MUMBAI: The likes of Facebook and Oracle have been rolling out
crore-plus offers at IIT campuses, but not everyone's biting.
Mechanical engineering student Vaibhav Antil, for instance, has
caught the start-up bug and is keener to develop his mobile
app-based idea around music than work for someone else.
A number of IITs now have a fallback option for graduating
students like him. To encourage them to do their own thing,
IIT-Bombay has allowed Antil to be part of a deferred placement
programme (DPP), which will allow him to return to campus for
interviews in the next two years if his business idea doesn't work
out.
Engineering physics student Anurag Meena, who's trying to
develop a non-invasive drug delivery and diagnosis product with his
professor, is also taking the DPP. Last year, only one student at
IIT-B opted for deferred placements; this year, this year, 12 have,
said placement manager Mohak Mehta.
READ ALSO:IIT graduates prefer new-age jobs to core engineering
ones
4 IIT-Kanpur students turn down Rs 1 crore per annum offers
IIT-Kanpur is offering the opportunity for the first time and
six students have already opted for it. IIT-Madras is extending it
to even students who wish to do a PhD, said officials.
The prototype of Meena's project with Professor Rohit Srivastava
is being funded by the Tata Centre for Design at IIT-B. Of the 12
students, five are working on various projects for the Centre for
Technology for Alternatives for Rural Areas (C-TARA) at IIT-B.
Sandhya Seetharaman is working with C-TARA on a project that would
require her to evaluate environmental safeguards in district rural
roads plans under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna.
"We tried spreading awareness on campus and sent regular mails
to students. We wanted to brand it as a positive 'benefit' being
'awarded' to credible students. Once applications came in, we
interviewed the students. Not everyone who applies gets an
opportunity," said Mehta of IIT-B.
Amruthkumar Hegde, a mechanical engineering student from
IIT-Madras, and his friend Krishna Chaitanya, wanted to try their
luck once with the civil services exam before appearing for their
placement interviews. "I would like to see if I stand a chance in
the all-India test. After a year, the institute will take a call on
extension," he said.
According to Angellist, Mumbai is the heart of more than 500
startups and numerous accelerators, incubators and investors. The
city of Mumbai is known for some amazing startups that have grown
enormously including Housing.com, Cleartrip, Ola and Quikr among
others.As a part of our Indian Startup Hubs Series, where we will
be covering some of the amazing startup hub cities, this time we
bring to you the list of Mumbai based growth stage startups that
you should know about.CrowdfireFounder(s):Nischal Shetty,Siddharth
Menon,Anirudh Khusape,Sameer MhatreFounded in:Feb 2010Funding:$2.5
Mn from Kalaari Capital in its Series A funding round.It is not
only about how many friends you make in the social world, it is
about how you manage them. People who unfollow matter just the
same, at least for companies desiring repeat customers.Crowdfire, a
Twitter and Instagram friend mangement app helps in doing exactly
that. Through Crowdfire, enterprises (and others) can find out
their inactive followers on Twitter and also how many have
unfollowed them which allows companies to give undivided attention
to potential customers. The mobile app offers a variety of tools
for managing followers, of which some are free while others require
subscription. The company has already crossed INR 6 Cr. in revenue
by providing this technology to 8 Mn users
worldwide.PricebabaFounder(s):Tirthesh Ganatra,Annkur P
AgarwalFounded in:January 2012Funding:Undisclosed amount in 1 Round
from Dinesh Tejwani, 500 Startups, Karamveer SinghPriceBaba, a
local product search engine, helps customers get in touch with the
various local and online retailers and select their desired
smartphone to the best of their benefit. Besides price comparison,
it also displays prices from different retailers, both local and
online, thus giving a clear picture to the customers. Recently, it
expanded to 4 new cities namely: Chennai, Hyderabad, Baroda and
Surat, taking the total number of cities it is operational in to
11. PriceBaba, recently, also introduced a new online price
comparisonalongside local prices on its platform.WebEngage
Founder(s):Avlesh Singh,Ankit UtrejaFounded
in:2010Funding:Undisclosed funding in two rounds from Indian Angel
Network, GTI CapitalA SaaS-based on-site customer engagement tool
for online businesses, WebEngages solutions allow online businesses
to run promotions and offers on their websites and gather customer
insights. At the core of WebEngage is its targeting engine which
can be used to identify visitor segments (like referring site, geo
location, cookies etc) and throw a particular questionnaire or
message/offer to them.The firm counts among its key clients
companies such as Flipkart, MakeMyTrip, Jabong, Myntra, Snapdeal,
Avaya, Intuit and Udemy. The startup is also planning to expand its
operations to the US.SuperFounders:Faisal MemonFounded In:September
2013Funded:N/AMumbai-based recruitment app, Super recently acquired
Viraltrics, a mobile SaaS startup for deep linked referrals. The
aim is to help companies connect with the right candidates via an
algorithm that looks at the resumes and the keywords in an
employers description to make a match. It has already received half
a million registrations from job seekers and has been rated over
8500 times with 100K screen views everyday. Super is used by over
100+ Startups including HelpShift, Haptik, Flatchat, Crowdfire,
Grabhouse, WebEngage, to hook up with hot
talent.WizrocketFounder(s):Anand Jain,Sunil ThomasandSuresh
KondamudiFounded in:May 2013Funding:$1.6 Mn from Accel
PartnersMumbai based WizRocket is a user behavior analysis &
targeting tool startup, it can be used to engage with the loyal
users on the site via web messages, or to reach out to lost users
via email campaigns. It sendsa push notification to people whove
abandoned shopping cart on the mobile app, or even to thank users
whove made a purchase on that day via in-app
notifications.TushkyFounder(s):Kranti AgarwalandTalvinder
SinghFounded in:September 2011Funding:June 2011 $65k/Seed,
September 2012 $25k/Angel, January 2013 Undisclosed, April 2013
$250k/Angel and latest September-2013 Undisclosed
amount/Seed.Tushky is a marketplace for real-world leisure
activities in India. The Startup can be used for discovering and
booking unique activities like fencing, archery, grilling, quilling
etc from credible local people . With 1300 bookable activities on
its platform, currently it is the biggest in India. Its web
platform is one of the most advanced in the world, for its ability
to store, serve and distribute activities in bookable format, right
down to the date, time and paid exclusions. The company is backed
by some of the best known investors and advisers in India and
Silicon Valley.Purple SquirrelFounder(s):Aditya GandhiandSahiba
DhandhaniaFounded in:2013Funding:2 Undisclosed fundingsPurple
Squirrel Eduventures, an IIT Bombay incubated startup, connects
students with industry partners for field visits, workshops and
hands on practical experiences. The company bulids programs for
colleges, wherein students visit and interact with both
entrepreneurial and big player companies for their spread of career
diversity. Purple Squirrel has already delivered 5000+ unique
experiences in experiential learning, associating with 350+
campuses and corporates across 12+ destinations within 1 year of
its opening. It has so far connected 70 colleges from 10 cities,
8,000 students and 300+ partner companies.NifflerFounder(s):Edul
Patel,Prince AroraandViraj ShahFounded in:2014Funding:$ 1 Mn from
Saif PartnersMumbai-based startup, Niffler is a mobile application
that helps users discover deals and discounts from their favourite
brands as soon as they go live. The firm helps find deals from
offline merchants across categories including food and drinks, spas
and salons, apparel and home dcor. Brands like Zara, Forever 21,
and Shoppers Stop have had their End of Season Sales featured on
Niffler. Since 2014, there has been 30,000+ traction which has
increased the apps presence in top 5 cities of the country i.e.
Mumbai, Pune, NCR, Bangalore and Hyderabad.RoomNHouse
Founders:Amit Solanki,Rakesh SinghFounded In:November
2012Funding:$166.4K in July 2014Mumbai-based Room N House is a
trusted and reliable local community marketplace for people to
search, discover list and make use of the ultimate locations in any
area of their choice. Its a common mans destination place. Whether
you need to rent out a private space for a quick penny, or
desperately need a place to match your requirements, be it a small
get-together, a family or a business function, or just need an
accommodation for your next visit, RoomNHouse covers it
all.SimpelFounders:Subhradeep BhattarcharyaFounded
In:2013Funding:N/AMumbai-based Simpel is a mobile payment app that
allows customers to pay through credit/debit cards instead of cash
for Cash on Delivery (COD) and Home deliveries without the need for
any additional device on the side of the merchants. Simpel charges
a small transaction fee fromthe companies on every transaction.
They want to onboard over 100 merchants and reach 10,000
transactions from 5000 customers.KettoFounder(s):Kunal Kapoor,Varun
ShethandZaheer AdenwalaFounded in:2012Funding:$150K angel
investors, November 2013Ketto is an online crowdfunding platform
that allows individuals, corporates and NGOs to raise funds for
their favourite social causes and ideas using social media and
ecommerce in fun and engaging ways. With celebrity support (Kunal
Kapoor), the platform wants to connect individuals and brands with
fundraisers. The company aims to increase engagement and
participation among NGOs, its supporters and corporates to raise
funds while bringing down the cost of doing the same. It claims to
be getting over 15,000 unique investors on its platform per
month.CatapoooltFounder(s):Satish KatariaFounded
in:2012Funding:Undisclosed seed funding in April 2014.Catapooolt is
a crowdfunding and crowd engagement platform for Movies, Music,
Performing Arts and other creative ventures. It also offers its
community-driven platform and media access to various Technology
projects (E.g. Gaming, Internet of Things, Mobile Apps).Fab
BagFounder(s):Kaushik MukherjeeandVineeta SinghFounded in:July
2012Funding:$500K seed funding in February 2013Mumbai based FAB BAG
(earlier known as Vellvette) is a beauty/grooming discovery and
subscription platform. Each month, thousands of members sign up to
receive expert-recommended full and travel-sized products from top
global brands that they can sample at home. The member benefits
also include discounts on sampled products and detailed information
on how to use these products. FAB BAG also has an extensive range
of premium & prestige products for sale online and frequently
hosts offline workshops and product launches in collaboration with
beauty brands. The company, with a team of 22 members evenly split
between sourcing, tech, support & operations, has shipped
beauty bags to 40,000+ subscribers and has 100,000+ registered
members online.WegilantFounder(s):Toshendra SharmaFounded
in:2011Funding:INR 1 Cr. angel funding in 2014 from Ravi Gururaj of
HBS Alumni Angels, Gaurav Sharma of Yahoo India, and Vishwanathan
Ramachandran and IIT-Bombays startup incubator SINE.Mumbai based
Wegilant delivers Android App security products on Cloud,
consulting and research. It basically offers strategies,
capabilities and technologies necessary to help businesses
preemptively protect Android applications & IT infrastructure
from threats. It offers Appvigil, a cloud-based Android app
security scanner that scans security loopholes in Android
applications. As per the company, the funds will be used to add new
features to the product and increase more clients, besides
expanding the team. The Company won NASSCOM Emerge 50 Award 2014
and Wegilant was among Top 10 Emerging Software Product Companies
in India for 2014.PokktFounder(s):Sharad Ingule,Vaibhav
OdekarandRohit SharmaFounded in:August 2012Funding:October 2013
Undisclosed seed funding and in July 2014 it raised $2.5 Mn in
Series A.Mobile-based application Pokkt, is an additional way for
app developers and publishers to make money. It provides software
development kits (SDKs) to help resolve the challenges of discovery
and monetisation. It is available on Android, iOS and Windows
platforms. For consumers who want to purchase digital content on
web or mobile, Pokkt provides a chance to do it for free by
offering multiple alternative payment tools like watching videos,
subscribing to services, installing applications and participating
in surveys. For advertisers, the app provides multiple engagement
tools to reach out to millions of active users, both on web and
mobile. The firm charges a fee from these advertisers which is its
main source of revenue. Pokkt claims to be seeing 8,000-10,000
transactions per day across all its platforms and is working with
15 big publishers and developers in the country. With the funding,
the company wants to expand to more than 5,000 developers globally
and launch more products to help developers get their apps
discovered and monetized.HaptikFounder(s):Aakrit VaishandSwapan
RajdevFounded in:2014Funding:$1 Mn from KalaariHaptik is a mobile
messaging platform which enables users to get help from experts for
various products and services.Haptik acts like a WhatsApp for
customer support to put an end to automated customer support
machines and allows users to chat with experts and get help with
customer support issues, FAQs and information. Users just need to
send out a text and the specific company representative will get in
touch with them within 1 to 4 minutes.Plancess Edusolutions Pvt
Ltd.Founder(s):Nitesh Salvi,Vivek GuptaandMirik GogriFounded
in:2011Funding:INR 6 Cr.Plancess aims to reach IIT JEE aspirants
and deliver IIT JEE preparation material. It deliversexpert created
JEE Mains and Advanced preparation tips, IIT JEE Online Video
Lecturesand precise IIT JEE Study Material. The learning resources
by Plancess include top-rated preparation material, Proficiency
Test & Olympiad package for specific exam requirements.
Plancess is a 70 members strong team and already has 25000+ happy
students enrolled.TimesaverzFounder(s):Lovnish BhatiaandDebadutta
UpadhyayaFounded in:2012Funding: Undisclosed amount inseed funding
fromNeville Taraporewalla, Rajesh Sawhney of GSF,Ashish Jalani,
founder at eTailing India, Dinesh Agarwal, founder of Indiamart,
and Nish Bhutani, COO of Saffronart also participated in this
round.Mumbai-based Timesaverz offers a platform to obtain people
for home services. In simple words, a mobile application (installed
1000+ times) that combines uberification of services with an
understanding of the needs and dynamics of Indian households. The
raised funds are said to be used for scaling up and expanding
services across multiple cities in India; currently it has services
available only in Mumbai. It has a network of over 500 service
providers on its platform. Each service partner goes through a
process before enlisting with the platform that includes background
check, verification of skill-sets and polishing of
soft-skills.AasaanjobsFounder(s):Dinesh GoelFounded
in:2013Funding:$1.5 Mn fromIDG Ventures India and Inventus Capital
PartnersMumbai-based Aasaanjobs.com is a recruitment portal for
blue collared and entry level white collared workers in India. The
firm, which went live in 2014, addresses what is known as the grey
area segment in job market, covering entry level jobs such as
data-entry operators and telemarketers. In their last funding of
$1.5 Mn in January this year from investors IDG Ventures India and
Inventus Capital Partners, the company claimed to use the funds to
expand their existing offerings, hire management and tech
professionals and to ramp up technology and product development.
Aasanjobs features over 5000 verified candidates with close to 1000
job openings.VoxpopclothingFounder(s):Siddharth TapariaFounded
in:2013Funding:$1 MnMumbai based Web-only merchandising
brandVoxPopClothingis a startup which develops and retails limited
edition T-shirts in partnership with global and domestic
entertainment and sports brands like Disney, Marvel and Mumbai City
Football Club and other brands, including Batman, Superman, and
Game of Thrones.ObinoFounder(s):Ritu Soni Srivastavaand Yogesh
SachdevaFounded in:August 2014Funding:Undisclosed amount inpre-seed
round in January 2015 from HealthstartUnlike traditional
weight-loss mobile apps which focus on counting calories,Obino is
an application which helps users get in shapeby providing nutrition
information and other lifestyle modifications on the
Recommend-Remind-Reward model. Launched in August 2014 as a free
and premium mobile-application for Android handsets, Obino has
around 16,000 downloads, over 2000 active users & 150+ paying
customers at a ticket size of INR 1500 per
month.BoxmyspaceFounder(s):Pratyush JalanFounded in:January
2015Funding: N/AMumbai-based venture BoxMySpace helps provide
physical storage.Be it diwali decoration material, winter clothes
or any other collectibles, the startup helps clear all the clutter
which keeps accumulating and provides you the luxury of space. You
can box the stuff up and they will store it for you. All that the
user needs to do is order online and he/she can get the home
decluttered in a jiffy. The whole process of ordering boxes,
scheduling a pickup, tracking and indexing the boxes is done online
through Boxmyspaces web portal and mobile application, and in terms
of pricing, they charge INR 250 per box for a minimum storage
period of three months. The company has one hub setup in Mumbai for
the logistics, and plans to setup another to cover the other parts
of Mumbai.LocalbanyaFounder(s):Karan Mehrotra,Rashi
ChoudharyandAmit NaikFounded in:2012Funding:Funding round led
byShrem Strategiesin late 2014, prior to it, Localbanya had raised
two round of funding from investors including BCCLs Springboard
Fund and Karmvir Avant Infotech Pvt Ltd.Mumbai-based online grocery
startup, Localbanya was the first to enter the online grocery
market in Mumbai, back in 2012. The company with an employee
strength between 200-500, was the first to develop multiple
innovative ideas such as offering deliveries up to 11:30 pm. The
company lists over 14,000 products on its website and manages to
get around 850 900 orders per day in Mumbai, with an average cart
value of INR 1400 per order. Localbanya has set a target of
expanding to seven cities within 2015, starting with Pune. The
other cities include Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad,
Ahmedabad and Kolkata.TopprFounder(s):Hemanth Goteti,Zishaan
HayathFounded in:2013Funding: Undisclosed Angel funding from
Kashyap Deorah and Abhishek Jain,$2 Million in Seed Funding from
SAIF Partners, Helion Venture PartnersPreparing for competitive
exams has always been a hard task for the students. With
innumerable books to study and a wide variety of study material
available, students often find themselves confused with regard to
the topics needed to cover and whether their preparation is in line
with the exam pattern.Toppr provides an adaptive platform built
over a strong question bank that makes the experience of each
student unique and tailored for their needs. Every student solves
different questions and different number of questions based on his
previous attempts, but, clears the same set of goals. This
goal-driven pedagogy gives a structure to the study and instant
feedback reports and strength/weakness analysis measure the
progress of the student while also eliminating a lot of non-value
adding steps from exam prep like searching for more questions,
matching answers to calculate scores etc.Instamojo
Founder(s):Sampad Swain,Akash Gehani,Harshad SharmaFounded
in:2012Funding:$500 Thousand in 3 Rounds from 500 Startup, Kalaari
Capital, Sunil Kalra, Rob de Hues, Shailesh Rao, Blume Venture,
Bharatram Thodadri, Rajan AnandanAn online payment collection
platform, Instamojo allows users to sell reports, codes, documents,
photos, templates, tutorials, music, and videos, for free by just
sharinging a link. The user has to list the stuff he/she wants to
give away and Instamojo, in turn, creates a page for the posting.
The unique link of the page can be then shared with friends, fans
and followers. When someone interested claims it, the owner gets an
intimation e-mail and can give it away. The platform is available
for users across the world.HolachefFounder(s):Saurabh Saxena,Anil
Gelraand Ritu RanaFounded in:September 2014Funding:INR 2
Cr.Mumbai-based startup Holachef is a fine-dine restaurant in the
cloud! The menu changes every-day and provides an unmatched variety
in terms of meals that are made from the finest of ingredients.
Currently, Holachef is operational in Mumbai areas like Powai,
Chandivali, Vikhroli (West), Bhandup (W), Andheri (E), Sakinaka,
Marol and JVLR. The company is now seeking to raise INR 25 30 Cr.
funding in order to expand across Mumbai as well as in six to seven
other cities across India.NoBroker
Founder(s):Amit Agarwal and Akhil GuptaFounded in:March
2014Funding:$3 Mnfrom SAIF Partners & Fulcrum Ventures in
Series AMumbai-based startup NoBroker.in is an unique home rental
platform that makes it possible to rent houses without paying any
brokerage. The website is currently operational in Mumbai and
Bangalore and, after their funding, they wish to expand to 20 other
cities in India over the next 2 years.EmbibeFounder(s):Aditi
AvasthiFounded in:2012Funding:$4 Mn Venture capital from Kalaari
Capital and Lightbox VenturesIndividuals go through a lot of
transitions in their life. Students, in particular, have to face
the daunting dilemma of choosing from various streams, schools, how
to prepare for entrance examinations, branch to study in etc.
Embibe, through its data driven insights, helps maximize the
potential of every student. With the help of intensive analytics,
content and data, Embibe personalizes test prep education and
identifies test taking and practice behaviours as well as academic
deficiencies that make students underachieve in an exam.Embibe
recently acquired 100 Marks, one of the student guidance platforms
for JEE Main, Advanced and Medical, in a cash plus stock
deal.Klip.inFounder(s):Harsh GadiaandManeesh MadambathFounded
in:2011Funding: INR 3 Cr.fromVentureNursery, members of Calcutta
Angels, Mumbai Angels in February 2015,undisclosed amount of
funding from VentureNursery and Mumbai Angels in 2013.Mumbai-based
Klip is a social shopping website tool that helps people in
arriving at a better buying decision by connecting a community of
shoppers based on their wishlists (klips) and taste. There are
thousands of interesting lifestyle products online and hardly a
good way to find them, but Klip thought it should be easier than
browsing through ten blue links at a time and then going through 5
different tabs to find something that matches the unique taste. The
company with less than 10 employees is planning to come up with
mobile app in few months. Klips few of the biggest ecommerce stores
include Flipkart, Myntra, Postergully, Yellowtrunk, Jabong, Amazon
and many others.ZepoFounder(s):Nitin PurswaniFounded
in:2011Funding:Undisclosed amount from Anupam Mittal, CEO of People
Group, One97 Mobility Fund and few othersMumbai-basedZepois a
do-it-yourself (DIY) ecommerce platform for SMBs. Zepo helps people
take their businesses online in a very short period of time by
providing an entire framework required to sustain an ecommerce
business. The company provides a great ecommerce website with 100+
themes to choose from, a free payment gateway to accept online
payments, logistics support to ship your orders and marketing help
to promote your website.GrabhouseFounder(s):Prateek
ShuklaandPankhuri ShrivastavaFounded in:2013Funding:undisclosed
amount in seed funding, $2 Mn in Series A round November 2014 and
$2.5 Mn in January 2015.Bangalore-based Grabhouse.com is a broker
free house renting website (also available on Android app), that
helps people find compatible roommates and rented accommodation.
Their main aim is to connect owners or current tenants to
prospective tenants directly. Grabhouse wishes to make a highly
unorganized sector clutter free by ensuring quality and accurate
listings in simple steps; Check photos, neighbourhood information,
amenities details and preferences all on a single page to make an
informed decision. Grabhouse is currently operational in four
cities, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad. According to the
website, it has listings of over 138238 houses, and, using the
platform, users have saved about 14.01 Cr.+ which they would
otherwise have had to pay in brokerage.WishberryFounder(s):Priyanka
AgarwalandAnshulika DubeyFounded in:2012Funding:INR 4
Cr.Mumbai-based Wishberry is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform
that raises funds for creative and innovative projects. It helps
people in pitching their projects to friends, family, fans and
everyone else who can contribute funds for their projects/dreams.
The company has raised over INR 3.5 Cr. from 9100+ funders
worldwide for 150 projects, which include Arts, Film, Theatre,
Music, Tech, Gaming, Publishing and Apps getting funded on the
platform. Wishberry, with their crowdfunding, want to spur
innovation & creativity in India and then later spread to other
developing countries like Pakistan and Sri
Lanka.PurplleFounder(s):Manish TanejaandRahul Dash.Founded
in:2011Funding:Undisclosed amount in Series A funding from Ivy Cap
in 2015,undisclosed amount in funding in 2013 led by Blume
Ventures, Mumbai Angels and Chennai Angels in Pre-Series
A.Mumbai-based website Purplle.com is an online personal care and
beauty products platform which serves both men and women across
different categories like skin care, makeup, body care, beauty
appliances etc. The company has tie ups with more than 7,000
salons, spas, skin care and hair care chains across Mumbai and are
targeting $40-50 Mn GMV run rate and 25000 products, 50000 salons
and spas by end of this year. Currently they are doing about a 1000
transactions on the platform with a ticket size of INR
1100-1200.Testbook.comFounder(s):Manoj Munna,Ashutosh
Kumar,Narendra AgrawalFounded in:April 1, 2013Funding: $200k in 1
Round from LetsVenture, Utsav SomaniAn Education Tech company,
Testbook provides online learning experience. Testbook is an online
test preparation platform for competitive exams like GATE, CAT, SBI
PO, SBI Clerk, IBPS PO, etc covering practice, testing and learning
needs of the students. All the tests have been designed by toppers.
Practice tests with different time lengths are provided to ensure
systematic preparation. Also, detailed solutions are provided to
strengthen the concepts.Many students have registered on its
platform, which is currently free.MydentistFounder:Vikram
VoraFounded in:2009Funding:$10 Mn in 1 Round from SeedFund, Asian
Healthcare FundWith 100-plus clinics, Mydentist is currently the
largest organized player in the fragmented dental care market.
Their services encompass all aspects of cosmetic and restorative
dentistry including all forms of general dentistry, oral surgery,
fixed and removable prosthetics, implants, orthodontic care,
cosmetic procedures and emergency care with the utilization of the
latest in dental technology and expertise. Its operations are
concentrated in Mumbai, including Thane and Navi Mumbai, Pune,
Surat and Ahmedabad.Updated:TaskBobFounders:Aseem KhareFounded
In:2014Funding:Raised funding of $1.2 Mn from Orios, Mayfield.The
Mumbai-based mobile-only home services startup, TaskBob offers
instant home services by sending pre-screened, verified, skilled
professional serviceman at the customer doorstep to fix household
appliances such as AC, washing machine, computer and
refrigerator.LocalOyeFounders:Aditya RaoFounded In:2013Funding:$5
Mn Series A funding from Tiger Global Management and Lightspeed
Venture Partners; undisclosed amount in seed funding from Sidharth
Rao (Co-founder Webchutney), Haresh Chawla (ex-Group CEO Network 18
and India Value Fund partner), and Sachin Bhatia (co-founder,
MakeMyTrip).Mobile marketplace for hiring local service
professionals, LocalOye team does screening and personal
verification of each service professional to ensure quality,
assurance and fair pricing. A merchant can look at details of the
customer like budget, location, timings, preferences etc. and
choose to accept the connection. This ensures very high reliability
and trust for both the customers and
merchants.DoormintFounders:Three IITians, Naman Lahoty (IITB),
Abhinav Agarwal (IITB) and Piyush Ranjan (IITK)Founded In:January
2015Funding:Undisclosed amount of funding from Powai Lake
Ventures.On demand utility service startup Doormint provides
services from electricians, laundry, plumbers, carpenters, pest
control and appliance repair. The company also does background,
criminal and police verifications before they take professionals on
board.InloyalFounder(s):Kunal MehtaandUrvi MehtaFounded
in:2014Funding:N/AMumbai-based Inloyal, is the digital loyalty
pocket for retail customers and plug-and-play loyalty rewards
management platform for retailers. This Android/iOS app stores all
the loyalty programs in the phone itself, and helps in reaping
benefit from all the deals, discounts, and other rewards that
brands offer their loyal customers. One does not have to submit
his/her mobile number at the counter everytime. The retailers gain
from this too, as the app moonlights as a customer relationship
management (CRM) platform so that one can virtually check-in to the
store via Facebook, interact with brands on Twitter, and get
queries answered in-app. Loyalty programs are relatively new in
India, stores like Shoppers Stop, LifeStyle, and Westside
introduced them a few years ago. But now, most major brands are
running such programs.PickMe E-ServicesFounder(s):Joseph
Sudhakar,Raj Wilbret,Praful ChatrapatiFounded in: 2011Funding:
N/AMumbai-based startup provides doorstep pick-up, technical
assistance and drop of gadgets from authorized service channel for
repair and also ensures their safe return to customers after
repair. In other words users of Pickme service do not have go
through the pain of finding the closest service centre, driving
there, parking in congested areas and waiting endlessly just to get
their gadgets repaired. With just a click online, SMS or phone call
they can get doorstep pick up of gadgets for repair. However the
time taken for their repair and service continues to be a drain on
time and money for customers. The startup currently has about 162
employees and 21 connect points in 4 branches across India. Their
service network link covers all metros and is in the process of
adding Tier I & II towns in the near
future.StitchwoodFounder(s):Ajit ShegaonkarandVikash NairFounded
in:2014Funding:Seed funding of $100kThis Mumbai-based startup
offers online customised furniture service to its customers. One
can also upload pictures or designs as per their wishes. The
business follows a vendor outsourcing model, post which the
companys quality team monitors the products manufacturing, at the
vendors factory. The seven-member startup, started offering
services only last month and has so far delivered 10 orders. The
company is also set to launch a new feature which will range from a
home visit by a furniture expert to a customers place.Dont worry if
we missed out on your startup, we will keep on updating the
list.[Editors Note: Thanks to Ajeet Khurana for helping us put
together this list.]
This is part of our special series,In Focus: Indian Startup
Hubs, in whichwe highlight the numerous established as well as
upcoming startup hubs in the Indian Tech Ecosystem!