance. He is well versed in skills like Resilience, Active Listening, Rapport Building, and sales.

    Muhammed Ali: Co-founder and CFO

    Mohd Ali handles finance and Corporate. He is responsible for developer tie ups.

    He is a bachelors in Commerce with 8 years of experience in Business Development. He worked with companies CredR, Azuro, Justahome and few real estate developer. His key skills include Business Development, Collaboration, Negotiation & Persuasion.

    51 Business Ideas for Vacant Land to Make Money
    Wondering how to use your vacant land to make money? Here are listed 51 business ideas for vacant land to make money from. Read to know all.
    StartupTalkyAnik Banerjee

    Ownex – The Idea and Startup Story

    All the three founders being in the same industry for a very long time and worked on each level of this domain so they observed many startup has came to structure the real estate rental market but failed to do so and the reason they observed  are:

    • The solutions are not matching with the problems which are exist in the market
    • They never understand what clients need and expect from the startup
    • They are unable to tackle the local brokers
    • Their service level are not upto the marked

    They have observed the 3 major things which market needed very badly

    • They want to rent out their flat asap and don’t want Loss to their rental.
    • They don’t want to pay a replacement fee to the broker
    • Since tenant are moving very frequently, they don’t want to pay 1 month’s rent as brokerage especially without any add-on services.

    They have been researching on these issue for the last 3 year and they have interacted with more than 1000 flat owners and 500+ tenants.

    They Interviewed them and understand their pain point along with that they worked from the ground level i.e Field sales associate Till Regional Head in this industry so feel the pain of owner and tenant as well.

    Initially they talked about their solution with their old set of customers and NRI Clients and tell them what if someone provides these specific solutions to you and the response was very positive.

    Then they decided to Launch their Prototype in a specific location of Powai Hiranandani because Hiranandani projects has maximum number of high end investors and the response was awesome.

    Ownex Logo
    Ownex Logo

    Their Logo Reflect a Cut in a Circle which means Ownex assist its client to get relief and come out from their traditional way of renting and property management.

    Real estate is all about home and people always trust when they feel Apanapan because its about ghar. They chose the name ownex to give the feeling of Apna pan.

    Their tagline is “Simplifying property rentals”.

    Their tagline reflects their intention to make the process of rental transactions as simple as they deserve.

    Ownex – Service

    Ownex Services
    Ownex Services

    A flat owner can simple Sign up with Ownex through a E Service agreement if they have a requirement of tenant finding/ Property management service.

    Their PMS package includes:

    15 Days Renting Guarantee

    • Flat Service Fee of 25k
    • Free Tenant Replacement
    • Fair Market Rental
    • Background Checks of tenant
    • Legal Paperwork
    • Follow up on Rent Collection
    • Move in/Move out Audit with report
    • Furnishing Assistance
    • Monthly Rent and Deposit Collection
    • Handle Maintenance Call
    • Any Other Logistical Help
    • 24*7 Dedicated Property Manager

    A tenant can Simply Sign up with Ownex through a simple WhatsApp message.

    Their House finding Package include:

    • Curated Options
    • Pre-inspected flat
    • On Time Possession
    • Fair Market Rental
    • Dedicated RM Till Handover
    • Guided Site Visits
    • Fully Assisted Move in with report
    • Fully Assisted Move out with report
    • Free Maintenance Support
    • Flat service Fee of 25k
    • Deposit Refund Assistance with
    • Move-in and Move-out Report
    • Single POC

    Ownex – USP

    USP of Ownex services are:

    • No Brokerage just a Flat service Fee of 25k
    • Unlimited Free Tenant Replacement
    • 15 Days Renting Guarantee*
    • Complementary PMS
    • Experienced Team
    • Technology Advantage

    Ownex – Business Model and Revenue Model

    Ownex earns its revenue from various means which are:

    • They charge service fee from flat owner and tenant 25k each
    • They take a flat 2k commission on  each Leave and license registration from their registered vendors
    • They take 10% referral commission from fit-out and furniture vendors
    • They take 10% referral commission from their partnered packers and movers

    Ownex is a profitable startup.

    Ownex – Customer Acquisition

    Ownex acquired most of its customer through Google Ad, referral, and Social Media (LinkedIn, Facebook), and ¼ through real estate portals.

    Their Planned marketing Funda involves:

    Ownex – Challenges Faced

    Most Challenging part is to convinced the high end investor that their curated solutions will solve your problem since there are many firms and brokers who broke the trust of that investors.

    Their results reflect that they have overcome from these issue and still hustling.

    Ownex – Marketing

    Their free tenant replacement strategy give them daily 2-3 enquiry through organic marketing only.

    Ownex – Growth

    In just 90 days of Operation Ownex Achieved

    • 14 Lac+ Revenue
    • Completed  105+ Site Visit out of it 40℅ Are Virtual
    • Onboarded 30+ Paid Clients
    • Served 40+ Clients
    • Did Strategy Alliance with 1 Real estate Developer
    • Recognized By DPIIT
    • 5 Star Review on Google
    • 1 office in Mumbai

    They will be hitting 1 crore of revenue and  200+ paid properties under Management by April 2023.

    Things To check while Hiring A Real Estate Freelancer
    Freelancing in real estate industry is a preferred choice these days. What are the things that you should look in a real estate freelancer?
    StartupTalkySourav Dey

    Ownex – Funding

    Ownex is a bootstrapped startup. It has not received any funding yet.

    Ownex – Tools Used in the Company

    Some of the tools they use in the company are:

    • PMS Dashboard for flat owner
    • One Tap Service request raise feature for tenant
    • Ownex Prop to know last rental history

    Ownex – Competitors

    Local brokers is a tough competitor of Ownex.

    Ownex – Future Plans

    Ownex has future plans that includes:

    1. Corporate Tie ups with MNCs
    2. Developer Tie ups with Tier I and II Real estate developers
    3. Relocation Tie ups

    Top 10 Richest Real Estate Developers in India
    Real estate industry is considered as one of the most profitable industry in India. So Lets look at the Top 10 Richest Real Estate Developers in India.
    StartupTalkyAlan Joseph

    FAQs

    Who is the founder of Ownex?

    Mohd. Sajid, Muhammed Ali, and Pratik Mishra are the founders of Ownex.

    When was Ownex founded?

    Ownex was founded in 2022.

    What are the services offered by Ownex?

    Ownex provide 2 set of services to their clients:

    1. Property management package for flat owner
    2. House finding package for tenant

  • The Business Model of Ambuja Cements | How Ambuja Group Makes Money?

    Owning a house is what every individual dream of. Giving abstract plans a rigid execution is all that is necessary for a beautiful structure. Thus, comes the all-famous Ambuja Group which has been helping people in doing so for years. The company has all the perks of understanding the Indian conditions. Therefore it never fails in meeting the expectations of people. Now, in the following sections, we will be discovering how the no.1 cement company has made it to the top.

    About Ambuja Cements
    Areas of operation
    Key Products and Services
    Target Audience
    Business Model of Ambuja Cements
    How does Ambuja Cement make Money?

    About Ambuja Cements

    Since its inception in 1983, Ambuja Cements has commenced its journey of providing the finest building materials. Suresh Kumar Neotia and Narotam Sekhsaria founded the Ambuja Group with significantly less knowledge of cement manufacturing. The company got its headquarters in Mumbai. With the blessings of the Holcim Group, Ambuja rules the position of the second-largest manufacturer of cement around the globe. With varieties of cement, Ambuja tries its best to meet every possible need that would erupt in the market. Let’s outline the highlights of the company.

    Market Share of Cement Industry (2020)

    Areas of operation

    There is no doubt that the founders, Suresh Neotia and Narotam Sekhsaria, were ordinary people. What made them extraordinary was their future-driven thoughts. Having realized that India is a progressively developing country, cement can play a crucial role shortly. Thus they gradually came up with this company. Ambuja pops up within a second where any lips utter about building materials. They are the first preference in the Indian market. This way, they are now well established.

    Delhivery – Founders | Business Model | Wiki | Competitors
    Delhivery is leading the logistics industry with a turnover of INR 3,500 crore. Read about Delhivery, founders, competitors, funding, and more.
    StartupTalkyRishabh Rathi

    Key Products and Services

    Ambuja believes that the enrichment of the community roots in the enlightenment of the people. Imparting knowledge about their construction materials and work procedures to the engineers has led to growth in the education of professionals in this field. Construction work involves height. Thus, Ambuja also ensures the proper safety of the workers. A humble deed.

    Coming down to the list of products, Ambuja presents its buyers with varieties of building materials suitable according to the respective terms. Including products like Ambuja cool walls, Ambuja builder, Ambuja composer and a few more in line besides its most famous product of cement.

    Target Audience

    Along with any person who wants to build a house, Ambuja, Being a provider of building materials, looks up projects involving construction. Speaking of this would involve all kinds of engineers, contracts of construction. Winning over the faith of these people would give the required hype and publicity.

    Business Model of Ambuja Cements

    Ambuja excels in its work to be the most competitive and successful company in its particular industry. And to back this up, there always lies a business canvas on the table of their rooms.

    Running a business always requires a broad mind with good observatory skills. Sticking to a single lane of making money won’t be helpful in every clock. Therefore business activities have to be executed. These activities include collaboration, partnership, and sponsorship. Doing these activities proves to be of great help for any company. Apart from this, the company also adds to its profits when a second company collabs their investment. It would also fuel the trust between the companies, which would be helpful in case of further investments or business crises.

    Ambuja is very good at letting people know about its products. The more, the better. So it always ensures that the people have instant knowledge the moment they lay an eye on any product. For this, Ambuja focuses mainly on advertisements. Its advertisements are well known to everyone. This does the work of attracting the needed buyers who are looking for such products. And obviously, with no shortage of storage capacity, it delivers the best to its customers. This way, another point adds up to their revenue growth.

    How does Ambuja Cement make Money?

    Being the leading producer has some perks. The tight net of their connection serves them a great deal when it comes to dealings and projects. After that comes the part where they are consistent. It is also because of their non-stop production. Ambuja, not depending on any sole source for funding or fuel, is always high on production. Thus the storehouses are never empty.

    Having a confined field to produce on, sometimes variety becomes one of the drawbacks. As already it has levelled up in the Indian market, it’s like the company’s only arena is the Indian market. Outside this boundary, the company is a helpless deer. Regarding the field, there’s always a step on competition which involves restless work all day, every day. Even the slightest ignorance can give the competitors enough window to overtake in business.

    GST plays a pivotal role in dragging the profit in business. And in India, as we all know GST is heavy in the market now. Moreover, the country is still developing. It has a great demand for cement where construction comes in. So towering a building that produces materials to build other infrastructures would have a long life. Hence if proceeded with seriousness, the company would make a lot of money, which is being made.

    However, an excelling company must have a vision of turning these weak spots into a rigid defense system.

    Zomato Success Story – Latest News | History | Founders | Funding
    Zomato is an Indian food delivery startup founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah. Zomato hits $3.9 Billion valuation. Read about Zomato Success story, history, tagline, founders, startup challenges, funding, wiki and acquisitions.
    StartupTalkyRishabh Rathi

    Conclusion

    With various strengths, weaknesses, perks, threats, and harsh levels of competition at hand, Ambuja stands just as rigid as its logo. Muscular and unshakable. With the proper judgment of Indian business despite the competition with ACC, J.K Lakshmi, and Ultra tech cement, Ambuja is the all-time top. Therefore, with all its ways of ruling the cement industry, Ambuja today has earned its position in the market.

    FAQs

    When was Ambuja Cement Founded and by Whom?

    Suresh Kumar Neotia and Narotam Sekhsaria founded the Ambuja Group in the year 1983.

    Who is the CEO of Ambuja Cement?

    Neeraj Akhoury, appointed on the 21st of February 2020, is the present CEO of Ambuja.

    Where is the head office of Ambuja Cements?

    The Head Office of Ambuja Cements is located in Mumbai.

  • Webkonf- First Homegrown Video Conferencing And Screen Sharing Platform

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

    The outbreak of the global pandemic has upended the traditional ways of doing things. Many things got different solutions to them due to pandemics. One such thing was about conducting office meets and business calls. Pandemic made each and everyone physically far from each other. However, the working pattern was in need of everyone’s coordination. At such times, technology gave way for the world to move on. With the introduction of virtual meetings, the concept soon found a way to acknowledgment due to the need for hours.

    Virtual meetings were able to fill up the space formed in communication and physical presence during a pandemic. Hence, they found an easy path to success. Till now, the tradition of virtual meetings has been accepted by a mass of companies. The platform, Webkonf provides a real-time and constantly evolving method of connecting with different business associates for the work to go on. Webkonf meeting platform itself was developed as the product researched during Lockdown by the startup firm located in Hyderabad.

    Webkonf- Company Highlights

    Company Name Webkonf
    Headquarter Hyderabad
    Founder Rama Narayana Reddy Malay
    Founded 26 May 2020
    Sector Video Conference Platform
    Website webkonf.io

    Webkonf- About and How it Works
    Webkonf- Founder and Team
    Webkonf- Startup Story
    Webkonf- Name, Tagline and Logo
    Webkonf- Vision and Mission
    Webkonf- Products and Services
    Webkonf- Business and Revenue Model
    Webkonf- Competitors
    Webkonf- Future Plans

    Webkonf- About and How it Works

    Webkonf.io video conferencing App

    Webkonf is a video-conferencing platform that connects people through video, voice, chat, and content sharing. It is a web-based Audio, Video & Screen Sharing solution for meetings and conferences. They use open source systems and oracle cloud for security and scalability. Webkonf introduces background blur and noise cancellation features.

    Webkonf Meetings Private Limited is a non-government, Private project incorporated on 26 May 2020. Webkonf is classified under the section of the non-government company with its registration done at the registrar of companies in Hyderabad.  The company is authorized with the share capital of Rs. 10,00,000 and paid-up capital of Rs. 1,00,000. Webkonf is not just limited to creating a communication space, it also provides other basic computer-related activities such as maintenance of websites created for some other firms along with the creation of multimedia presentations for different firms, etc.

    The product Webkonf meeting was the result of research done in by the Hyderabad Startup in Lockdown.

    It was developed as an outcome of lockdown research done by the startup located in Hyderabad.

    Last year’s global web conference market size was US $2.5 billion and is expected to be US $5 billion by 2025. Indian market share is expected to be between 500 million and 750 million by 2025, as stated by Ram Malay.

    Google Meet | What is it? | What is the AI Noise Cancellation System?
    Google Meet. What is Google Meet? What is the AI Noise Cancellation Feature of Google Meet?
    StartupTalkyYash Taneja

    Webkonf- Founder and Team

    Ram Malay

    Ram Malay | Webkonf Founder
    Ram Malay | Webkonf Founder

    Ram Malay has done his BTech from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Electronics and Communications. Presently, he is also the CEO of Soniks Consulting, which is a firm with latest & innovative domains /technology entries which can help companies bridge gaps in current operations. Mr. Malay is also a Founder at SuperBigStore.com, which aims to be India’s #1 online store for Diapers, Wipes and Sanitary Napkins.

    Their growth trajectory has been quite impressive. It has grown from employing just three individuals to over 100 individuals currently. Today, the company’s talented employees handle multiple industry verticals across the world. The company is bootstrapped for the time being.

    Zoom Success Story – Helping The World in Surviving this Pandemic with Video Communications!
    With the coronavirus pandemic hitting the whole world at large, the face-to-facebusiness activities had to take a toll. That’s when this company raised to itsmagnificence. We are talking about the Zoom cloud meeting which was founded byEric S. Yuan in 2011. Zoom is an American company offering r…
    StartupTalkyRishabh Rathi

    Webkonf- Startup Story

    Webkonf Meeting Startup Story
    Webkonf Meeting Startup Story

    The idea to launch Webkonf clocked my mind just before the COVID-19 lockdown when I and my team realized the need for an effective communication and collaboration tool. We felt that such a platform could lead to better connectivity and make our work more productive. With this realization, we commenced to work on building such a platform, and hence, Webkonf was born.

    JioMeet, Zoom Gets a New Competitor As Airtel Introduces BlueJeans
    On Tuesday, Bharti Airtel has announced the launch of their video conferencing platform Airtel BlueJeans in partnership with Verizon, US based company.
    StartupTalkyYash Raj Srivastava

    Webkonf Logo
    Webkonf Logo

    Webkonf is a video-conferencing tool, used for virtual meetings with its special features.

    The name Webkonf somehow resembles its purpose of web conferencing.

    The Webkonf logo is made up of two different colors, i.e Blue and green. The logo consists of the “c” shaped half circle made up of blue and green colors with the term “Webkonf” written from within it. The letter “W” of webkonf is also written in two colors, the first half is blue, and the part below blue is written in green color.

    Webkonf- Vision and Mission

    With a vision to create innovative products with the customer at their heart and a mission to deliver outstanding technology-based experiences to users, Hyderabad based Soniks Consulting’s Webkonf Meetings is India’s first simple, secured, and protected web video conferencing and screen sharing platform. This application, without any data breaches for data privacy, enables Local hosting end to end encryption. It signifies that Webkonf never collects any data which is irrelevant for Webkonf operations like the majority of other applications which collect users’ browse history.

    Try these Zoom Settings to Protect Your Privacy and Avoid Zoombombing Trolls
    Zoom, a cloud-based meeting platform, is making into headlines almost everyday.The video-conferencing software[https://startuptalky.com/tag/video-conferencing-tools/] has been gainingattention from researchers and journalists lately for a number of potentialprivacy and security issues. The use o…
    StartupTalkyVarad Kitey

    Webkonf- Products and Services

    Webkonf Home Page
    Webkonf Home Page

    Webkonf Meetings is their most significant innovation ever. They’re confident that the platform will grow bigger and is definitely more impactful. It is India’s first extremely simple, secured, and protected video conferencing platform. It enables Local hosting end-to-end encryption without breaching any data.

    Unlike other applications, Webkonf does not collect the data or browser history of users. Webkonf is potential enough to be adopted by almost 10 million people in a brief period. We are planning for a paid version of Webkonf Meetings once new features and enhancements are released. We are planning for a virtual launch of a commercial version of the Webkon, as explained by Mr. Ram Malay.

    LiveWebinar : Perfect solution for hosting live meetings
    If you are looking for a perfect tool for hosting live meetings Here’s LiveWebinar, Perfect solution for hosting live meetings.
    StartupTalkyArbaz Sayed

    Webkonf- Business and Revenue Model

    Businesses are facing a tough time in contemporary India. While the verticals of traditional business have slowed down, digital space such as apps and webs or e-commerce grew by 300%. Webkonf usage has grown rapidly. Projects of digital, apps, and web are growing alongside fresh acquisitions. Hence, they are expanding mobile and web teams for satisfying user needs. They plan to add AI capabilities and machine learning to their platform which will be a long-term roadmap in progress. Oracle for Cloud needs and expansion has been our partner to produce superior performance and overall experience for the end-users.

    Top 10 Best Video Conferencing Apps for Businesses
    Are you looking for best video conferencing tools? The listed apps are the best video conferencing apps suited for every kind of business.
    StartupTalkyNiku Mandal

    Webkonf- Competitors

    Video conferencing has gained much acknowledgment during and after the pandemic. Earlier these platforms were not much used and known by everyone. However, after the pandemic, few already existing platforms started giving special attention to their online services and on other hand, many new startups were known to develop such platforms. Hence we can estimate that Webkonf might be getting its share of competition from many similar platforms, Some of the most common are:

    Reliance launched JioMeet to compete with Zoom, Google Meet
    After launching JioMart, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio [/tag/jio/] has launched JioMeet video conferencing app with unlimited free calling on July 2. JioMeet is available across Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and web. Jiomeet plans tocompete Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet during the Coronavi…
    StartupTalkyVarad Kitey

    Webkonf- Future Plans

    Webkonf is the most significant innovation at a time like this where it’s all virtual meetings. It is India’s first video conferencing platform which is simple, secured, and protected. It will have a deeper impact and will grow humongously over the years making it one of a kind than its contenders.

    They are looking forward to getting a paid version of Webkonf Meetings in the near future. But it’s possible only after new features and enhancements are released. They are planning for a virtual launch of a commercial version of their product at the earliest. Adding, AI capabilities and machine learning to their platform is their future plan. It can be considered as a long-term roadmap that is already started with its progress. Over the next five years, they envision their startup to grow into one of the most powerful, influential and innovative startup brands and scale across regions globally.

    How To Get Dress Up Right For Video Call | Tips to Ace your Video Call
    The born of a new work culture has led to the birth of a slightly modified wayof working. Be it Remote Working [/adjust-remote-working/], work from home[/productivity-working-remotely-khushaboo-jain/], or online classes; videoconferencing is the basic tool [/tag/top-video-conferencing-tools/]to o…
    StartupTalkyAvantika Bhardwaj

    Conclusion

    Webkonf provides a secure environment for the purpose of online communication and video conferencing through its medium. Webkonf was developed by Ram Malay, the CEO of Soniks Consulting. Webkonnf gives a tough competition to other already developed platforms like Zoom and Google meet. The best feature provided by Webkonf is its background noise cancellation with the policy of collecting no-user data through its medium.

    FAQs

    When was Webkonf introduced to the crowd?

    Webkonf was introduced on 26 May 2020 by the CEO of Soniks Consulting “Ram Malay”.

    The biggest competitors of WEebkonf are?

    Webkonf gets its competition from popular platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, Jio Meet, etc.

    What is the mission of Webkonf?

    The mission of Webkonf is to deliver outstanding technology-based user experiences.

  • Housejoy- Tech-driven Solutions for all Home-Related Needs

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organisations. The content in this post has been approved by Housejoy.

    Though there are several startups in the home-maintenance segment, the sector is still dominated by non-organized players. One of the leading startups in this sector is Housejoy. Housejoy’s end-to-end technology-driven solutions for all home-related needs – right from construction to maintenance are paving a way for an indeed unique experience for its users.

    Led by Sanchit Gaurav, Housejoy has kept cutting-edge technology at the core of all solutions and has a transparent and automated end-to-end process. Housejoy’s Construction and Renovation business is growing at the rate of 20% MoM and the growth seems unstoppable. Get an insight into the Success Story of Housejoy, its business model, founders, revenue, funding, competitors and more.

    Housejoy – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Housejoy
    Headquarter Bengaluru
    Sector On-Demand Home Services
    Co-founders Arjun Kumar, Sunil Goel
    Founded 2015
    Area Served India
    Total Funding $30.3 million
    Parent Organization Sarvaloka Services On Call Pvt Ltd.
    Website housejoy.in

    Housejoy – About
    Housejoy – Founders and How it Started?
    Housejoy Journey and Growth
    Housejoy – Name, Tagline and Logo
    Housejoy – Business Model and How it Works?
    Housejoy – Revenue
    Housejoy – Funding and Investors
    Housejoy – Startup Challenges
    Housejoy – Competitors
    Housejoy – Future Plans

    Housejoy – About

    Started in 2015, Housejoy is a leading tech-driven Construction, Renovation, Interiors and Home Maintenance company catering to all home-related needs of Indian consumers. The company offers end-to-end technology-driven solutions for all home-related needs, from construction to maintenance.

    The company is a pioneer in introducing geo-targeted technology when it comes to home services. Housejoy has its services running in 6 cities with more than 10 categories, that too in a highly fragmented sector.

    The app and website of Housejoy are akin to a cab booking system where you are first asked to provide your location and then book a service. Once the user selects a location, various services available in that area are displayed to the user. It works similar to food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato.

    Like many other online platforms, users can pay through online modes, banks, and cash. The app was wildly successful and was known for its reliability with more than 1 million customers and 500,000+ downloads in its initial years.

    Housejoy – Founders and How it Started?

    Housejoy was founded by Arjun Kumar and Sunil Goel, Sanchit Gaurav in 2015. Housejoy founders Arjun & Sunil quit the startup in 2017.

    Arjun Kumar and Sunil Goel, Founders of Housejoy
    Arjun Kumar and Sunil Goel, Founders of Housejoy

    Saran Chatterjee was the CEO of the company from 2015 till recently, he is now a member of the board. Sanchit Gaurav joined him in 2018. The company is now led by Mr Sanchit Gaurav the CEO and founder of Housejoy.

    Sanchit Gaurav, Co-founder and CEO of Housejoy
    Sanchit Gaurav, Co-founder and CEO of Housejoy

    Sanchit has close to 16 years of experience in the Indian real estate market. A serial entrepreneur, he founded Gaurav Housing Development Private Limited in 2012. He is also a Director at Altima Realty and Infra Private Limited.

    Sunil Goel worked in the IT leadership team for two decades in TESCO and eventually switched his job to TutorVista as the head of operations. Sunil launched a video platform to pre-screen candidates before they are hired by a company. This platform was named VU First.

    While Sunil was working in TutorVista, he met Arjun. Bookadda was the startup initiated by Arjun and he had raised $5 million in funding for this venture. Bookadda was eventually acquired by Sapna Group.

    Arjun had worked for MakeMyTrip. He had experience working in different fields like product development and payment systems at different companies. While Sunil and Arjun were exchanging various ideas for startups, they felt there are several issues with home cleaning and maintenance. It was a realization of the tremendous potential in this field.

    After working on their startup for around 3 years, the duo called it to quit. Many uncited sources say that the founders were forced to quit by the board members.

    Housejoy has recently made several high-level appointments to its senior leadership team with a focus on innovation and digital transformation, including bringing on board –

    • Gaurav Joshi as Senior VP, Growth and Strategy
    • Arpan Biswas, VP, Marketing
    • Neelima Ronanki as Associate Vice President, Design
    • Deepak Thakur as Vice President, Product and Technology

    Housejoy’s team also includes experienced Designers, Architects, Structural Engineers, Engineers, Site Supervisors, Quality Controllers, and Sales Representatives.

    • Pallavi Vijaydeep, Lead Interior Architect.
    • Tibin A is VP, Founder and CEO’s office, Customer Experience and Process Excellence
    • Priyadarshi M is Head of Sales
    • Gaurav N is Head of Finance
    • Sagar P is Head of Human Resources

    How To Start Your Home Repair Business
    Starting up with a business is an idea that can fascinate you. But if your nicheis finding out how to start your home repair business, then you might need tothink a bit different. The first thing you need to know this is different fromany finance-related business. This is because it is related to…
    StartupTalkyBaishali Das Adhikari

    Housejoy Journey and Growth

    Housejoy started as a home maintenance and improvement brand that offered a variety of services including plumbing, carpentry, electrical services, pest control and beauty in five major cities across India. The company has now expanded its offerings to tap the almost $30 billion home construction market in India which is currently dominated by unorganized sector operators.

    The conventional, unprofessional and non-tech-based approach often leads to a lot of problems for its consumers. Timelines are not adhered to, handovers get delayed, there is no accountability of schedule or cost-overruns, and at times, plans are altered without the consumer’s approval.

    Even the quality and costs of materials used in construction are usually concealed from the customers. Housejoy understands these pain points and is committed to providing clients with a one-stop-shop offering 360-degree home construction and home services solutions.

    Housejoy also focuses on bringing specialized beauty and wellness services to the customer’s doorstep. The on-demand salon and beauty services by trained and experienced beauticians include skin care, hair and makeup, and bridal and spa services using high-quality products.

    De Space Interior Design – Founders | Challenges | Business Model
    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified informationon different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on. Great home decor and furnishings is now a style statement. And with modulardesigns entering the…
    StartupTalkyVidhi Punamiya

    The founders then decided to launch a startup that provides services at home and wanted a name that depicted the offerings. They came up with Housejoy which means the joy of being served at your home with satisfaction.

    The logo of Housejoy is the roof of a house and under that roof is a smile which depicts the name Housejoy.

    Housejoy – Business Model and How it Works?

    Housejoy works on a marketplace business model wherein they charge a commission for the services delivered through their platform. The commission ranges from 5% to 15% depending on the category. Customers can choose a service from either their website or mobile app and book the same. Housejoy works as a mediator between service providers and consumers.

    The brand offers its services on its website and mobile app. Customers simply need to choose a service from the available options and book it. The service provider will reach the customer’s house and perform the task. Housejoy works as a mediator where service providers and consumers can find each other and connect.

    Housejoy – Revenue

    Housejoy reported revenue of INR 136 crore in fiscal (2019-2020) which is 4x times more than in 2018. Housejoy’s Construction and Renovation business is growing at the rate of 20% MoM and their future plans include building 2000 homes in less than two years.

    The company has also seen a massive increase in demand for its house sanitization and fumigation services which is expected to continue rising over the course of the next year.

    • Revenue grew 19% In FY18 i.e. INR 37.85.
    • In FY 17, revenue was INR 31.79 Crore.
    • Losses shrunk by 29.44 %, from INR 70.2 crore to INR 49.53 crore in a span of one year ending March 2018.

    Housejoy – Funding and Investors

    Housejoy has so far raised a total funding of $30.3 million from investors such as Amazon, Matrix Partners, Growth Story, Vertex Ventures, Qualcomm, and others.

    Date Amount Series Investors
    June 2015 $4 Mn Series A Matrix Partners
    December 2015 $23 Mn Series B Amazon, Matrix Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, ruNet
    December 2018 $1.34 Mn Bridge Round Matrix Partners
    December 2018 $1.58 Mn Bridge Round Vertex Ventures, RTP Ventures, Sama Capital,Qualcomm Ventures
    December 2018 $327k Bridge Round Ganesh Krishnan

    Wakefit Success Story – Origin | Founders | Competitors | Revenue | Funding
    Good sleep can do wonders for one’s body and mind. A good sleep can help youimprove immunity, increase concentration and even helps you stay in shape andlook younger. However, not all are lucky enough to have a good sleep. A worldwide survey for ranking sleep pattern has revealed that Indians fal…
    StartupTalkyChayanika Goswami

    Housejoy – Startup Challenges

    The construction sector is labour intensive and hands-on. This is one of the foremost challenges that a startup like Housejoy faced in this domain.

    “However, we keep everything streamlined with technology and ensure that any loopholes are addressed in a timely manner” says the team at Housejoy

    Another challenge was the lockdown imposed after the COVID-19 outbreak which led to the disruption of its services. Initially, Housejoy operated for about a week by reducing the on-site presence of its workforce. However, work has picked up now and it has seen an increase in demand.

    In future, the lean organizational structure where the number of on-site or in-house employees will be less will become a norm. The team at Housejoy are also going to focus on further automation of services so that the least possible disruption is caused to its services during any such unforeseen crisis.

    Housejoy – Competitors

    There are several companies and startups entering the home construction domain. Some competitors of Housejoy in the home-maintenance segment include Urban Company, Brick and Bolt, UrbanPro, Helpr, SBricks, Mr Right, Timesaverz, Bro4u, EasyFix, and Home Triangle.

    Despite all the growth, the sector is still dominated by non-organized players. Housejoy’s vast expertise and in-depth understanding of consumer behaviour and needs have helped them create a unique profile. They have kept cutting-edge technology at the core of all solutions and have a transparent and automated end-to-end process. This ensures that all major stakeholders such as customers, sales teams, architects, designers, project managers and on-site engineers as well as the quality control and accounting personnel are on the same page.

    Housejoy – Future Plans

    Expansion of existing services and the addition of new areas is key for any organization. Housejoy has diversified its portfolio over the years in order to augment the business.

    The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of branching out and innovation, even more. For instance, they have been focusing on constantly strengthening and modifying their service model by following customer feedback and inputs.

    Post-Covid too, there will be a lot of focus on personal hygiene and sanitation. More people would opt to buy everything including groceries online. Housejoy has been receiving a lot of demand for organized at-home services and will be focusing on their on-demand beauty services too.

    The company recently launched home fumigation services and is gearing up to do all that it can as a brand to ensure it helps its customers while ensuring the sustainability of the business. The overall goal of the platform is to become the largest tech-enabled construction and home services platform in India

    Housejoy – FAQs

    Is Housejoy shutting down?

    No, there were rumours that the company might shut down but Housejoy confirmed that they are not shutting down and are planning to grow their services in India.

    Who are the competitors of Housejoy?

    The biggest competitors of Housejoy today are UrbanClap, TaskRabbit and Urban Pro.

    What is the revenue of Housejoy?

    Housejoy had a revenue of INR 136 crore in 2019-2020 which is 4x times more than in 2018. Housejoy’s Construction and renovation business is growing at the rate of 20% MoM.

    What is the business model of Housejoy?

    Housejoy works on a marketplace business model where the company charges a commission for services delivered through its platform. The commission varies across different categories. Some range from 7% to 10%, others lie in the range of 10% to 15%, and in the case of high ticketing services like construction and renovations, the commission may go up to 20%.

    How much funding has Housejoy raised?

    Housejoy has raised a total of $30.3 Million of Funding to date. Its most recent funding was led by Matrix Partners, Vertex Ventures, RTP Ventures, Sama Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and Ganesh Krishnan for $3.24 Million.