Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for transportation, flags off World Environment Day by announcing the tremendous growth witnessed by its shared mobility offering Ola Share.
Registering a 500% growth in last one year; Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata have emerged as the top 5 cities for Ola Share. On the eve of this announcement, Ola also launched a year-long campaign titled #FarakPadtaHai to create awareness about shared mobility. The campaign was launched on a social media platform over the weekend by renowned cricketer-turned-commentator, Virender Sehwag.
As per the methodology designed by World Resource Institute [WRI], a global research organisation working towards catalyzing a global transition to a low-carbon economy, Ola Share has effectively reduced 12 million kilograms of carbon dioxide and saved over 7 million litres of fuel with the distance travel by cabs reduced by 84 million kilometers, since its inception.
Ola Share is one of our flagship products and is poised to bring down traffic congestion on roads, which means that people in our cities will spend less time in traffic. We have seen a high uptake for the category on both the customer as well as the driver partner side, that has been a key element in its success.
Cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata are the biggest users of Ola Share, and to keep the momentum going, we are selling Share Pass at a flat Re.1 in all our Ola Share cities. Share Pass, one of our recent and most popular product innovations, has seen phenomenal growth since its launch in November last year. Currently, Share Pass has already pre-sold 20 million+ Ola Share rides.
The unprecedented success of Ola Share has been driven by innovative technology that benefits both; customers and driver partners, and has resulted in the expansion of the category from 7 to 26 cities in only 19 months. Ola’s best-in-class ‘user matching algorithm‘ ensures that commuters sharing a ride are travelling in the same direction, so that Ola Share users are efficiently picked up and dropped off with their co-passengers.
With the added benefit of Share Pass, a subscription product, that allows customers to take Ola Share rides at a flat fixed price, Ola Share becomes the most consistent, convenient, and affordable shared mobility offering in India.
As a part of the #FarakPadtaHai campaign, Ola partnered with Traffic Police Departments across key cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, and Noida. During the drive, senior traffic police officials handed out saplings to commuters across key traffic junctions in the cities and reminded them to share rides and help decongest city traffic and reduce pollution.
Ola has joined hands with e-commerce giant Flipkart, Shopclues, Gaana – India’s favourite music app, IndusInd Bank & WWF who will be supporting the cause of #FarakPadtaHai campaign by endorsing shared cab rides to their users.
About Ola Share
Launched in October 2015, Ola Share is operating in 26 cities and has been specially designed to enable citizens to ride together and contribute to reduction in pollution and congestion in their city. Much like the customers, Ola Share has received tremendous acceptance from driver partners as well as they get to do more rides and make better utilization of their vehicle. All of Ola’s security features like Track your Ride, Share Ride Details, SOS, Emergency Contacts, 24×7 Customer Support and Number Masking are available for users on Ola Share.
How many times have you been in a situation where you run out of cash and need some loan on an urgent basis. Personal loans, Education loans, Housing loans or any such loans [where the amount is huge] are mostly planned but there are cases where you might need an ‘unplanned’ loan. The loan amount in such scenarios might be such that banking institutions might not be able to offer that much loan. This is where ‘Alternate Lending’ can be of huge help where you can either take a loan from P2P platform in which case there is no intermediary financial institution [Both Borrowers & Lenders are individuals].
The other case is where you opt for a loan via a NBFC which acts as an ‘Enabler’ and bridges tha gap between the Borrower & the Bank. 2017 has so far been a very eventful year for Fintech Startups and Alternate Lending is being touted as one of the hottest sectors in 2017. There are couple of fintech startups addressing this problem where their major target customers are ‘Salaried Professionals’.
One such startup is Creditexchange that provides salaried personal loans of between 50,000 and 5,00,000 INR through Qbera Loans. Qbera provides borrowers a seamless, convenient experience with an unparalleled turn-around time of 12-30 hours [to loan disbursal]. Creditexchange is being developed in partnership with LendFoundry, a market-leader in the development of technology stacks for alternative lending companies in the US.
Today we have a chat with Aditya Kumar, Founder & CEO of Qbera, an alternate lending startup. We discuss about Qbera, the P2P lending market, opportunities in Fintech, impact of Digital India & much more. So let’s get started with the Q&A….
How has the online lending industry changed, or you foresee any changes after UPI was introduced ?
It’s been a year since Unified Payments Interface [UPI] was launched and has had a positive impact on the payments & collections space, in general. As a result of UPI, small ticket loans can be made, and repayments collected seamlessly, around the clock.
There is a general question with lenders, what happens if borrower is not able to return the money. How is the lingering question of Credit Risk taken care of ?
There can be multiple repercussions of a borrower not being able to repay their loans. The defaulter will be reported to CIBIL [and the other credit bureaus] which will have a negative effect on a person’s credit score and significantly impact their ability to borrow in the future. In scenarios of repeated/willful defaulter, banks could also initiate legal action against the borrower.
Credit risk is mitigated by lenders in a multitude of ways. First, a person’s credit history is always checked to see if they have any history of default, or whether they have availed of credit responsibly in the past. Second, most financial institutions and online lenders alike ask for bank statements of prospective borrower to analyse income and expense patterns. Online and other alternative lenders also look at social data, mobile data, georisk, and other more ‘non-traditional’ sources of data to make a more comprehensive credit decision.
According to your data, which is the biggest category [buying house, repairs, wedding etc.] & customer segmentation [i.e. Age, City etc.] where borrowers require money ?
Salaried individuals typically borrow money primarily for : Personal exingencies, Refinancing credit card [or other] debt, or home improvement. Borrowers in the salaried segment typically reside in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities in India, and many are aged between 25 & 40.
There are growing number of Fintech startups into online lending, P2P lending, credit lines, etc. [eg. Capital Float, Lendingkart, Rubique, Faircent, MoneyTap, etc.]. What are some of the USP’s of Qbera via-a-vis other Fintech startups or what are some of the differentiating factors of Qbera ?
Qbera focuses on offering personal loans to salaried individuals working at over 700,000 employers. In addition to this, Qbera offers loans to individuals with incomes starting at 20,000 per month [net] and those who have never availed of any loan produt before.
Qbera also strives to approve loan applications which are filled through its portal, Qbera.com, in 15 minutes~4 working hours, and disburse loans within 24 hours thereof.
What is the TAM of the consumer debt market that Qbera is trying to address ?
Qbera is addressing a market of salaried individuals in the top 13 markets in India – with incomes of between 20,000 and 75,000 per month. The size of this market is likely more than 10 million individuals, with the current personal loan balances in these markets at 200,000 crores.
Apart from CIBIL score, Social score; are there other data points that Qbera has to evaluate members [borrowers] on Qbera ?
Other credit parameters, bank statements, demographic information, information about a borrower’s employer – 33 of these parameters go into making a credit decision on an application.
Few years back, there was a huge wave about MFI’s [like SKS Microfinance], in 2017 the wave is around Fintech sector [NBFC’s], what are your thoughts about the Fintech space in the coming years ?
The fintech space in India is still at a very nascent stage, compared to what it is elsewhere in the world [e.g. the US, UK and China]. Billions of dollars of disbursements have happened across unsecured and secured products in these markets through fintech companies, and, as such, Indian players have a long way to go.
What’s unique about the Indian ecosystem is how open Banks & NBFCs are to working with Fintech companies, which should help them evolve at a great pace. In the next few years, Fintech players in India will see tremendous growth, some degree of consolidation, as they play a larger role – especially in providing the underbanked and new-to-credit populations with access to credit.
Does Qbera only offer loans to salaried professionals [as mentioned it is minimum 20K/month] or is it open to entrepreneurs, freelancers [If not, any reason for the same and any tentative timeline when it might be open to non-salaried professionals]
Qbera has laid out its plan of action in a way that it is currently focused on the salaried segment and would use the learnings from the same to expand to self-employed professions, leading to self-employed non-professionals and businesses in future. Idea is to ensure operational efficiency in one segment and use this in the other.
Does Qbera have any e-commerce partners where customer on that platform can get short term loan from Qbera [for buying big ticket items, instead of opting for EMI or other payment mechanism] ?
No, we don’t.
Can you share some tips for building an effective team for startups [especially the initial core team] ?
Strike a balance between domain expertise, experience, passion and intellect and street smartness.
Take your time in putting the founding team together – they will become the bedrock of your organisation.
Work with people you get along with – you will be spending significant amounts of time with them.
Bootstrapping vis-a-vis Institutional Funding, your views on the same ?
Both comes with their own set of benefits and perils. An entrepreneurial thought is often followed by a decision/desire to ‘bootstrap’ it before giving nod to institutional funding. It is natural to be possessive of one’s product/project and want to nurture their business idea on their own without taking investment from venture capitalists. Bootstrapping can put you in a straitjacket as far as fund for marketing and PR is concerned. External investments give you flexibility – but come with their own set of expectations.
Apart from Fintech, what are the next wave of startups that would excite entrepreneurs’ interest, VC interest ?
I think it would be Artificial Intelligence [AI]. In fact, it has already evolved into a group of inevitable technologies that entail machine learning and natural language processing.
There has been growing discussion about linking Aadhar to PAN number, in which case just providing Aadhar details help Fintech startups to verify customer’s financial credibility, can you share your thoughts on this move and whether it would be a boon for finance related startups [be it services, Fintech, etc.]
I think this is a much-needed positive move by the government as it helps them to monitor all taxable transactions and also prevents people or companies from owning multiple PAN cards. Citizens would be more educated about the benefits of paying taxes. It also saves tax payers the hassle of submitting their IT papers to the concerned departments. As far as alternative lenders are concerned, the most challenging aspect of the business is to assess credit worthiness of applicants accurately and make a fair decision. This will certainly make things easier for us.
Many startups/growth stage companies are now looking at unit-economics, how important is it to look at that factor early on in the startup’s journey ?
Unit economics have a huge role to play in the eventual success of any business, and one which investors are becoming increasingly paranoid about [and rightly so!]. If your business doesn’t have a clear roadmap to positive unit-level economics, you will never make money.
Some books that you highly recommend for entrepreneurs
If you’re involved in the fintech space – I strongly believe you are in the right place, at the right time. Be patient and enjoy the ride!
We thank Aditya Kumar for his time and sharing valuable insights with our readers! If you have any questions for Aditya about Qbera, Alternate lending, Fintech, scaling up, etc., please email them to himanshu.sheth@gmail.com or leave your question in the comments section.
As per a report released by Economic Times, the unused goods market is likely to cross Rs. 115,000 crores. As per Assocham, whether consumer goods like electronics, durables or automobiles – used cars, or the industrial machinery in the capital goods sector the options of re-usage are being considered more actively than ever before. Also, it was indicated that Stocking items is very prominent among Indian households [Source]. With the increased penetration of 4G, falling rates of smartphone [at least before GST goes live], increase in disposable income, etc. more & more Indians prefer the online medium for shopping. This is mainly due to the hefty discounts offered by online retailers, ease, convenience and experience associated with online shopping
Along with Tier-1 cities, e-commerce growth has also been observed in Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities mainly due to growing aspirations & limited access to brands. When it comes to used goods marketplace, the biggest testimony of the market was when Amazon forayed into the used-goods market [via Junglee] thereby allowing individuals to sell their used stuff on Amazon. Though there are couple of players in the used-goods marketplace, there is not a single marketplace for selling Industrial goods, Jewelry & gems, musical instruments, etc.
Currently sellers don’t get enough Ad displays despite paying for Premium ads due to very high volume in paid category as well. These are some of the lingering problems that Zamroo, a startup in the C2C segment aims to solve. Zamroo is to a one stop shop for buying and selling used products where practically anyone can trade anything, anytime, anywhere in India.
Today we have a chat with Rakesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO of Zamroo. So lets get started with the Q&A…
How did you come up with the idea of venturing into used goods marketplace ?
I came up with this idea while I was working in Australia, for example if you wish to change a car, or replace your existing furniture in Australia, it just takes less than 24 hours to sell yours and buy new one by using similar platform like Gumtree and it was unbelievable simple and straight forward. We had huge number of professionals which were on the move, for them buying new products was not making sense, hence they can buy everything which a typical household needs in fraction of the original cost and they resell it again when they are leaving. Another fact of C2C space is in the western world 60% of the population uses these platforms on the monthly basis, that shows the importance of these platforms.
That’s where we got the idea and felt that it is a necessity of having similar platform in India and we started working on the same and build Zamroo ground up taking into account Indian behavioral eco system. Indian C2C market is still at nascent stage as even today we have less than 4-5% of population using such systems due to limited number of platforms and the awareness of such platforms especially in Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities
Can you share some details about the team behind Zamroo ?
Zamroo team are a tight knit group of business leaders, techies with average experience of 20+ years globally.
How much is the overall market size of used goods marketplace ?
USD 75 billion as per KPMG report.
What are some of the items that can be sold on Zamroo ?
‘One can sell from needle to aeroplane on Zamroo’…thats you can find in our tagline “Everything Sells”.You can download the Zamroo app from Google Playstore or Apple store here and here
Zamroo is a very different name, can you let us know how did you come up with that name and what are some of the options that were considered in naming the startup.
Finalizing a name took us more than 2 months of extensive research as we wanted a name which is short, distinctive, easy to pronounce, easy to memorize & should be easily convertible into foreign languages. Lastly it should be capable of legal protection and registration.
On all these parameters set by us….Zamroo name fits perfectly.
Snapdeal acquired used goods marketplace Shopo couple of years back, but the idea did not take off. What according to you are some of the USP’s of Zamroo from other such sites like Ebay, Greendust, OLX, etc.
There are couple of unique buying and selling patterns of Indians, for e.g. They want to sell 4 Lac rupees item [eg. Car, etc.] but do not want to spend 2 minutes in Ad listing which is very unique to Indian consumers. To address these concerns we have build our mobile apps uniquely i.e. They can Post Ad in just less than 30 seconds while we capture all the possible information from the seller which are likely help buyers to make a deal. Additionally we are working on few unique features for safe buying and selling and to build trust in Zamroo community.
What are some of the mediums i.e. WhatsApp, Twitter, etc. via where sellers can sell/post goods [for sale] on Zamroo ?
Currently sellers can post their listings via Web, iOS app and Android app….that too in less than 30 seconds however they can share their listings via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Whatsapp in one single click.
Rakesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO – Zamroo.com
Can you stress on some of the steps taken by the back-end team to ensure that high quality products are sold on Zamroo ?
Zamroo has built the automation system which ensures that unauthorized listings are not published, we have a quality control team which reviews these listings and based on its credentials either it is rejected or approved. All these listings are reviewed individually.
Who are the logistics partners of Zamroo and how do you ensure that the ROR [Rate Of Return] is kept to the minimum in order to maximize revenues ?
Zamroo is online marketplace for used goods, if buyer is interested they can connect with sellers directly over phone, email, SMS and decide the next course of action i.e. They can have the negotiations among them and Zamroo is not involved in that discussion. Zamroo does not charge any fees either from the buyers or the sellers.
Please walk us through funding of Zamroo [Self/Angel/VC] and are you looking out for external funding ?
Currently Zamroo is self funded by the promoters as we believe that India has huge market for such product, hence promoters not only infused the funds but also invested three years of their time to build the world class product.
As Zamroo is now expanding, we are seeking Series-A funding from Investors.
Many e-commerce companies are now pushing for omni-channel presence, does Zamroo also have plans to enter into offline as well [especially for big ticket items like Fridge, Washing Machine, Laptops, etc. or other items that require touch & feel] ?
Yes, Zamroo also has plan where sellers can leave their product and buyers can view that item in that shop/warehouse and if they liked the product they can buy the product then and their itself. With this approach sellers and buyers are safe and it will be hassle free for both the parties.
We would like to understand the customer [i.e. Age, Cities Tier-I,Tier-II, etc.] as well item demographics on Zamroo i.e. Which items sell the most on Zamroo and where does the major chunk of active customers come from on Zamroo.
Till recently our majority of the visitors were coming from Tier-1 cities however we are seeing increase in traffic by 30% from Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities since last 2-3 months as acceptance of digital platforms got the boost after demonetization. Most of the customers visiting Zamroo are less than 35 years old.
Does Zamroo also provide ‘Try & Buy’ facility for it’s customers especially items like clothing, shoes, etc.
No, Zamroo doesn’t offer any such service as most of the products sold on Zamroo are used products.
Is Zamroo a pure C2C [Peer-To-Peer] marketplace for used goods or you also stock fast-shipping items in the warehouse ?
Zamroo is pure C2C marketplace for used goods; we do not stock any item in the warehouse whatsoever.
There is growing competition in used-goods marketplace where there are vertical marketplaces like Droom [Automobiles], GreenDust [Electronics], GoZefo [Furniture], etc. and horizontal marketplaces like OLX, Quikr, Kraftly, etc. how does Zamroo ensure that it stays ahead of the growing competition in providing excellent service [goods] at competitive pricing ?
Zamroo platform is already ahead of the competition, we are continuously innovating new ideas and our team is working hard to ensure that we stay ahead of the curve in terms of technologies, customer service and innovation.
2017 so far has not been good for e-commerce with Snapdeal laying off employees, funds drying up, huge cash-burn; how according to you should entrepreneurs deal with such adverse situations.
There are serious flaws in various business models especially in eCommerce [B2C] space which looks very attractive on papers but actually they are not; typical examples are Flipkart, Snapdeal. More importantly we feel they have excess manpower, hence you are seeing those corrections at the moment.
Media to some extent has been responsible for rise of entrepreneurs, but they focus on valuations whereas there are many bootstrapped entrepreneurs who are not looked on, any tips on how media can do a better job of focusing on right stuff ?
Yes, we agree. Media plays a big role in the rise of entrepreneurship but they are just focusing on valuations rather than the product or it’s potential. For example, in India in C2C used goods space we only have OLX & Quikr and India needs at least 6~7 more credible players to address the market requirements as on every 20 million population one such platform is needed.
Online commerce has been so far about discounting, customer acquisition, etc. how do you see 2017 panning out for the online commerce, hyper-local & used goods marketplace sector ?
Let us give you our view point on each of these sub-verticals individually
Online Commerce – We need more online commerce players as we still have less than 10% online users visiting these platforms. If they promote their products in Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities their volumes can grow by 25-30% YOY.
Hyper-local – It’s not taking off as most of these companies are engaging the local service guys to provide service, they need to change the strategy for e.g. They should provide training to these service providers on regular basis, get the security checks done for them and also provide them the training to enhance the skills, than only they can maintain the quality.
Used goods marketplace – There is huge potential in this space as we still have less than 5% Internet users using these platforms, despite we have only 5% users using these platforms they are oversubscribed. For example, If you post your Ad on top two platforms, your Ad will be on 4th or 5th page in less than 15 minutes, which reduces your chances of selling. This even applies to Paid Listings, so the sellers are looking for more alternatives to list their products that’s where Zamroo perfectly fits in.
Initial customer acquisition is mostly built on discounting model, any other methods that entrepreneurs can follow to gain more customers keeping the burn-rate to the minimum [ensuring that transactions are repetitive instead of one-time].
As Zamroo is an online marketplace for used goods and transaction is happening between buyers and sellers directly, hence discounting doesn’t apply to us. Zamroo has more than 38,000 sellers signed up on the platform, primarily by social media and SEO only and we haven’t burnt huge cash as competitors did to attract customers as we believe in quality of our product and need of the market.
There has been lot of hue & cry about capital dumping, can you share your views on the same [and how fierce competition is necessary for the upliftment of the online sector] ?
We don’t think Indian companies are used for capital dumping, in our view investments by foreign investors should be used for building world class product and taking it to global level. We can also build another Microsoft & Google if investors are little visionary.
As per your entrepreneurial experience, when should an entrepreneur look out for external funding ?
The right stage for external funding is when the company is in early stages of revenue growth.
Some books that you highly recommend for entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs you highly admire and some traits of their’s that you would like to imbibe.
John Gabbert of Pitchbook and I admire him greatly for his perseverance, persistence.
Any closing thoughts for our readers ?
For Entrepreneurs, no matter what how difficult is the economy or getting the investors in the difficult times, at the end of the day good product, good management team, right product will always get funded.
We thank Rakesh Kapoor for sharing his insights with our readers. You can access Zamroo via Web, Zamroo iOS App and Zamroo Android App. Do give Zamroo a spin and share your experience in the comments section. If you have any questions for Rakesh & Zamroo Team, please email them here or share them via a comment to this article.
Leading AI startup, Niki.ai has partnered with India’s largest online entertainment ticketing platform BookMyShow. Fulfilled by BookMyShow, Niki users can now search and book movie tickets across the country at their preferred cinema venues, while simply chatting with Niki. The Artificial Intelligence powered chat experience provides easy discovery and a host of options to the customers.
Niki, while using emerging technologies of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Natural Language Processing, makes the whole movie booking process as simple as talking to a human booking agent since chatbot ‘Niki’ has the capability to understand complex queries. For example, say you want to watch a movie today with your office colleagues, but you can only watch after work and for convenience of everyone, you want to watch it in a theatre near your office. You can simply type ‘Show English action movies near MG Road after 8PM for today’.
You can thus apply multiple filters, such as movie name, genre, show timings, theatre location and more, easily in a single text message to Niki. Niki understands that users have multiple preferences while booking movie tickets and makes it extremely simple to work around these by presenting the users with options and recommendations that best suits their needs. In addition to being speedy and convenient, the experience offered is also highly personalised.
Speaking on the partnership, Sachin Jaiswal, CEO, Niki.ai said
We are excited to partner with BookMyShow and integrate their movie ticket booking platform on Niki. With our vision to provide consumers with the most natural, simple and intelligent mode of transacting online, we have leveraged our technology of artificial intelligence combined with tackling consumer problems to build a one of a kind conversational theatre discovery and ticket booking experience.
BookMyShow has always been keen to partner on initiatives that promote new technologies and we are now excited to take lead in exploring the potential of chatbots in movie ticket bookings in India. With 75% of transactions coming through mobile on BookMyShow, we understand the importance of a ‘mobile first strategy’ and believe that our association with Niki.ai is a step forward in this direction.
About Niki.ai
Artificial Intelligence [AI] holds immense potential for the global market, and this is the reason why the year 2017 is being predicted to be that of Artificial Intelligence. Among the most renowned, famous and successful startups that have mushroomed recently around this concept is Niki.ai, a technology focused company that envisions to make artificial intelligence accessible to everyone, i.e. Businesses and Consumers. The company provides a simple and easy to use chat interface to shop for products and services. To the businesses, it provides a plug and play technology that can be easily integrated everywhere including operating systems, on messaging platforms messenger, and on the brand’s applications [app and web].
Started in 2015, and funded by Mr. Ratan Tata and Unilazer Ventures, Niki.ai envisions to provide one shop for everything commerce. Niki is an AI bot who converses to help you shop for products and services and makes the whole journey from discovery to transaction fast, convenient and extremely simple. The Niki App can be downloaded from here
After consolidating a household position for TOPSGRUP, as the largest and most trusted security services group in India, Group Chairman, Dr. Diwan Rahul Nanda has entered into the consumer-to-consumer segment with the launch of an On Demand Home Services marketplace app called CHEEP, in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.
CHEEP is a one-stop solution, bringing consumers and home service professionals together on a single technology driven platform, which empowers users to find any home service at the tap of a button.
Dr. Nanda, Group Chairman and Founder, CHEEP said
In the modern times, where people are already so drained with the taxing responsibilities at office and towards the family, finding trusted, qualified and verified domestic services tend to add to the stress and eat into your quality family time. We ask a simple question, Why work, when there’s CHEEP ? We bridge the gap between consumers and home care services with our trustworthy and skilled professionals, who attend to Plumbers, Carpenters, Electricians, Cleaners, Tutors, Fitness Trainers, Baby Sitters, etc. I am proud to announce that CHEEP is here to ensure that household chores are no more a woe.
An interactive app CHEEP not only lists a wide range of service providers, it displays genuine user feedback and ratings, helping users make an informed decision of choosing the right professional.
Rasshi Nanda, Vice President Marketing & Co-Founder of CHEEP said
The idea behind the app is to provide genuine and safe services at your fingertips and ensuring consumers are stress free. All you need to do is select from the listed services, post a task, tell us when and where the task needs to be done, get instant quotes from our service professionals. We enable our users to scan through individual profiles of listed service providers, take a look at their work history and reviews, speak directly with the service professionals and book the task once they are happy with their choice.
Backed by the country’s foremost security services company, TOPSGRUP, CHEEP is a unique platform connecting users to hundreds of verified skilled professionals including carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and more, in their area. Taking the service a step forward, the app allows users to chat with service providers in a secure window where they can also share photographs to explain the issue better and discuss the scope of work. Online payment methods make the process transparent and nullify the need for cash transactions, making it further secure.
Addressing the users’ hesitation of dealing with new service providers, every engagement via CHEEP app comes with an insurance cover, in case of unforeseen damages at the time of the task. They also provide legal liability and fidelity insurance to all users and provide insurance against accidents/death for all PROs.
CHEEP, backed by TOPSGRUP, ensures ultimate security with thorough background checks of all its professionals.
With CHEEP, we are guaranteeing not only skilled professionals, but also a sense of security and safety to our consumers. Being part of the TOPSGRUP lineage enables us to ensure that each and every of our 15,000 service professional is completely screened and only verified professionals are registered on the App and allowed to interact with our consumers. In addition, the App also has an inbuilt Alert feature that allows women and elderly people to call for help if they sense any threat or danger from any of our professionals at their homes. On receiving an alert in our Command and Control Centre [CCC], our trained emergency response teams at TOPSGRUP instantly react and respond to the alert and ensure that the consumer is safe at all times. Safety of our consumers is the topmost priority for all of us at CHEEP.
Dr Diwan Rahul Nanda, Group Chairman and Founder, CHEEP added
CHEEP is currently available in 7 cities in India with effect from today and by mid-August, we will be operational in 20 cities in our Country. Our vision is to take CHEEP all over the world. We have immediate plans to launch CHEEP in Abu Dhabi, Dhaka, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore this year in 2017 and take CHEEP to Europe, Canada and Australia in 2018.
The app is availble from 23rd May 2017 and can be downloaded free from App Store and Google Play.
About CHEEP
CHEEP is an on demand home service provider app which connects consumers with thousands of qualified, verified and insured service professionals for all kinds of household needs. Carpenters, Plumbers, Drivers, Cleaners, Cooks, Tutors, you name it and CHEEP will provide it. CHEEP bridges the gap between consumers and home care services with their trustworthy and skilled professionals. CHEEP is here to ensure that household chores are no more a woe. For more information, please visit CHEEP
Google have announced the six Indian startups who have been shortlisted for the fourth class of Google Accelerator Program. These six startups will be joining an inspiring group of startups from all over Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe at the Google Developers Launchpad Space in San Francisco. With this batch, a total of 26 Indian startups have so far joined the launchpad accelerator program from India.
The fourth class will kick off from 17th July, 2017 and will include two weeks of all-expense-paid mentorship bootcamp. This batch of startups will gain from Google’s new curriculum that will help the startups to dig deeper into machine learning and AI and help them leverage Google’s latest technologies to scale their apps.
These startups were shortlisted from hundreds of startups who applied this year based on their unique value proposition and use of latest technologies like machine learning and AI [Artificial Intelligence] to build high impact solutions that are solving for the Indian context, focusing on new internet users and digital India. We are thrilled to see the quality of startups coming from India and we look forward to working them closely for the next six months.
In the six months program, these startups will undergo intensive mentoring from 20+ teams across Google and mentors from top technology companies and VCs in Silicon Valley. Additionally they will receive equity-free support and credits for Google products. Post their return from San Francisco they will continue to work closely with Google back in India.
The shortlisted startups include companies that cover optimization of financial services ranging from loans, credit cards, upto date information platforms for train journeys, online video platform focussing on content from Indian cinema focusing on South of India to the unique implementation of AI to aid discovery of recipes for cooking. The list also includes B2B companies that use AI or ML for various applications be it image recognition capabilities to aid medical diagnosis by analyzing visual data, providing solutions for talent acquisition and workforce optimization.
Here’s the full list of shortlisted startups from India
MoneyTap[earlier coverage MoneyTap Review and Interview with Bala Parthasarthy, CEO – MoneyTap], India’s first app-based consumer credit line along with its partner RBL Bank, announced that the credit line is now available for Self-Employed professionals. The opening of the new segment is in line with the company’s plans to expand into 30 cities in India over the next six months. After lowering the minimum salary eligibility to INR 20,000 per month, this is MoneyTap’s next move to enable easy access to credit.
In a country of 1.2 billion Indians, 26.4 million have credit cards as of August 2016, according to RBI data. The penetration of unsecured personal loans has been extremely poor in India with the organized credit presence at around 1% in the country. On the other hand, according to a survey done by the TransUnion Cibil, a credit information firm, Indian credit card customers have improved their payment behavior with about 78% of them paying off monthly bills completely and about 92% of credit card holders often pay a greater amount than the minimum due. Thus, there is enough scope for a product like MoneyTap to thrive and scale.
MoneyTap’s app-based credit line provides a customer with a credit limit, anywhere from INR 25,000 to INR 5 lakhs, without any collateral. The value of the credit limit depends on the individual’s profile and the credit policy being used. With a patent-pending chat interface, the free app rapidly evaluates the user’s credit eligibility in just a few minutes and instantly informs them of the decision, along with the amount they are eligible for. Using the MoneyTap app, consumers can choose to borrow as little as INR 3000 or as much as INR 5 lakhs, or up to their upper credit limit. They also get to decide their own EMI plans with payback periods ranging from 2 months to 3 years. Interest is paid only on the amount borrowed and rates can be as low as 1.25% per month. If the user does not borrow any amount, then no interest needs to be paid. The credit limit also gets topped up once EMIs are paid back.
MoneyTap along with RBL Bank is able to provide its customers, instant decisions and instant access to money, 24/7, irrespective of holidays. Moreover, as per RBI guidelines, all financial transactions such as billing, repayment or withdrawals are directly dealt with the bank but through the MoneyTap App using secure APIs, thus ensuring 100% secure transactions. Consumers do not have to hold a bank account or any other account with the partner bank to avail MoneyTap. As an added convenience for shopping needs, a MoneyTap RBL Credit Cardis also provided to the user. This is a regular MasterCard Credit Card that is accepted at all locations and for all card purchases – offline and online.
It gives us immense pleasure to be able to spread our services across cities, various earning groups and people of different professions. We are glad that the credit line app has been appreciated and adopted vastly. We aim to expand further by opening MoneyTap for newer segments that are currently underserved and in need of credit. We have a vision of making credit accessible to 1 Million Indians in the next few years. Hence, this expansion is part of that vision. We believe we have a product that works well for the mass market – flexible, affordable credit available in a convenient way.
Harjeet Toor, Business Head – Microbanking, Credit Cards, Retail & MSME Lending, RBL Bank said
India is a largely informal and an unorganised economy with about 90 per cent of people employed in the informal sector. A majority of these are self-employed. The government’s recent initiatives, such as Startup India and Skill India, are aimed at promoting financing, encouraging entrepreneurship and generating employment among the micro, small and medium enterprises. The MoneyTap app will give the self-employed quick and easy access to a credit line they can use both for their personal as well as professional needs.
The MoneyTap app is available on Android Playstore to all salaried employees and now self- employed. Qualified customers, after completing the KYC [right from the app with no paperwork involved], will pay a one-time Line setup fee of INR 499 + tax in their first month e-settlement. There are no hidden fees or charges and every time the customer chooses to take an EMI, they will be shown the interest & any other applicable charges and the customer will be required to provide explicit consent before borrowing.
About MoneyTap
MoneyTap is a Bengaluru-based fintech startup, founded by serial entrepreneurs Bala Parthasarathy, Anuj Kacker & Kunal Varma, who are IIT/ISB alumni. Bala has co-founded multiple startups in Silicon Valley including Snapfish [sold to Hewlett Packard], which he helped grow to 100M users and $300M in revenue. After moving to India in 2007, he volunteered for UIDAI under Mr. Nandan Nilekani before starting AngelPrime in 2011 [now Prime Venture Partners] where he helped create companies like ZipDial [sold to Twitter], EZETap, Happay, etc. Kunal [ex Texas Instruments] & Anuj [ex Airtel & JWT] co-founded Tapstart that grew to 300K users and turned profitable in 2 years. MoneyTap works in very close partnerships with various banks and other financial institutions to make the process painless and on-app. For more details, please visit MoneyTap
Dial4242 – a pioneer in its segment, app based platform providing users the comfort of booking an ambulance within seconds launches in Mumbai. Dial4242 will allow a user to book the nearest available ambulance and track its location real-time. Founded by Nilesh Mahambre, Jeetendra Lalwani and Himanshu Sharma, Dail4242 aims to eliminate the stress and worries in booking ambulances by setting up a reliable network, reduce the waiting time, and deliver the best in emergency services to people across India.
Introducing and launching the ambulance aggregating platform in Mumbai was ace comedian & prominent actor Vrajesh Hirjee. Services provided via Dail4242 are not limited to emergency situations and can also be used by patients for check-ups, medical appointments, after a hospital discharge or for intercity travel needs.
Available under less than 4 MB, the Dial4242 app is easy to use and has a step-by-step interface for bookings. To call for an ambulance, one simply needs to confirm the pick-up point auto-detected via GPS, add the destination and select the type of ambulance needed. Ambulance variants currently available are Basic, ICU or Cardiac and for the transfer of a dead body.
Nilesh Mahambre, Chairman & Co-founder, Jeetendra Lalwani, Director & Co-founder & Himanshu Sharma, Co-Founder & Head of Operations, Dial4242
The fare estimate and ETA of the ambulance will be displayed for a confirmation further to which the tracking details, and the estimated time to reach the destination with the shortest possible route will be displayed on the app. Once the user reaches his destination, he can pay the fare in cash to the driver or through a host of digital payment options. The user will receive an invoice via email and within the app. Additionally, ambulances can also be booked via the Dial4242 hotline 022-49414242 in Mumbai and these details would be sent to the caller via SMS.
Dial4242 has secured seed capital of approximately Rs. 1 crore from an angel for the purpose of R&D, market research, product development and operations. The technology backed platform has been in development and testing stages for over four months ensuring that it achieves best results in all circumstances and conditions and is now ready for public use. The company is currently in conversation with multiple investors for raising its next round of funds and is being led by its Co-founder and Chairman Nilesh Mahambre. Dial4242 has currently tied up with Wockhardt Hospital, Mira Road and will be exploring associations with other hospitals and medical services entities as a part of service expansion.
Speaking on the launch, Nilesh Mahambre, Chairman and Co-founder, Dial4242 said
When a taxi can arrive in 5 minutes, why can’t an ambulance? This was the moot point for the conceptualization of Dial4242. Today through a couple of simple taps, we can call for anything from food to cabs; however, it’s surprising that people have to go through so many layers of communications for an ambulance. We are attempting to address this need gap with Dial4242.
Adding to this, Jeetendra Lalwani, Co-founder and Director, Dial4242, said
I owe this idea to my dad. My personal experience during his illness is what led me to believe that there is the need to ease up the anxiety levels of people during medical emergencies. Dial 4242 is an idea which has arrived. It is our endeavour to build a mutually beneficial ecosystem where in the ambulance driver gets his due respect and the customer has the power to save lives with timely action.
Bhalchandra Padwal, Head Digital Strategy, Aoen Digital, the exclusive technology partner for the platform present at the event said
We are partners to the idea, belief and the vision of being able to save human lives with technical assist. Having Aeon Digital on board we will ensure that there are regular updates and innovation in technology to further simplify our entire offering.
Ravi Hirwani, Head – Hospital Operations, Wockhardt Hospital, Mira Road said
Dial4242 is an innovative model and we see great value in associating with such a platform which shall ensure a smooth and hassle-free ambulance booking process. We believe that technology and automating systems is a need of the day and Dial4242 is a perfect fit. We are certain that patients will benefit from the services being provided by Dial4242 and we welcome and support the efforts being made to streamline the system.” added on associating with Dial4242
Dial4242 services are available from May 18, 2017 across South Mumbai, Western Suburbs and from Virar to Thane and can be used for outstation travel needs as well. The company is in the process of extending their services to entire Mumbai by June. Over 140 ambulances have already signed up with Dial4242 and the company hopes to increase this number to 500 across Mumbai by year end simultaneously launch across India in phases.
The Dial4242 app is currently available to download for free via the Google PlayStore. The iOS version of the app will be available on the App Store shortly.
About Dial4242
Founded in January 2017 by Nilesh Mahambre, Jeetendra Lalwani, and Himanshu Sharma DIAL4242 is an entity of Health Wheels Pvt Ltd and goes it with a tagline ‘Be a Hero, Save a Life’. Dial 4242 has been built to deliver the best in emergency care to people and to empower an individual with its fair and seamless ambulance booking service. The mobile app connects users to emergency facilities by providing a timely ambulance service when in need. By aggregating ambulances, Dial4242 aims to build a convenient ambulance booking ecosystem for drivers, the ones in need and its network of hospitals in India.For more information, please visit Dial4242
