After two years of unmitigated growth powered by the rocket fuel of FOMO-driven funding, India’s startups are facing a reckoning. With startup funding plunging to 2020 levels, volatility in public markets and the US economy on the verge of entering a recession, the world is looking at similar conditions as the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008.

However, the present moment might also be the best time to build a startup. Flipkart, Dream11, Policybazaar, EaseMyTrip and Zomato – all storied names in India’s startup ecosystem – were founded during the height of the GFC when global markets were facing an extinction-level event.

The crucible that is the current market will forge companies that will make headlines throughout the next decade. Startup funding is in a freefall zone and investors have tightened their purse strings significantly, making selective deals. However, the bullishness for early bets remains as high as ever.

We have always had the opportunity to discover the market leaders of tomorrow with ‘the 30 Startups To Watch’ column, and this endeavour holds more prominence right now.

Recognising the immense responsibility we have on our shoulders, we took a step back, talked with startups and investors backing them and reprioritised what kind of startups need the spotlight the most today.

After spending two months on the drawing board, we have returned with the 38th edition of ‘30 Startups To Watch’ with a sharp focus on sustainability, echoing the sentiment across global markets.

30 Startups To Watch: July 2023

No startup that was selected has raised more than $4 Mn in funding, with many securing less than $500K in investment and still turning a profit. While these 30 companies employ more than 650 employees cumulatively, 17 startups have 20 employees or less.

The list is loaded with fintech, ecommerce and enterprise tech ventures, with a total of 20 startups. We have also featured startups from the currently relevant fields of generative AI and semiconductors, with one startup each from the two red-hot industries.

More interestingly, the 38th edition of ‘30 Startups To Watch’ features 17 startups operating in the B2B space and only eight ventures making waves in the B2C segment. The remaining five startups hold the B2B2C flag.

In our most recent editions of this series, we have witnessed a growing wave of startups catering to other businesses. Usually, these startups are either already profitable or are about to turn a profit, which ensures better exit opportunities for investors who have burnt their fingers already and are looking to make safer bets.

For Indian startups, however, the present is anything but the time to play it safe.

With that, we bring you the 38th edition of the 30 Startups To Watch list by Inc42.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups alphabetically.

abCoffee

Stirring Up Indian Coffee Culture With Grab-and-Go Playbook

Coffee is undeniably one of the most beloved beverages in India, with coffee chains like Starbucks, Tim Hortons, and Cafe Coffee Day being quite popular. However, the prices at these chains have been notoriously high, with markups reaching as much as 1,700%. That remains true with the presence of local speciality coffee chains, even as India is the world’s eighth-largest exporter and the fifth-largest producer of coffee.

Having experienced European coffee for many years and after extensive research on Indian coffee varieties and roasting techniques, Abhijeet Anand started abCoffee in 2022 from a single outlet in Mumbai. The startup has nine tech-enabled, grab-and-go outlets in Mumbai, with one coming up in Delhi NCR soon.

abCoffee prides itself on its efficient service, claiming that customers can get their favourite beverage and be on their way in just 90 seconds, provided they place an order right before arriving at the outlet. 

The QSR coffee chain sources green beans from across the country and roasts per its in-house recipe. abCoffee has 95+ SKUs across five categories, including hot and cold beverages and ground coffee.

The startup has multiple revenue streams, including direct sales via its QSR outlets, online sales via delivery partners like Swiggy, Zomato, Magicpin and Dunzo and online orders via the website. So far, abCoffee claims to have sold 103K+ cups of coffee to more than 31,000 customers. It reported an ARR of INR 3.4 Cr as of July 2023.

In the short term, abCoffee plans to expand to major urban hubs of the country, with 323 outlets by 2024. By 2026, the startup plans to set up more than 6,650 outlets across India, with an ARR of INR 6,656 Cr.

Agrigator

Meet The Uber & Ola Of Farm Logistics

According to a 2021 report by the Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, India lost around 412K metric tonnes of wheat and rice between 2017 and 2021, owing to poor transportation and logistics. For context, the amount of food grains lost in transit could have fed 82.3 Mn people for a month.

To alleviate the issues shrouding the sorry state of grain logistics in India, Udit Sangwan and Charu Chaturvedi founded Agrigator in 2019.

Similar to Uber or Ola, Agrigator acts as a platform that connects grain traders and small-scale millers with on-spot logistics services. Truck drivers can sign up on the platform to offer their services, similar to how ride-hailing companies operate. Since its inception, Agrigator has onboarded more than 2,000 truck drivers.

The startup offers multiple services to its customers, including guaranteed truck confirmations within an average of 28 minutes and freight discovery through its freight prediction model, which is patent-pending in India.

Agrigator has its supply network in four states to enable the pan-India movement of grain. In the last three months, the logistics startup has achieved significant milestones, including 9,000 trips and increasing its matching fees from 2.5% to 6%, amassing a user base of 24,000 clients. 

They have also joined hands with an NBFC to expedite payments.

Agrigator takes a certain percentage from the payment received by each truck through its platform, making way for the Bhopal-based startup’s core revenue stream. By 2024, Agrigator is looking to increase its revenue by 8% YoY.

CapitalSetu

Giving Small Businesses A Supply Chain Financing Boost

Per the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, there were 14.39 Mn MSMEs in India as of February 2023, with more than 99% being micro and small enterprises. These businesses have limited access to financing, which limits their growth.

Pankaj Goel, a chartered accountant, saw an opportunity in the supply chain finance segment for distributors, retailers and MSMEs, which inspired him to start CapitalSetu in 2020. Today, Goel runs the startup with his wife Ayushi and Yogesh Vaishnav, a family friend and the startup’s CTO.

CapitalSetu’s offerings comprise six products, three fintech and three SaaS. Its flagship product, SetuX, is aimed at providing supply chain financing to businesses. With SetuX, the startup helps MSMEs increase the pace of their cash flow by releasing ‘early payouts’ against their invoices.

Further, while the startup’s SetuPay is a peer-to-peer invoice discounting platform, which enables faster payment cycles, its SetuDyna solution offers a dynamic discounting platform through which MSMEs can offer early payment discounts to their respective suppliers.

CapitalSetu’s SaaS product SetuFi is a tally reports and dashboards mobile app. Similarly, its SetuTIP is an app-based trade intelligence platform that offers credit assessments, GST reports, ITR reports, banking reports, and bureau assessments. The startup also offers an order management system, SetuBiz.

CapitalSetu generates revenue through its supply chain finance operations by charging interest and through SaaS subscriptions. 

The startup has disbursed INR 250 Cr so far, a quarter of its 2024 target of INR 1,000 Cr loan book in supply chain financing for MSMEs. By 2026, CapitalSetu aims to take disbursals to INR 5,000 Cr across 1 Lakh MSMEs in India.

Centricity

Giving Private Wealth Management A Tech Boost

Traditionally, wealth management has been a mostly manual process with limited automation and outdated reporting methods. Due to the unavailability of tech-enabled solutions, the requirements of HNIs and UHNIs have often remained underserved in this segment. In addition, independent financial advisors (IFAs) today need help in scaling up their services amid a dearth of tech solutions. 

With India’s wealth management market set to reach $429.70 Bn in assets under management (AUM) in 2023, the lack of tech in the space is telling.

Having worked with single-family offices and UHNIs for over 20 years, Manu Awasthy founded Centricity. The startup offers plug-and-play solutions for IFAs looking to make the transition to the wealth management space or scale their businesses. For HNIs, UHNIs and single-family offices, it offers a suite of tools for efficient wealth management. 

Centricity primarily focuses on two products – OneDigital and Invictus. While OneDigital is a digital infrastructure platform for IFAs, Invictus is an insights-generating tool designed for single-family offices (SFOs).

OneDigital enables onboarding, KYC processes, multi-asset transactions, comprehensive investment product listings and comparison tools. Invictus, on the other hand, enables SFOs to assess investment risks, implement policy guardrails, and create asset allocation.

The startup’s revenue accruals come from commissions generated from asset management companies/product manufacturers and fee incomes on secondary bond trades with clients.

Centricity’s short-term plans for 2024 include scaling the technology team, expanding its physical presence, enhancing the product bouquet by adding more products and growing key metrics such as the number of digital partners, product penetration, AUM for OneDigital, and the number of families on the Invictus platform.

Evolved Foods

Switching To Plant-Based Protein Products

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 35% of Indians do not get enough protein. Further, the livestock industry is responsible for about 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, solidifying the case for plant-based alternatives for protein.

To bridge the protein gap and make the most of this opportunity, Roma Roy Choudhury and Pradeep Rao established their plant-based protein startup, Evolved Foods. The founders got the inspiration for the startup from their personal experiences, including a visit to Singapore in 2014 and the subsequent launch of their restaurant in Bengaluru.

Evolved Plant Meat, the flagship product of Evolved Foods, is a 100% vegetarian product that offers 15 gms of protein per 100 gms of serving, has zero cholesterol, and does not contain any animal-derived ingredients. The startup uses soy, coconut and rice protein to manufacture plant-based protein alternatives.

Recently, Evolved Foods also entered the heat-and-serve food category to celebrate the rich regional culinary heritage of India with dishes such as Hyderabadi dum biryani, Chettinad fry, dhaba-style tandoori tikka and Kashmiri rogan josh curry.

The startup operates on a B2B business model, selling its products to 25-plus clients in the food service industry. It is also finalising the launch of its products in the overseas markets and its short-term goal is to start exporting the products soon. In the long term, Evolved Foods aims to focus on developing more plant-based protein alternatives while immortalising Indian cuisine.

Fundly.ai

Funding Small Pharma Businesses

According to an IBEF report, India’s pharmaceuticals industry is expected to reach $65 Bn by 2024 in market size, further expanding to nearly $130 Bn by 2030. A significant chunk of the industry consists of regular chemist shops across India’s towns and cities. 

However, with the rise of online pharmacies, there is a need for financial solutions for small pharma business owners, retailers, and distributors to enable them to compete with major online pharmacies. Amit Chawla and Shreeram Ramanathan, having recognised the gap in the market, founded Fundly.ai in 2021 in Mumbai. 

Fundly.ai, which operates at the intersection of supply chain and MSME finance, empowers pharma distribution tail, speciality players and brands by providing them with affordable financial solutions. Fundly.ai’s platform streamlines the financing process, making it easier for retailers and distributors to access funds for their operations. 

Fundly.ai offers two products – invoice payment and InstaCash. The former allows small pharma distributors to pay the invoices in advance. InstaCash, on the other hand, is a direct line of credit offered by Fundly.ai to non-registered distributors and small pharma businesses.

The startup has empowered more than 2,000 retailers and 30-plus distributors across 9+ cities and has so far disbursed more than INR 140 Cr in credit. The company plans to deepen engagement with existing customers, invest in technology development, and introduce new product offerings in the short term, on the back of its recent $3 Mn seed fundraise.

GrowAgro

Empowering Farmers With Enhanced Livestock Care Solutions

According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the veterinary healthcare market in India is projected to reach $1.86 Bn by 2028. Despite this potential, Indian farmers continue to face challenges in accessing healthcare services for their livestock, as only one government-certified veterinary professional is available for every 21,000 cattle.

This scarcity of veterinary care has resulted in a high animal mortality rate, decreased productivity, and significant negative impacts on the profitability of over 120 Mn farmers engaged in cattle rearing.

Having experienced the bleak realities of rural livestock healthcare while helping their families with livestock management during the Covid-19 pandemic, Harish Phalswalm, Naveen Shokeen, Prince Yadav and Krishna Sharma founded GrowAgro in 2022 to address the gap in the system.

The startup has developed a mobile app that offers farmers multiple healthcare services for their livestock. The app focuses on preventive healthcare, breeding assistance and nutritional consultation. It uses AI-based image recognition technology, which allows farmers to upload images of their cattle to detect potential health risks and get treatment recommendations.

Along with nutrition plans for animals, the app offers AI-enabled solutions for breeding healthier and more productive animals. GrowAgro’s app also facilitates consultations with experienced veterinarians and livestock experts when need be.

GrowAgro charges a consultation fee for personalised expert consultations and offers premium subscriptions to users. Further, the startup earns commissions from every transaction that happens on the app.

Currently, the startup is conducting a pilot in one district of Haryana and plans to expand gradually across North India soon.

HexoAI

Generative AI-Powered Creatives For Marketing Success

Creating high-quality marketing content can be expensive, especially if it involves hiring professional photographers or designers. While the pricing differs across categories and can cost heavily with images edited as per the style guides of various ecommerce platforms.

Hexo.ai, founded by Kunal Bhatia and Vignesh Baskaran in 2022, uses a proprietary generative AI engine trained on a massive dataset of images, creatives, and marketing data to help businesses solve these challenges. The AI engine allows the startup to generate customised, high-quality, and realistic creatives.

The startup’s product suite includes a product photography generator, a creatives generator, a personalisation engine, an expenditure strategist and a variations generator for all visual needs of an ecommerce brand.

These tools can help businesses save time and money on marketing while also creating more effective and engaging content. Hexo.ai’s generative AI can also help companies track the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns and make necessary adjustments.

While Hexo.ai is in the pre-revenue stage, it plans to monetise its product suite through a subscription model. Users will be able to subscribe to Hexo.ai’s services on a monthly or annual basis.

Kikibix

Seizing Growing Health Foods Market With Nutritious Snack Offerings

Over the past few years, Indian consumers have been increasingly incorporating healthier food options in their diets, given a steep rise in the cases of lifestyle-related diseases. That has helped the health foods market to expand at a CAGR of 20%, and according to a report by Avendus Capital, this sector will reach $30 Bn in size by 2026.

Increased demand for healthier snacking options enabled Dr Ridhi Kaur to launch Kikibix, a D2C brand offering healthy snacking options like cookies and peanut butter, in 2022. The Gurugram-based D2C startup has developed 12 types of cookies and three peanut butter flavours. Kikibix claims its cookies are baked using whole grains and don’t contain wheat, gluten, palm oil, refined sugar and artificial sweeteners.

So far, the D2C startup has served 20,000-plus customers, and its products are available on its website and major online channels, having recently boarded the quick commerce bus with Blinkit. With a team of 5-7 people, Kikibix claims to have grown 8X YoY.

The startup’s short-term plans include launching two new product lines – nuts and namkeens – and expanding the catalogue to 30-50 SKUs across five categories by 2024. In the long run, Kikibix aims to go omnichannel and onboard a brand ambassador by 2026.

Leumas

On-Demand Manufacturing For D2C Brands

In the burgeoning landscape of Indian D2C brands, the majority outsource their production due to the high investment required for in-house manufacturing. However, Leumas has emerged as a game-changer for D2C brands in nutraceuticals, health supplements, skincare, hair care, oral care and healthy foods.

Founded by Nitesh Kumar and Subhajit Biswas in Bengaluru, Leumas offers a unique solution that allows D2C brands to manufacture goods as per their demand. By leveraging Leumas’ scalable production capacity, brands can access flexible batch sizes and efficiently produce multiple products.

Central to Leumas’ offering is its innovative tech stack, integrated with its manufacturing facilities. D2C brands can now upload their product recipes to the cloud, enabling Leumas to manufacture precisely according to each brand’s demand.

At the heart of their services lies the flagship product, Leumasware, an on-cloud manufacturing suite that empowers D2C companies to design, develop, and manage new products. Additionally, it enables seamless production and quality control while maintaining a digital inventory that enhances supply chain visibility.

Not stopping there, Leumas goes the extra mile by offering expert assistance to D2C startups venturing into specific product classes, helping them bring their envisioned products to life.

Magma

Bridging Gaps In Indian Manufacturing

After China, India is on its course to becoming one of the largest manufacturing hubs in the world. Per World Bank data, India’s manufacturing gross value add (GVA) stood at $450 Bn during 2022, compared to China’s $4.98 Tn and Japan’s $1.02 Tn.

Despite this, manufacturing units in India continue to face a slew of challenges in areas like capacity utilisation, quality control and supply chain management, leading to high customer churn and challenges in exporting their goods. To bridge this widening gap between Indian factories and global markets, Neal Thakkar founded Magma in 2021.

A B2B manufacturing platform in the building materials space, Magma helps factories with procurement, manufacturing and sales to compete with their global counterparts. By leveraging Magma’s mobile app and its web-based platform, factory owners can streamline their operations, connect with and manage suppliers, optimise and track logistics, and enable a consistent energy supply.

The startup operates on a commission-based business model, generating revenue through margins earned on the products sold via its platform. Magma claims to have onboarded 110-plus clients across 12 states in India, making an annualised gross merchandise value (GMV) of INR 200 Cr in the past three months.

Magma’s plans for 2024 include expanding its product offerings by increasing the number of SKUs available on its platform and serving more factories.

By 2026, the startup aims to expand into verticals beyond construction materials.

Maya

Programming Made Easy

Programming is a complex and time-consuming task, and many who lack technical know-how may find it difficult to learn.

Bengaluru-based Maya Labs, founded by Sibesh Kar and Shubham Mishra in 2020, is solving this problem by developing a program synthesis engine called PAC-1 that can convert natural language instructions into computer codes.

This allows users to instruct machines to perform tasks without having to write codes. At the enterprise level, Maya Labs’ PAC-1 helps software engineers focus on more complex tasks such as developing new features or fixing bugs.

Maya Labs plans to monetise its product through a subscription model. Users can subscribe to the startup’s service and use PAC-1. The startup also plans to offer enterprise-level pricing for businesses that need to automate large volumes of tasks.

Mindgrove Technologies

Revolutionising Mid-Range Chip Market With Indigenous Systems On Chips

Throughout 2021 and 2022, the world witnessed a massive shortage of semiconductor chips, impacting industries across the globe. This came as a wake-up call for countries like India, which are heavily dependent on China and Taiwan for these chips. While the supply chain has stabilised in recent months, there is still a problem of overdesigned chips.

At a time when many global chip designers are looking to develop the next-fastest chip, there is a large section of engineers working on mid-range applications like IoT, computer vision and automobiles with outdated, inefficient and expensive tech.

Understanding the challenges faced by system engineers, Shashwath TR and Sharan Srinivas J founded Mindgrove Technologies in 2021 to provide SoCs (systems on chips) for mid-range use applications. The cofounders worked at IIT Madras’ Reconfigurable Intelligent Systems Engineering (RISE) Lab — while Shahwath was a systems engineer, Sharan was a PhD student at RISE Lab.

Mindgrove has been working on three primary SoCs – Secure IoT, Vision SoC and Edge Compute. While all of them are in the design phase, Secure IoT will enter production by late 2023 at fabs in the US and Taiwan.

These chips are powered by IIT Madras’ SHAKTI, an open-source initiative by the RISE Group, to develop state-of-the-art SoCs in India. Mindgrove also benefits from the Indian government’s push for self-sufficiency in chip design and manufacturing.

The startup claims its SoCs have several use cases across categories and segments, including IoT, edge computing, EVs, smart utility meters, and security equipment such as fingerprint locks and CCTVs.

Now&Me

AI-Enabled Mental Health Platform For GenZ

According to an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) research report, the Indian population is facing a severe mental health crisis, with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorders constituting one-sixth of all health-related disorders.

Another research by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) finds that nearly 150 Mn Indians require mental health care services but fewer than 30 Mn are seeking care. Having witnessed this problem firsthand, Bani Singh and Drishti Gupta founded Now&Me, an AI-enabled startup focused on self-care for Gen Z. 

Their flagship product is an expert chat panel, which helps users connect with mental health and self-improvement experts via text, calls, or video calls. Unlike traditional therapy sessions, the platform caters to individual needs, allowing flexible session durations at as low as INR 7 per minute. The expert panel, which comprises professionals fluent in multiple languages, offers both therapy and coaching. 

Additionally, the startup provides a peer support community, enabling users to connect with like-minded individuals and express their feelings. The peer support community provides a safe space for users to share their stories openly, combating feelings of isolation.

Now&Me has adopted a freemium model, providing users with a free trial of therapy and expert services, followed by paid recurring sessions. The pay-per-minute approach allows users to pay for the duration of their sessions with experts. 

In the last three months, Now&Me has assisted over 7,000 individuals. The startup now aims to expand its reach beyond individuals and provide enterprise-level support. The plan by 2024 is to offer an expert chat panel for both B2C and B2B needs, enabling more individuals and organisations to access the necessary guidance and support.

Ohm Mobility

Dial Ohm For EV Financing

India has a 100% electrification target to decarbonise its transportation by 2030, and the homegrown EV market is likely to become a $206 Bn opportunity by that time, according to a CEEW-Centre for Energy Finance report. But the country will require investments worth $180 Bn+ to reach its green mobility goals.

Despite the sector’s rapid growth and great potential, financing for EV startups has been sluggish at home. Nikhil Nair, who earlier worked with SELCO and M-COPA for solar financing in India and Nigeria, was aware of how a capital crunch can affect the mass transition to EVs. So, the cleantech veteran launched Ohm Mobility in 2020, an EV financing platform connecting startups with FIs.

The Bengaluru-based EV fintech collaborates with multiple FIs, including banks, NBFCs and EV leasing companies, to ensure hassle-free lending and speedy disbursals. It claims to have disbursed loans worth INR 35 Cr in the past three months and charges a platform fee from the EV startups.

Short term, Ohm Mobility aims to help finance 30% of Indian EV companies by 2024.

OneDios

After-Sales Services Just Made Easier

While buying products, especially electronic items, vehicles and consumer durables, is fun, they can become a headache over time, especially when they start to wear out, demanding servicing. Getting after-sales service of any kind, be it appliances or vehicles, is a long process and demands maintaining a long list of contacts. Further, customers often face long wait times, while companies incur high costs in just registering requests.

Understanding that the country’s after-sales services sector required a disruption when it comes to offering better customer experience, Nitin Chawla, a former IBM employee, founded OneDios in 2019, along with a fellow IBMer, Amit Sharma.

The startup runs a mobile app, OneDios, which allows users to search and register a service request within 60 seconds. Its flagship product, the OneDios Request Booking System (ORBS), works as a gateway to connect customers with brands.

Customers can also upload their invoices and warranty cards to tag their products in the app to schedule after-sales services and register requests faster.

The solution can be integrated with any CRM, enabling brands to deploy ORBS within two weeks. OneDios has partnered with 90-plus major brands, including Daikin, Hitachi and Voltas. Partnerships with brands and dealerships not only allow the startup to sell extended warranties and register service requests but also acquire customers at the point of sale.

The primary revenue stream for OneDios is the commissions that it earns from service requests raised via its app. It also makes money by working with brands to sell extended warranties.

OneDios estimates that at least 1.6 Bn service requests are routed through call centres across India per year, giving it a large TAM. This TAM has allowed OneDios to register more than 800K users and 60K service requests per month. The startup’s revenue during FY23 was INR 1.35 Cr, up 20X from FY22.

In FY24, OneDios aims to sell 50K extended warranties, deliver 10 Lakh service requests and onboard 500K new customers, with hopes to become profitable by FY26.

OneGreen

A One-Stop Shop For All Natural Products

While there are numerous brands in India claiming to offer ‘natural’ and ‘green’ products, determining the authenticity of these claims can be challenging. Additionally, many brands that offer genuine products often fail to grab consumers’ attention as they primarily sell through their websites.

Seeking to adopt a more mindful lifestyle, when they became parents for the second time, Abhijit Bhattacharya and Neha Gahlaut faced similar difficulties. They realised that finding genuine products, which are no green sheen, from various websites and platforms was quite a challenge.

This led Bhattacharya and Gahlaut to found OneGreen, a one-stop shop for all green and mindful products, in 2020. The platform offers products across categories such as baby care, food and beverages, home and dining, clothing, fashion and pet supplies, among others. In just three years, OneGreen has grown to become a horizontal ecommerce platform that offers over 20,000 products from 500-plus brands across more than 85 categories.

OneGreen has developed a three-step quality and credibility measurement model, OneGreen Index, to mitigate green-washing in the market. The algorithm validates and confirms claims made by a brand and testifies its presence and popularity, rating it on a scale of 1 to 10 — the higher the score, the better the product. 

OneGreen operates on a commission-based revenue model. The startup has managed to reduce its burn rate by 90% in the past six months and grow its GMV by 10% MoM. The startup also claims to have a 20% repeat rate over 90 days.

By 2024, OneGreen plans to cut down its costs even further, increase repeat customers and improve average order value.

ONWO

Simplifying Cross-Border Food Trading For Indian SMEs

According to an IBEF report, India recorded $50.2 Bn in total agriculture exports during 2021-22, up 20% from $41.3 Bn in 2020-21. However, cross-border trade of food products faces several challenges, including complex ecosystems and middlemen, limited access for SME buyers and a lack of price transparency.

Having faced these challenges while working in the international sourcing division at Flipkart, Bipul Kumar founded ONWO in 2022 to ease the cross-border trading of food products.

ONWO is an exporter of rice and sugar. The startup’s curated platform offers overseas SME buyers a range of products from Indian producers, including multiple variants of rice as well as processed and raw sugar.

The platform simplifies the procurement process by offering quality-assured, low-touch pre and post-order experiences. ONWO provides its services across both online and offline channels, allowing customers to reach the platform via all avenues.

The platform also provides contract manufacturing and private label solutions, quality assurance and risk management and complete order fulfilment. ONWO has 15-plus partner mills located primarily in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana. So far, the startup claims to have delivered more than 10,000 metric tonnes worth of produce to regions such as North America and the Middle East.

ONWO generates revenue through multiple streams. It charges a commission on the price of the products sold on its platform. Additionally, it earns fees for fulfilment services and value-added services provided to manufacturers and buyers.

Recently, the startup claimed to have achieved a 90% repeat order rate, turning EBITDA positive in the process. ONWO also claims to have $10 Mn in ARR in FY23 and plans to hit $1 Bn in revenue by 2026.

Papa Pawsome

All-Natural Grooming Products For Furry Friends

Keeping the four-legged, furry companions squeaky clean can be tricky. But more worrisome are the ingredients used in off-the-shelf grooming products that can be extremely harmful if licked or swallowed by dogs and cats. The market needed a Mamaearth for pet care – brimming with the goodness of natural products – and Mumbai-based Papa Pawsome has created that niche. 

Nishita and Nikita Agarwal (unrelated), the digital-first D2C pet grooming brand offers a wide range of holistic wellness products which use plant extracts instead of harmful chemicals like sulphates, parabens, silicones and artificial fragrances. These include wet and dry shampoos, detanglers, itch creams and medicinal ointments for ticks, fleas and infections, paw and skin creams, spa kits and more. Pet parents can also choose products from dog breeds.

Papa Pawsome sells through its dedicated website, quick commerce platforms like Blinkit and Zepto, and marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart and BigBasket. It claims a user base of 20K+, a 60% rise in repeat customers and an ARR of INR 4 Cr in FY23, including month-on-month revenue growth of 20%.

The D2C brand plans to launch new products, including dog toothpaste, hemp oil and pet wipes in the short term.

PensionBox

A Power Planner To Secure The Golden Years

Elderly poverty in India can be quite alarming in the next decade or two. As per the National Statistical Office, the country’s aged population will reach 194 Mn in 2031 from 138 Mn in 2021. And more than 90 Mn of them will not have financial security, according to a 2021 report by the Agewell Foundation.

Although the Vision India@2047 document considers (post-retirement) gainful engagement for the active and healthy, brothers Kuldeep and Shivam Parashar wanted to do more. They were alarmed by the inadequacy of the US retirement system when they worked there and planned for their parents’ golden years. The viability of the Indian pension system is also under the scanner. For instance, a 2022 report by The Print estimated that around 300 Mn would be without pension benefits by 2050. So, the Parashars launched the PensionBox app in 2021 to help people plan their retirement.

The Bengaluru-based fintech uses AI solutions to generate pension plans based on the contributions made to the National Pension Scheme (NPS). It further takes into consideration a person’s age, salary/monthly income, desired retirement age and place and whether they have a business plan for post-retirement years. The platform allows complete control over contribution schedules so that users can put the money in at their convenience.

In case there is no NPS contribution during the one-year period the user has for matching their contribution target, the app adjusts the goal within the selected retirement age accordingly.

It has also come up with a B2B2C vertical, partnering with private-sector companies to ensure pension benefits for their workforce. It has teamed up with five such companies so far. PensionBox claims to have onboarded more than 1.5 Lakh users, tracking INR 250 Cr in pension savings. The platform takes a 0.5% cut on every NPS investment as recurring revenue. In other words, PensionBox charges a small percentage on each transaction happening on its platform.

It also charges users a one-time fee for opening an account with the NPS.

PensionBox aims to onboard 2 Mn users and 100 B2B clients by 2024. It plans to bring in 10 Mn users and 2K companies by 2026 and wants to emerge as the country’s first pension tech unicorn. It will also apply to patent its AI-powered dynamic pension planning engine.

Powerbot

Improving Power Efficiency With Custom-Made Power Filters

Despite waves of technological advancements, a majority of Indian enterprises are still operating on low PF circuits, which results in a lot of electricity wastage. For the uninitiated, the PF or power factor expresses the ratio of actual power used in a circuit to the apparent power delivered. 

Another challenge for Indian enterprises is that the ones that pay more than INR 50,000 in electricity bills are charged differently. This is because authorities believe that they induce disturbances in power lines. These were two of the major headwinds that Anand Teke faced during his previous stint as the founder of a rooftop solar startup, HelioKraft. 

To address this, Teke joined hands with Hemant Shinde and founded Powerbot in 2020 to arrest runaway costs by improving efficiency. The startup examines the electricity data of enterprises through its proprietary smart analyser, which is designed to analyse power quality on 100-plus parameters. 

Next, the analyser, installed at the premises of users, sends the data to Powerbot’s cloud. The data is then analysed by Powerbot’s proprietary algorithms to design filters aligned to the client’s power needs, which are then installed at their respective properties. 

The smart meters and power filters are the primary revenue generators for Powerbot, which operates on a B2B business model. With 50-plus clients onboard, the startup claims to be on the course to generate 8X more revenues this year compared to last year.

The founders have plans to expand to 15-plus states by next year. It recently also struck a distribution deal with a well-known Indian brand.

Rehook.ai

Automating Customer Promotions And Loyalty Programmes For B2C Companies

Every customer-facing company, especially B2C companies, have several promotions and loyalty programs in place to drive customer retention and improve sales metrics. However, this process is complex, expensive, time-consuming, and disrupts internal workflows.

To resolve this complex web of problems, Akhil Suhag, Akshay Suhag, Mukul Anand and Tushar Dhara founded Rehook.ai in 2023.

The startup offers a full-stack platform that automates the entire user promotion stack and saves time, money and resources required to build promotional strategies and loyalty programmes, including coupons, bonuses, leaderboards, action-based rewards, referrals, streaks, gift cards and more.

It has developed an in-house rule engine, which enables companies to create rules and tailor promotional campaigns based on user actions. This approach also allows for high-impact and personalised campaigns that can be optimised and targeted for maximum impact.

One of Rehook.ai’s unique selling propositions is its platform-independent, API-first, and event-driven architecture, which ensures scalability and eliminates any tech dependency post-integration.

This allows brands to build hyper-personalised promotions at scale while having complete control. Clients can edit, pause or modify any campaign at any time and set conditions for budget, time frame, reward validity, and recurrence.

Rehook.ai operates on a SaaS subscription and pay-as-you-go revenue model. Having onboarded its first 10 customers, the startup aims to achieve $1 Mn in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) by 2024 and targets $5 Mn ARR by 2026.

SheerDrive

Using AI/ML To Unleash True Potential Of Used Cars

The used car market is known for its complexity and fragmentation, leading dealers to invest significant time and resources in sourcing, grading, and pricing pre-owned vehicles. While various startups, such as Cars24, CarDekho, Droom, and Spinny, have entered the segment, persistent challenges remain.

One notable newcomer is SheerDrive, a digital platform cofounded in 2020 by Siddharth Panikar and Ravisen Mehra. The primary goal of SheerDrive is to assist both new and used car dealers in efficiently procuring and remarketing used vehicles.

The platform boasts a range of AI and ML-enabled features designed to streamline the car evaluation and pricing process. Among these is the Vehicle Scan tool, which utilises AI and ML algorithms to analyse a vehicle’s condition based on a photograph, identifying any potential damage or issues.

Another noteworthy feature is Intelligent Computation, a web dashboard that allows dealers to review and grade various vehicle parts, thereby gaining valuable insights into the car’s overall condition. Armed with this information, dealers can proactively address any damages or necessary repairs before putting the car up for sale.

Assured Pricing is yet another critical component of SheerDrive, offering an algorithm that generates fair market values for used cars. By considering factors such as the vehicle’s condition, mileage, and location, the algorithm provides dealers with an accurate and guaranteed fair market value for each car.

Lastly, the Robust Remarketing platform serves as a valuable intermediary between car retailers and web aggregators. By connecting used cars with potential buyers, this platform also offers insights into the optimal timing and location for marketing a particular used car.

SheerDrive operates on a subscription-based revenue model, with dealers paying a monthly fee to access the platform’s robust features. The fee structure is determined based on the number of vehicles each dealer sells, ensuring a fair and scalable pricing system.

Shipturtle

Transforming Marketplaces Into Asset-Light Digital Bazaars

Marketplaces are one of the most popular ecommerce formats nowadays. But traditional platforms still struggle with vendor onboarding, inventory cataloguing, order processing and fulfilment, resulting in longer processing times and hindered growth. Sharad Kabra, a second-time entrepreneur, faced similar issues when he built myBageecha, a multi-vendor online marketplace offering garden products. 

To make life easy for online sellers from every nook and cranny, Kabra set up Shipturtle in 2021. The ecommerce SaaS suite can transform any run-of-the-mill marketplace into an asset-light digital bazaar where shoppers can search through a huge catalogue or directory of brands, and businesses can sell their offerings to a much larger user base.

Its plugin can be easily integrated with the store formats of Shopify (WooCommerce and Magento frameworks are also getting developed) for vendor syncing, cataloguing, order automation, fulfilment, tracking, commission generation and reconciliation.

The Ahmedabad-based startup recently launched a host of website and app-building tools to create vertical markets and extend digital commerce scope beyond Amazon and Flipkart. It has also partnered with logistics players, such as Shiprocket, Amazon Shipping and Delhivery, to provide various delivery options.

The ecommerce enabler has multiple revenue streams in place, including subscription fees for its website and app-building toolkits, customisation fees and a one-time logistics carrier integration charge. It has onboarded 30 B2B clients so far.

By 2024, Shipturtle will build a directory for D2C brands to help them cross-sell to similar companies without third-party intervention, with plans to hit $1 Mn ARR by 2025. It also plans to roll out a social commerce arm by 2026, where content creators will boost brand credibility and drive their sales.

SuperAPI

Supercharging APIs For Efficient Coding

When a request is made to an API, it can take a few seconds to fetch responses. This can be a problem when developing a web or mobile app that needs to make frequent API requests. As such, slow and unreliable APIs can cause poor user experience, increased bounce rate and loss of revenue.

Often, using a caching solution is the only way out, which helps store the responses from APIs for faster response rates. Integrating the best of both worlds, Aditya Agrawal and Adithya Kavuluru founded SuperAPI in 2022, making APIs instantly cacheable with their solution.

Under the hood, SuperAPI does everything an app developer does to make APIs cacheable. The startup offers HTTP caching, in-memory caching, database caching and stale-while-revalidate caching. SuperAPI also offers API monitoring, validation and compression, allowing data transfer to remain manageable within a limited bandwidth and keep API data up-to-date.

These features ensure a better user experience with improved responsiveness and reliability. Since the startup does everything in one place, it helps save a lot of money, which developers would have spent buying solutions to make their APIs cacheable.

SuperAPI is free to use for up to 100 requests per month and hits a subscription paywall after that. The subscription fee starts at $10 per month for 1,000 requests and goes up to $100 per month for 1,00,000 requests.

Swytchd

Switching To EVs Now Made Easy

Between June 2022 and June 2023, India registered nearly 8.27 Lakh two-wheeler electric vehicles (EVs), according to data from the government’s Vahan portal. Despite this, the price of a two-wheeler EV could burn a hole in the pockets of a large chunk of the Indian population, which can lead to stagnation in EV demand.

Having worked in the vehicle leasing department of Jaguar Land Rover, Sameer Arif came up with the idea of launching a similar product for EVs, which led to the inception of Swytched in 2021, which offers two-wheeler EVs on a monthly subscription.

Like popular subscription models, the startup provides customers with a complete package, covering everything from vehicle to servicing. Customers can choose from Swytched’s diverse range of brands such as Ather, Ola and Revolt. Once subscribed, the startup takes care of all the necessary support and services.

At the end of each month, customers can decide whether to renew the vehicle subscription, switch to another model, or discontinue the service. Swytched’s pricing structure accounts for the vehicle, insurance, servicing, breakdown support and charging refunds. Over the past three months, Swytched has gained more than 300 active monthly subscribers.

Swytched’s short-term plan for 2024 is to double its fleet size. By 2026, the startup aims to expand its operations beyond Bengaluru and establish a presence in multiple geographies with a fleet of over 2,000 vehicles on the road.

Togai

Simplifying Pricing And Billing Processes For B2B SaaS Companies

India has become the world’s SaaS hub, with companies like Zoho and Freshworks building for the world. However, almost all B2B software companies face challenges with pricing and billing in their operational workflows.

SaaS products are typically billed as per usage, along with other billing models such as subscriptions. However, managing large-scale data in real-time for usage-based pricing can be challenging. Similarly, offering tailored pricing strategies can also be a roadblock, when businesses rely on traditional subscription billing platforms that may not provide the flexibility required.

To uncomplicate complex billing processes in the enterprisetech space, Abhishek Rajagopal, Aravind Sriraman and Tholkappiyan Velavan founded Togai in 2022.

Togai’s flagship product is a billing platform that focuses on addressing the limitations of traditional subscription billing platforms. The platform excels in handling metered billing, allowing businesses to price their products based on customer usage, though it also offers SaaS companies to design subscription models, be it usage-based, subscription or hybrid pricing.

Togai’s event-based architecture enables SaaS companies to create and adjust pricing models quickly, catering to the specific needs of their customers. The platform also integrates with existing tools such as CPQ, CRM, billing systems, usage analytics and revenue recognition, ensuring smooth and efficient pricing updates across all systems.

Enterprises can avail of Togai’s solution for free, up to the first $50K in billing per month. After a company crosses the free limit threshold, it can choose from either its growth plan (with 100/1,000 invoices worth $25K/$250K) or its custom-made enterprise plan.

TransBnk

Transactional Banking Tech Stack For Banks & NBFCs

According to a 2019 McKinsey report, global transaction banking pulls generate nearly $1 Tn in annual revenue across segments such as trade finance, cash management and working capital products, including overdrafts and deposits. However, much of this work happens manually, which slows down the entire value chain.

Having worked in the banking sector, Vaibhav Tambe, Lavin Kotian, Pulak Jain and Sachin Gupta witnessed the tech and functionality challenges in setting up transaction banking infrastructure. As such, the quartet built TransBnk, a plug-and-play solution which digitises the escrow process for banks, NBFCs and other companies that engage in lending and supply-chain financing.

The startup has digitised the onboarding process and the post-onboarding transactions via its TrustHub platform, reducing the time it takes to onboard users to an escrow account from 45 days to hours. Further, it also offers banks pre-onboarded anchors (companies offering lending solutions via banks) via the DEBS platform, simplifying the escrow journey.

TransBnk also offers a plug-and-play co-lending solution for banks and startups looking to set up lending operations. The startup’s APIs provide access to multiple banks and manage the entire process, from escrow opening to transaction management. The startup has also developed a tech stack to handle recurring payments.

The startup monetises its tech stack by taking a small percentage of the value of transactions that happen via its platforms. In the short term, TransBnk is looking to expand its tech and product teams and product line to triple its clientele by 2024.

Vaaree

A Curated Marketplace For High-Quality Home Décor

India is rich in arts and crafts, weaves, colours and designs. And the creative minds from every niche bring forth their offerings through multiple home décor platforms. But these are either too expensive or the affordable ones often lack the quality. Also, most of these premium products are exported directly and similar products are unavailable in the domestic market to retain ‘product exclusivity’. 

When setting up a new home shortly after their marriage, Varun Vohra and Garima Luthra also started searching for exquisite home décor at pocket-friendly pricing. Although digital commerce has effectively done away with all borders, creative or otherwise, they were unable to find their choice of products, and the prices were not to their liking.

Eventually, the duo, along with Garima’s cousin Pranav Arora, launched a B2C curated marketplace, Vaaree, in 2022 to cater to the connoisseurs at home.

The Bengaluru-based ecommerce startup has developed a curated marketplace and operates on a manufacturer-to-consumer business model where quality remains the soul of creation. Before onboarding, manufacturers have to undergo a 32-step quality control checklist put together by Vaaree to assess quality and process control. Surprise monthly checks are also carried out at production units for maintaining and improving quality standards.

The platform has tied up with 100 Indian manufacturers and has listed 20K+ SKUs across 75 categories, including bedding, furnishings, kitchen, dining, décor, bath and garden. Additionally, its team of experts offers personalised curation services for free to cater to shoppers’ requirements. Vaaree’s platform has an ‘Inspiration’ section, where users can talk with the startup’s team to select designs and colours best suited to their tastes and budget.

The marketplace earns commissions from manufacturers on products delivered.

Vaaree claims 40% month-on-month growth in GMV and says it shipped more than 50K products in the first year.

Volt Money

Unlock Secured Loans With Mutual Funds

According to a report by the Association of Mutual Funds in India, the average assets under management for the Indian mutual fund industry for June 2023 stood at INR 44.82 Lakh Cr. Most of this value is locked away in long-term investments, and redeeming mutual funds means closing the account and losing returns.

To address the emergency demands of customers and their unwillingness to withdraw from mutual funds, Bharat Lamba, Lalit Bihani, and Ankit Agrawal launched Volt Money in 2022, offering secured loans against mutual funds. Customers can avail loans from INR 25,000 to INR 2 Cr, depending on the size of their mutual funds.

The fintech startup’s interest rate starts at 9.95%, much lower than personal loans. With flexible lending terms compared to the rest of the industry, Volt claimed it is yet to see a default.

The startup earns revenue by charging a commission from the interest paid by the borrower and through direct processing fees. Since Volt operates in the B2B2C business model, Lamba claims it has nearly zero customer acquisition cost (CAC).

The startup is working on expanding its loan book and hiring resources to improve its tech stack. However, the long-term vision for Volt Money remains to diversify beyond mutual funds and leverage all financial assets for secured lending.

[Edited by Shishir Parashar and Sanghamitra Mandal. With inputs from Chetan Thathoo]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Attention In July 2023 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Are we facing a lost generation of startup businesses? There is no denying that Indian startups have experienced turbulence in the past year and a half. No easy money is sloshing around to fund mundane or moonshot projects as investors are becoming more profit-conscious and risk-averse. Business shutdowns are hitting entrepreneurs hard as founders routinely take to social platforms to write goodbye posts. And thousands of startup employees are at risk as pink slips flood the ecosystem.       

But the question is: Will this ongoing funding winter and operational strife eventually impact the growth trajectory? 

Overall, there has been a lack of support for first-time business owners and a lack of growth funding. And it has been a do-or-die situation for the young businesses we cover every month under 30 Startups. Not surprisingly, they wanted a month to return to the drawing board, rework their strategies and ramp up their investment returns before beginning a new financial year with sustainable business goals. 

So, we quietly put away the March list and waited until startups were ready to discuss their business, and growth plans again.

Now that we are back with our data analytics and observations, a couple of trends are surfacing. 

To begin with, the ecosystem is constantly evolving, throwing open a great many opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors. Despite the slowdown, a handful of startups are marrying B2B and B2C trends with best-in-breed technology solutions to find their business sweet spots and disrupt incumbents. 

Earlier this year, we looked at the startups that sailed through the dystopian scenario and learnt to be lean and self-reliant. In fact, the February edition of Inc42’s 30 Startups to Watch shone a light on the new-age businesses that reimagined traditional sectors and business models.

So, when we started to handpick the April list (published in May 2023), were we looking for the ‘next big thing’ that might have suddenly turned up? 

Clearly not, because big things take time to happen. Think of generative AI and all the buzz it is creating just now. ChatGPT is not the outcome of a light bulb moment as many would like to believe but has undergone years of testing, arguably since ELIZA, the chatbot, was developed at MIT in 1966. 

Therefore, at the shortlisting stage, we had a single focus. We looked for startups operating across mainstream sectors but doing things differently. 

It may sound cliché, but numbers show that enterprise tech, ecommerce and fintech topped the startup lists in 2022 and 2023 (to date) in terms of popularity, funding and growth. Their continued success is a testament to the vibrancy of these sectors and makes it imperative to find out what these startups are doing right. 

30 Startups To Watch: April 2023

Apart from a deep dive into the top three segments, the 37th edition of our 30 Startups to Watch column explored the next-best performers in the Web3, edtech and EV space despite their uneven growth graphs. Startups in the sunrise sectors, such as drone tech, climate tech and deeptech, also made the cut.

As many as 10 startups are in the enterprise tech space, followed by three each in the ecommerce and fintech sectors. We have also picked two startups each from Web3, EV, cleantech, edtech and HR tech sectors and one each from deeptech, drone services, social media and healthtech.

More interestingly, 16 out of the 30 startups listed this time operate in the B2B space; six have B2B2C models, and just eight startups are in the B2C segment. 

This wave of B2B and enterprise tech dominance indicates engineering excellence and a growing emphasis on innovation and automation, the eventual outcome of Industry 4.0. Such value propositions will also ensure better exit opportunities and more focus on the ‘next big thing’ – brilliant ideas that must be nurtured from the beginning.

Check out the 37th edition of the 30 Startups To Watch list by Inc42. 

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

50Fin

LAS To Empower Retail Investors

Many Indian retail investors save up to 30% of their monthly income to put their money in the stock market. But when the need for cash arises, most small investors are compelled to sell in a hurry and fail to earn their desired returns.

Bengaluru-based lending tech startup 50Fin has set up a credit platform with a LAS (loans against securities) option to solve this liquidity issue. 

Of course, banks provide these loans, but legacy players typically prioritise larger portfolios. In contrast, 50Fin offers small loans starting from INR 25K, with an interest rate of 12% per annum or 1% per month (for a 12-month tenure). The maximum loan-to-value is 55% of the entire portfolio on the application date. The tenure is flexible, meaning one can close the loan anytime without a pre-closure fee. But the assets marked lien cannot be released before the loan closure.

The startup says a loan approval takes just seven minutes, requires zero documentation and CIBIL check, and the loan gets disbursed in two hours. Due diligence is solely done on the credibility of the applicant’s portfolio. 

50Fin has partnered with Bajaj Finserv and Chola Mandalam for loan disbursals. It earns a commission on each transaction, but more revenue comes from processing fees and API integrations for wealth tech companies, brokers and AMCs. Although launched in 2022, the startup claims more than 5K early signups and is looking to disburse INR 100 Cr worth of loans by March 2024.

Accelero Vehicles

Building Smart, Affordable EVs For Bharat

India’s EV market is estimated to hit $114 Bn by 2029 from $3.2 Bn in 2022. Contributing to this growth is a host of homegrown players making smart but pocket-friendly electric vehicles. One such company is Accelero, building affordable e-bikes and retrofitted engines.

The New Delhi-based EV startup commercially launched its product line in 2019. Its flagships are two heavy-duty e-bikes – eBik Speed (for daily use) and eBik Cargo (for deliveries) – with a maximum speed of 25 km/hour and up to 60 km coverage in a single charge.

Accelero’s USP is eBik Smart, a conversion kit turning traditional bikes into EVs. The kit includes an integration device, a battery box, a throttle, a pedal assist, a hub, freewheel and chain, a charger and other fitments. These ‘converted’ bikes can peak up to 25 km per hour, cover 75 km on a full charge and take under five hours to juice up the battery.

The startup has manufacturing in a Delhi unit. While the e-bikes are sold pan-India via its website, Accelero offers at-home repair and maintenance services for as little as INR 250.

Currently, it is working on two more models, increasing production capacity and building the sales and marketing teams to target B2B customers by 2024. Its long-term goal is to create an e-mobility ecosystem for 138 Mn Indians who use non-motorised transportation (walking and biking).

AI Health Highway

A Smart Stethoscope For Accurate Diagnosis

The efficacy of auscultation, a diagnostic procedure where a stethoscope is used to listen to a patient’s heartbeats, lung functions, or other body sounds, largely depends on a physician’s expertise. However, the doctor-patient ratio in India stood at 1:834 in 2022, according to a government disclosure in Rajya Sabha, which means foolproof diagnoses by medical experts may not happen every time.

Aware of the ground realities, Dr Satish S Jeevannavar and Dr Radhakrishna Jamadagni, friends from their MBBS days, set up AI Health Highway in 2018 to leverage smart medical devices for health emergencies. The duo has developed an AI/ML-based Bluetooth stethoscope (AiSteth) and a companion app to detect anomalies and early warning signs.

Built on the lines of a snickometer, used in cricket to detect inaudible sounds (like the ball slightly edging the bat), AiSteth captures and streams the audio data on its companion Android app. The input is then converted into a visual waveform for screening, detecting and predicting cardiovascular, cardiorespiratory or other medical conditions.

The app also stores patient data and sound recordings in the cloud for instant access and further diagnosis.

The patent-pending medical device has received an ISO certification and is awaiting FDA and CE approvals to enter the US and UK markets, respectively.

The Bengaluru-based medtech startup earns revenue from device sales and enterprise and individual subscriptions for app usage. Primary sales channels include medical colleges, state- and privately run hospitals, diagnosticians and medical professionals.

AI Health claims it has partnered with 130+ doctors who have screened 12K+ patients. It aims to serve 1 Mn+ Indian patients by 2024 and 10 Mn+ patients globally by 2026.

Bijson

Turning Biowaste Disposal To Green Power

Generating clean energy from waste disposal is critical for a thriving circular economy and sustainable growth. Hence, Jaipur-based Bijson has developed a suite of innovative solutions after more than two years of R&D.

The startup launched five products late in 2017, including an organic waste processor, a bio-CNG plant, a dairy waste-based biogas plant, a sanitary pad disposal machine and a programme to audit solid waste management.

Converting organic waste into cooking gas and organic manure is carried out through a series of biochemical reactions in a sealed environment. Bijson’s organic waste processor does not require any external power source for operations and can be installed outside any property that produces a considerable amount of wet/food waste.

The dairy waste-based biogas plant recycles dairy and kitchen waste, agricultural surplus, animal or bird excrement and municipal solid waste into biomass using anaerobic digestion principles. This biomass is later purified and compressed into usable gas at the startup’s bio-CNG plant, attached to the biowaste-to-biomass converter.

Next comes SPD-10, a fully automatic and compact sanitary pad disposal unit that can be mounted in toilets and takes less than 10 minutes to incinerate the waste without impacting the environment.

Finally, the audit programme helps organisations identify the type of waste they produce and manage each category more efficiently. It also educates the staff on waste disposal methods and promotes natural processes, thus reducing waste management costs.

Bijson plans to expand beyond Jaipur in FY24 and generate more revenue by selling its equipment, customised gas products and biowaste-related services.

Blue Circle

A C-Suite Network Turns Digital, Doubles Down On Offerings

Despite the presence of professional networking sites like LinkedIn and its ilk, offline and exclusive networking events held a unique advantage for CXOs, who wanted to boost their influence and expertise. But with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, digital became the new physical, and virtual networking lost the C-suite exclusivity.

It also resulted in a pivot for Gurugram-based Blue Circle, which used to run offline, industry-specific leadership events since 2017 and broke even. After the pandemic struck in 2020, it launched an online professional network for senior executives, entrepreneurs, VCs and industry professionals.

The platform has a freemium membership in place and offers various value-added features via its apps. Members can connect with more than 20K leaders from India and abroad, search for relevant people, start discussions, seek expert advice and exchange business opportunities via a dedicated ‘opportunities’ feed.

They can also join virtual masterclasses and sector-specific offline conferences, access bite-sized sectorial insights and choose from 20+ sector-focussed communities.

Currently, Blue Circle is an ‘invite-only’ exclusive platform for senior leaders, but soon, it will be open to all professionals. The startup has a waitlist, and eligible candidates are approved within 24 hours.

Before launching its digital-only platform, Blue Circle charged up to INR 1.5 Lakh per year as a membership fee. It piloted a paid membership programme in 2022 and gained 100 paid members within a few weeks. The startup plans to increase the number of members to 500K by 2024 and launch a sector-specific jobs section.

Clueso

Auto-Generating Product Tours, Updating Help Docs For SaaS Firms

Ever heard of Deskamp, a note-taking tool for students and researchers? Three techies from IIT-Madras developed it but struggled to cope with an issue they never anticipated. It was that age-old query from new users: How does it work?

It was an eye-opener for college mates Akash Anand, Neel Balar and Prajwal Prakash, who soon realised the pain point of SaaS companies taking new customers through product tours and how-to guides. This business necessity ties up valuable resources as customer help centres must be updated around the clock. Also, for every product release/upgrade, one must start working from scratch to ensure the UI/UX is not out of sync.

Recognising the need for a technology leap, the trio set up Clueso in February 2023. Its cutting-edge solution combines robotic process automation with generative AI to crawl through any SaaS tool and convert screen recordings of product features into interactive videos to auto-generate product tours, audio/video tutorials/how-to guides and other help documents. Better still, they get auto-updated whenever it is required. The startup claims to generate help content up to 15x faster than traditional methods.

The Bengaluru- and San Francisco-based startup earns through an annual subscription model and claims to have made $400K within two months of its launch. Clueso is operational in India, the US, Australia and several countries from the SEA, EU and LATAM and plans to grow its annual revenue to $1 Mn by FY24.

CodeParrot

Automates API Testing For App Development

Creating backend tests involves setting up test environments, simulating dependencies and regular maintenance. This complex and time-consuming process also leads to errors and regression risks. So, SaaS startup CodeParrot aims to automate this critical but routine task for developers.

Set up by serial entrepreneurs Royal Jain and Vedant Agarwala in 2022 in Bengaluru and San Francisco, CodeParrot captures API (application programming interface) calls from the production environment (including requests made to the backend service) and downstream calls to databases, third-party APIs and other dependencies. It then generates intelligent test cases automatically using this data.

Whenever the backend service is updated, CodeParrot runs the service in an isolated container and replays the generated test cases. It also compares the responses with those captured in production while mocking downstream services. All regressions/discrepancies are automatically highlighted during this phase, enabling developers to identify and fix the issues.

As plug-and-play turnkey integration runs the test automatically, app developers need not set up a test environment separately.

The startup is still in beta but offers demos to showcase the solution to potential customers. It plans to launch the product in 2023 with a subscription model and introduce an open-source project by 2024.

Coffeee.io

Creating A Vetted Pool Of Tech Talent For IT

India has a vast pool of talented IT developers who are in great demand. Still, the sector suffers from hiring hiccups due to poor talent discovery and a shortage of comprehensive assessment tools. That’s why Gurugram-based HRtech startup Coffeee.io is on a mission to identify and evaluate developers to help them get hired.

Launched in 2022 by college friends and telecom veterans Amit Veer and Neha Sharma (former ZestMoney executive Ankit Mittal later joined the founding team), the startup works at two levels. Developers joining the pool can be assessed for the skills they want to highlight. They can also be vetted for communication skills, logical reasoning and solution designing and may appear for AI-simulated interviews. Next come recruiters who shortlist top candidates based on job openings and conduct interviews on the platform. The entire process is completed in under 48 hours.

As Coffeee works with highly skilled, vetted talent, its success rate is more than 20% compared to traditional hiring agencies with 1-1.5% success rates, the startup claims. It charges companies a one-time recruitment fee (a percentage based on the candidate’s salary) or receives recurring payments for contract workers. The service is free for jobseekers.

The platform operates in India but plans to enter global markets, including the US, Australia and Singapore. It also aims to build a community of 750K+ developers and reach $2 Mn ARR by FY24. In another two years, it will expand the developers’ community to more than 2 Mn and target an ARR of $20 Mn.

Done Deal

A Matchmaking Platform For Startup M&As

The startup ecosystem in India is the third-largest globally. But the country still follows an antiquated merger and acquisition procedure, with little visibility in product-market fit, market position and valuation. To revamp the outdated process, serial entrepreneur Rohit Raj partnered with financial experts Aneesh Sivakumar and Ankur Jain to launch Done Deal in 2023.

It has developed a web interface for startups to input crucial business data to help assess their valuations, position them against competitors and post their M&A terms and conditions. This information is used to generate anonymous cue cards, which are then shared across the buyer ecosystem.

Similar to how Tinder and other dating apps work, startup founders can choose who they want to engage with when potential buyers show interest.

Done Deal also provides several tools to speed up deal closures, including a data room builder for buyers looking for target companies and due diligence details. However, only actual buyers and sellers are privy to documents like term sheets, representation and liabilities.

Currently, there is no usage fee, but the platform charges a percentage of the deal value when a transaction is closed. It is still in the early-access mode for buyers, but founders can list their startups without any obligation to sell.

Done Deal went live in March 2023, but more than 180 startups have already signed up, and the platform has received 25+ active mandates from buyers. It aims to close 30 deals in the current financial year.

Its immediate focus is to grow the seller base in India, SEA and the MENA region and the buyer base in India and the US. It will also expand its team to help with cross-border transactions.

Drooyh

Drone Services & Insurance Aggregator

The drone industry in India is a sunrise sector projected to see more than 10% CAGR in 2023-2028. So, Bengaluru-based startup Drooyh has set up a service aggregation platform to connect service seekers with reliable vendors to help drive growth. The platform ensures a hassle-free experience for drone users (people/businesses), while service providers can easily reach out to prospects. 

Launched in 2018, Drooyh’s web-based platform also provides access to bespoke solutions and end-to-end execution, catering to many industry verticals such as agriculture, road and railway, power, mining, construction and geospatial tech. 

In addition, it aggregates drone insurance offers for individuals and enterprises in compliance with DGCA norms. Customers can avail of an INR 20 Lakh+ cover for third-party liabilities and a complete annual cover for DGCA-certified drones. Drooyh earns a commission from the businesses listed on its platform.

EMO Energy

Developing Fireproof EV Battery Packs For Rider Safety

EVs are the future of sustainable mobility, but the widespread adoption of electric vehicles in India leads to safety concerns around battery packs. As EV-linked fire incidents claimed many lives and injured several, former Ola Electric executives Rahul Patel and Sheetanshu Tyagi decided to solve the safety, range and charging concerns faced by electric two-wheelers in India.

Launched in 2022, Bengaluru-based EMO Energy has developed a swappable battery pack system called ZEN PAC that uses thermal management technology to monitor battery health and maintain consistent performance in all weather conditions.

Backed by the ZEN RIG tech monitor, it assures 100% fire safety, a 20-minute fast charge and more than five years of battery life. According to the company, both two- and three-wheelers can use the battery pack. EMO’s manufacturing unit is in Mysore, and the commercial launch of its battery packs is expected by 2024.

The startup plans to monetise the venture through D2C sales, partnerships with EV OEMs and tie-ups with B2C companies and gig economy platforms electrifying their fleets. It also aims to enter the global market in the long run.

Entvin

Automating Sales Ops With No-Code SaaS

It may come as a surprise, but nearly 40% of sales teams still rely on spreadsheets for critical tasks such as sales data review and analysis, payment reconciliation, commission tracking, sales planning and forecasting. However, sales operations today require better tools and technologies to move beyond mere report generation. Besides, salespeople are not trained data analysts, and many struggle with numbers, workflows and dashboards, a veritable spreadsheet purgatory from where there is no escape.

To address these challenges, IIT-Bombay alumni Kshitij Jain, Sanskar Jain and Hemant Phalak set up Entvin in 2022. The no-code SaaS platform enables businesses to automate sales tasks, create customised dashboards and gain real-time insights. Moreover, companies can instal the programme in just one day and connect it to their CRM, HRMS and data lakes using pre-built templates to streamline operations and enhance ease of use.

The Bengaluru-based startup is still in early-access mode. But it plans to launch a subscription-based solution in 2024 to ensure integration with more functionalities and provide an option for template customisation.

Excheqr

Secure Management Of Digital Assets Across Chains

Many believe digital assets like CBDCs, private cryptocurrencies and other popular value-generators will shape the economy’s future. Regardless of whether that happens or not, they require secure and efficient management, especially in cases of multiple and cross-chain access.

That’s why Excheqr, a startup based in Bengaluru and San Francisco, has developed a robust SaaS solution to combat the typical challenges associated with the security of this asset class.

Launched in 2021, the blockchain startup provides a secure platform for individuals, teams and institutions to manage their digital assets across multiple chains. Its cryptographic protocol prevents breaches and offers gasless, multi-owner vaults with inbuilt risk monitoring and portfolio access, all built on the next-generation MPC (multi-party computation) technology.

MPC tech allows off-chain signature computation and masks signer data from everyone except authorised team members. Excheqr has also merged various authentication factors (owner keys, login credentials and trusted device fingerprints) for added security. Then there are advanced access control, daily spending limits and time locks on fund outflows to minimise the fallout from hacks or stolen keys.

The platform is non-custodial, meaning it cannot access user vaults. On the other hand, users can create wallets on any chain without paying for gas, add/remove contributors (based on owners’ discretion) and change quorum rules.

The startup plans to launch globally by 2024 and will charge a transaction fee from individuals and enterprise customers (Web3 teams, DAOs, institutions and more). Its research arm will focus on using cryptography and blockchain for other critical functions such as wallet operations and recovery, decentralising Web3 identity management and quantifying smart contract risks.

Finhaat

A Fintech Service Bouquet For Bharat

On many occasions, traditional financial institutions find it difficult to design products and services to meet the requirements of their target customers. This is especially true when fintechs/FIs move beyond Tier 1 cities and the affluent class.

Finhaat, a Mumbai-based financial product delivery platform launched in 2021, aims to bridge this gap through insurance, investment and savings-related offerings suitable for the emerging middle-class and lower-income segments primarily in rural India and Tier 3 and 4 cities.

The startup works with FIs and individual financial partners (micro-entrepreneurs trained and supported by Finhaat to serve its community) to deliver bespoke solutions. Its offerings include short-term and medium-to-long-term products such as FDs, digital gold, equity and debt mutual funds, life and general insurance, annuity and pension schemes.

Finhaat operates a B2B2C model, and its APIs are integrated with FI platforms to ensure smooth onboarding, continuous support, fully automated claim processing and payment integration. Additionally, accounting and user modules for process management and reporting are leveraged by individual finance partners.

The fintech provides individual partners access to multilingual content for ease of use. Plus, a recommendation engine has been built around client queries, preferences and historical data to suggest desired products.

Revenue comes from commissions on financial products/services sold on the platform and annual maintenance fees paid by FIs and individual partners.

Floworks

A Virtual Assistant For Seamless Multitasking

New-age businesses heavily rely on various software tools for daily operations, from project management and productivity enhancement to communications or CRM. However, most of these operate as standalone tools, and updating a task involving multiple programmes is mostly done manually.

To do away with these operational silos, Bengaluru-based Floworks has developed its virtual assistant called Flowy. Powered by a natural language interface, the VA can read, update and retrieve information for employees on Slack/WhatsApp. For instance, if an employee requests to book a meeting or update a project status, the VA can navigate through all related programmes and complete the task. Additionally, it can execute tasks related to data repositories such as CRM databases, calendars, mailing lists and note-taking apps.

Floworks was set up in 2022 but went live in March 2023 and onboarded 10 customers. The startup charges companies a monthly subscription fee based on the number of users. By 2024, it plans to add more workspace and messaging tools like Notion and Teams for seamless operations and grow its customer base to 100.

GetSsup

A Vertical Marketplace Offering Nutrition Supplements, Expert Help

The Covid-19 pandemic may be officially over, but people increasingly consume health supplements for good nutrition. However, consumers across India feel that they need more support from the current ecosystem to reach their wellness goals. Arpit Gupta and Deven Vyas, who previously worked for the online healthcare platform Practo, recognised this gap and set up GetSupp in 2022.

The Bengaluru-based startup runs an online marketplace featuring 3K+ products from 100+ brands and 50+ categories, such as daily wellness, skincare, hair care, immunity building and weight management. Among these are noted D2C healthcare and fitness brands like The Whole Truth, cult.sport, Yoga Bar, The Vitamin Company and more.

GetSupp offers a 45-day programme that connects users and certified experts to enhance people’s wellness journey, supported by products from partner brands. Users can join the programme for free, while experts are compensated based on conversion rates.

The startup charges the brands a commission on each sale and provides value-added services in marketing and content. It has not disclosed its numbers but claims that the marketplace is nearly doubling its user base month on month.

Houseware

Breaking Data Silos To Drive B2B SaaS

India-origin B2B SaaS has enjoyed a dream run for years. But given the turbulence during the pandemic, followed by a harsh funding winter, all cross-functional teams need to work in sync to drive growth and revenue. Houseware (a wordplay on warehouse) was launched in 2021 by former Atlan executives Shubhankar Srivastava and Divyansh Saini to help B2B SaaS firms break down data silos and accelerate earnings through seamless data flow and analytics.

The duo had earlier noticed a massive disconnect between the data and the revenue teams at Atlan when essential business metrics were unravelled and used. Hence, they developed a no-code interface to help all teams work together.

A practical example is how the customer and the revenue teams collaborate to determine optimal pricing (profit-maximising price) with minimal impact on sales (the higher the price, the fewer the units sold and vice versa). This requires easy access to all relevant data and analytics for a win-win outcome. So, a unified report is created with pertinent metrics for the teams.

The model also tracks key problem areas such as glitches in product flow, customer churn and inadequate user engagement and creates a solution good enough for all teams involved. The startup charges a monthly subscription fee based on the size of the organisation.

Located in Bengaluru and California, Houseware came out of stealth mode only recently and claimed its (undisclosed) revenue is coming from two big SaaS companies. It plans to expand the user base in FY24 by focussing on U.S. companies and intends to grow its team by including data and engineering roles.

LokiBots

Creating A ‘Bot’ For Every Non-Core Repetitive Task

In this digital-first era, the focus is on automating routine and repetitive tasks to minimise errors, free up human resources and reduce costs. Located in Bengaluru and Silicon Valley, LokiBots has been doing just that since 2018 to help businesses stay competitive and cost-efficient.

The cloud-native SaaS platform has developed a bouquet of solutions around finance, accounting and forecasting, marketing and sales (including conversational AI/CRM), human capital management, document AI (for human-like document review with the help of natural language processing or NLP and machine learning) and more.

The startup uses advanced AI/ML technologies, including computer vision, deep learning and neural networks, to create virtual assistants capable of handling various tasks and fulfilling industry requirements. Also, when connected to the backend, its patent-pending bot technology continues to learn from user activities to enhance NLP capabilities, thus taking the ‘digital clones’ (Loki’s coinage for virtual assistants) to the next level.

LokiBots has adopted a subscription-based payment model (with predefined hours) and a pay-as-you-go option. However, there is no capital expenditure cost for users, hardware requirements or dependency on IT teams for deployment/usage.

It plans to onboard 100 global customers by 2024, up from the current 25, and earn annual revenue of $1 Mn by that year. It targets to grow the number of customers to 500 and annual revenue to $3-5 Mn by 2026.

Luru

Seamless Data Capture For Sales CRM

Every business seeks an easy-to-use sales CRM tool to seamlessly capture customer data from multiple interfaces and store it at a central hub for quick and easy access. But in reality, whenever there is a lead, most salespeople skip complex CRM operations and manually feed the data. This often results in poor data quality, friction (data flow impediment) and complicated follow-up processes.

During their stint as Exotel leaders, Karthikeyan Krishnamurthy, Sanjeeth R, Sid Ramesh and Anand Kumar struggled to plug these CRM data gaps and increase efficiency. So, they launched Luru in 2022 to enable no-code workflow automation, allowing sales teams to fill in/update CRM data from almost anywhere. This makes data flow as frictionless as possible, enhances productivity and boosts the go-to-market playbook of a business.

For instance, sales representatives can create if/then statements with Luru’s Chrome extension. When they use communication channels such as Zoom, Outlook, or any web page on Chrome, a question board-style prompt will come up on that page itself for easy and accurate data inputting.

Luru also takes notes during meetings and automatically updates the CRM. Besides, one can update the contact details and choose the next action to explore cold leads. Additionally, it allows sales teams to create Asana-style tasks to remind them of the upcoming work on their preferred messaging channels.

Luru earns through a subscription model for teams but is currently free for individuals.

NoCap Meta

Migrating To Web3 Made Easy

Migrating from Web2 to the world of Web3, a disruptive landscape replete with blockchains, metaverses and digital assets, can be quite challenging for traditional businesses lacking the tech muscles. But there are Web3 Samaritans around, like the Mumbai-based NoCap Meta, which realised that Web2 enterprises would need a high degree of hand-holding when taking the leap.

Set up in 2021, NoCap offers a variety of tech services, including Web3 integrations, metaverse and blockchain-based system development, tokenisation of physical assets, smart contract-based secure transactions, advanced data analytics and AR/VR designing.

The startup promises complete transparency when it works with clients to value, tokenise and list their assets, thus bringing more liquidity through NFT creation. It claims to have tokenised private and museum collections and collectables of all kinds.

NoCap caters to popular industry segments by developing online classrooms and virtual office spaces and allowing real-time participation and interaction. It also targets the entertainment space through metaverse gaming and virtual events.

It charges project-based fees and will develop Web3 tools for blockchain, AI/ML, healthcare and agritech in FY24.

Payfura

A Global Payment Gateway For Fiat-Crypto Transactions

Despite legal issues in countries like India, investments in private cryptocurrencies continue, along with a rise in crypto exchanges, wallets and NFT marketplaces. However, transacting in local currencies is not allowed in many regions, putting investors in a tight spot.

As this goes against the core concept of digital cash that promotes hassle-free, borderless money, former Paytm employees Gajendra Khatri and Sagar Agarwal set up a TransferWise-like platform in 2022. Based in New Delhi and Lewes (Delaware), the global payment gateway called Payfura ensures fast and secure transactions and converts fiat money to crypto and vice-versa using local payment methods.

Users can transact on Payfura’s web-based interface, which also provides detailed insights and analytics regarding their orders. On the other hand, Web3 companies can integrate the startup’s widget/API to leverage its seamless transaction facility.

Payfura supports 150+ fiat currencies and 100+ cryptocurrencies across the Americas, the EU, Southeast Asia and Africa. Payment methods cover credit and debit cards, e-wallets, bank transfers and more. It is still working on the legal aspects of crypto sales in India, but local users can buy crypto from global exchanges.

Payfura charges a fee on every transaction processed through the platform and handles KYC and AML (anti-money laundering) requirements whenever applicable. It also plans to build its customer base in FY24.

Peoplebox

Integrating Growth Goals To Boost Business Success

As companies grow and become more complex, they frequently encounter HR-related challenges such as team alignment, goal-setting, focus, accountability or below-par execution of human resource policies. All these are bound to hinder smooth scaling and an upward journey.

Hence, serial entrepreneurs Abhinav Chugh and Alagu Muthuraman set up Peoplebox in 2018, offering an OKR (objectives and key results) package to help fast-growing businesses overcome these obstacles, achieve their goals and build an outcome-driven unbiased organisational culture.

The Bengaluru-based startup has developed a web-based dashboard that enables companies to track initiatives, strategic goals and progress by integrating it with various work tools like SQL, Slack, Jira, HubSpot and Asana. Managers can use the solution to develop and track goals and KPIs and schedule business review meetings and performance reviews without installing new software programmes.

Other features include employee coaching, 1:1 check-ins, engagement surveys, anonymous messaging to engage employees, conducting quizzes, and generating virtual water cooler chats and virtual coffee meets.

Peoplebox has a subscription model, charging B2B clients on a per-employee per-month basis. While the startup plans to operate globally in the long term, its primary target is mid-market enterprises in the US, India and Southeast Asia until 2024.

Praakritik

An F&B Startup Nourishing Health With Organic Goodness

Everyday food items like rice, flour, sugar, cooking oils and spices are often chemically treated to enhance their taste and flavour. But people are now aware of their harmful impact on health and buy unprocessed/naturally processed and organic foods. Mumbai-based Praakritik was launched in 2016 to cater to these health-conscious consumers.

The startup’s journey began with A2 ghee (hand-churned, clarified butter) made from the milk of desi Gir cows. And its sales went north from 2020 with the onset of the pandemic as the demand for organic foods rose significantly. Today, it offers 90+ products across eight categories – groceries, staples, oils, spices, flours, fruits and vegetables, superfoods and ready-to-eat breakfast items. All Praakritik products are FSSAI-certified and manufactured in-house.

The startup claims to source raw materials directly from farmers. Its products are sold through multiple channels, including its website, ecommerce platforms, offline retail partnerships in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, and farmer markets in Mumbai. It plans to sell countrywide by 2024 and double its farmer network from 700.

Prorata

Co-Own Luxury Cars Without Spending A Fortune

Many Indians are passionate about high-end Teslas and other luxury cars, but purchasing one can be a far-off dream for most. However, Prorata, a Bengaluru-based startup launched in 2022, offers ‘fractional’ car ownership to make this dream a reality.

The startup registers all target vehicles under LLPs (limited liability partnerships) and helps car owners set up escrow accounts, making it easy to split the cost and usage. It also provides reservation apps (Android and iOS) for slot booking and manages the pick-up and the drop-off every time a co-owner goes for a drive.

Additional offerings include periodic servicing and maintenance of the vehicle, insurance, contingency management, fair and transparent cost-sharing, reselling and exit from the co-ownership arrangement.

Co-owners can purchase 8.33%, 16.66% or 25% shares in the LLP and get to use the car for 30, 60 or 90 days, respectively, every year. One has to pay an annual maintenance charge of INR 15-50K on top of the ownership cost.

Prorata’s services are now available in Bengaluru, but its apps can be downloaded throughout India. Its goal is to run up to 1 Lakh cars in each Indian city by FY27.

RootFi

A Unified API For Accessing Business Financial Data

RootFi’s cofounders – Ishwar Gogineni, Sidharth Rao and Parth Shah – were determined to set up a fintech startup in India after their overseas stint, but the market was overcrowded. Eventually, they launched RootFi in 2022, providing lenders easy access to their customers’ business financial data across platforms (prior consent is required) through API integration. This is critical for performance analytics, automated accounting and underwriting credit risk.

But there is more to this narrative. Last year, the trio had to integrate three ERP software from three countries (Tally in India, Jurnal in Indonesia and Sage in South Africa) for a client. It boosted their confidence, and they were further inspired by the success of UPI and the account aggregator network developed along the same line. To date, the Bengaluru-based startup has developed 11 such APIs for integrations across ERP and accounting space.

In essence, global companies using various accounting and ERP programmes can use RootFi to access a consolidated database via a unified API, thus saving time and resources. The startup develops a custom API for each client and charges a monthly subscription fee based on usage.

The startup also handles the ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2 compliance and General Data Protection Regulation to ensure stringent data security.

The fintech is now operating in the APAC region, the Middle East and Africa but plans to expand to the EU and the U.S. markets by FY24 to reach an annual revenue of $1.5 Mn.

ShortLoop

API Workflow Automation For SaaS Businesses

APIs have greatly simplified the integration of third-party applications with business processes. But developers still encounter various challenges that hinder operational efficiency. This is especially true for SaaS businesses working with multiple APIs and requiring efficient workflow management.

ShortLoop was created in 2022 by former Cult.Fit executives Sumit Mulchandani, Deepak Thakur and Vishnu Vinjam to help developers deal with issues involving payload (an information data pack sent to the server for an API request), manual changes, out-of-sync documentation and difficulty in scaling up operations.

Based in Bengaluru and San Francisco, the startup has built a centralised hub that streamlines and automates API workflows. It samples network traffic, analyses it, and puts together up-to-date API collections and dependency maps (including request-response payloads), API usage and behaviour to ensure lower downtimes, reduced backlog and faster updates.

ShortLoop offers a subscription-based, plug-and-play SDK that alerts users to any backend change. Additionally, it enables developers to maintain API collections and documentation in existing tools without any manual effort.

The startup has been operational only recently and plans to grow its global customer base in FY24.

Sorted

Designing Training Programmes For Digital Marketing Greenhorns

In a digital-first world, businesses must build a solid online presence and drive digital marketing to widen their reach. But the abundance of information and tech tools available everywhere to ‘market it right’ often overwhelm people and enterprises. The cognitive overload in these cases makes it difficult to identify where and how to begin and how best to push digital marketing efforts.

Those requiring the fundamentals of digital marketing need not worry, though. Launched in 2020 by former Future Group executives, Mumbai-based Sorted has come out with personalised and practical training programmes. These courses are developed along the lines of structured curricula taught by experts and cover all essential strategies and major digital marketing channels.

These programmes are priced between INR 799 and INR 12,400, and each can be accessed on the Sorted website. After successful completion, a participant gets a certificate recognised by top digital marketing agencies and brands.

Sorted’s flagship is a four-session masterclass with case studies from the industry, real-time workshops and one-on-one Zoom sessions. This will be launched in late 2023, teaching how to create high-impact content and provide SEM and SEO courses for maximum impact on Google, Meta and Instagram.

SuperHire

Hiring Made Easy Through Marketplace, Expert Recruiters

Traditional hiring can be laborious and costly, and far from perfect. Even after multiple interview rounds, companies and candidates may struggle to match skills, talent, backgrounds and expectations. Couple that with rising salaries and growing HR expenditure, which will further overwhelm many businesses. That’s why Kochi-based SuperHire is using new-age technologies to make recruitment more efficient and cost-effective.

Set up in 2021, the HRtech platform connects top jobseekers to open positions through expert recruiters via its web-based staffing platform. Companies can subscribe to various plans, each with a different interview credit (maximum number of candidates they can interview). More than 250 independent recruiters currently work on job listings and provide thoroughly screened candidate profiles.

Businesses can post unlimited jobs on the platform, but a credit is only deducted when an applicant is shortlisted and interviewed. Post the hiring, each corporate client pays a commission to the recruiter concerned via SuperHire and a platform fee to the startup. Although jobseekers can use SuperHire’s services for free, they may have to pay to recruitment agencies.

SuperHire will explore additional revenue through advertising and promotional fees for highlighting premium jobs. It will pay extra commissions to recruiters for faster submission of candidate profiles (there is no timeline yet) and selling upskilling courses taught by industry experts.

The startup came out of private beta in March 2023 but plans to triple its corporate client base of 80+ by the end of 2024. It will also launch operations in the Middle East and North America and work on AI-based solutions to automate routine recruitment tasks such as job description mapping, resume screening and profile rating. It plans to operate in more than seven countries by 2026.

Updapt

Bringing ESG Tech Mainstream For Business Sustainability

Experts worldwide warn of environmental crises and how businesses must act responsibly to mitigate these challenges. Clearly, sustainable development is the most effective path forward, achieved through ESG (environmental, social and governance) compliance.

Set up in 2019, Bengaluru-based SaaS startup Updapt helps corporate houses track, monitor and report their ESG data, identify gaps (if any) against widely accepted global sustainability standards and improve performances accordingly.

Its web-based dashboard allows enterprises to record their ESG performance indicators based on geographical and government-set standards. The startup also signs agreements with companies to gather and monitor data for their ESG metrics and create reports.

To begin with, it will automatically collate ESG data under various metrics such as energy and water consumption, carbon footprint generation, employee diversity and more. Based on this information, the platform does a wide range of analyses, generates ratings and rankings for corporate activities and produces comprehensive reports on the overall impact of businesses in the ESG space.

In addition, it suggests corrective measures for corporate houses to work on to avoid potential penalties or reputational damage.

Its tech tools also track each supplier’s carbon footprint through its ESG responses and calculate the risk score accurately to do away with sustainability risks at the top of the pyramid.

Updapt customises its annual subscription charges depending on the size of the organisation and the number of people using its dashboard. It also plans to enter global markets by 2025.

UpTrain

An Assessment & Retraining Tool For ML Models

The word ‘autonomous’ is now commonly used in many industries, but developers still depend on customer feedback to gauge how their machine learning (ML) models work. Sourabh Agrawal, Vipul Gupta and Shikha Mohanty (all three are friends and professional developers) recognised this dependency on human input.

So, they started looking for a tool that could assess, validate and refine algorithms. Soon, the trio realised the lack of an automated and reliable tool in this space and launched UpTrain in 2022 after discussing the issue with hundreds of ML experts.

Located in Bengaluru and San Francisco, UpTrain is an open-source observability and refinement tool designed to monitor ML models in real time (current precision level is around 89%) and automatically retrains where accuracy is low. Apart from tracking data drifts, it tests the quality of object embedding, provides model explainability and incorporates domain-specific knowledge filters to enhance retraining.

One can also integrate data annotation, training and deployment criteria to set up a fully automated, round-the-clock model improvement system.

As the startup offers an open-source programme, it can be integrated with major ML libraries and tools within five minutes without disrupting production pipelines.

UpTrain is in limited beta and caters to a few AI-focussed startups as part of a no-strings-attached pilot. However, the company is doing all the heavy lifting to ensure seamless integration with client models. Its goal is to generate revenue through enterprise support and consulting services by FY24.

[Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eye In April 2023 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The startup ecosystem in India never saw a dull moment, even during a pandemic year or a cyclical downturn, made harsher by geopolitical unrest and macroeconomic headwinds. Of course, it was counterintuitive to assume that Indian startups would be on course for record funding amid the pandemic gloom. But in 2021, they amassed $42 Bn, nearly a 4x jump from the $ 11.5 Bn raised in 2020.

The year 2022 was sombre. As investors went into a wait-and-watch mode due to stagflation fears and VC funding slowed to a trickle, the cash burn rate had to be minimised and profitability needed to go up. Thousands were laid off in the process (even legacy companies and the big tech did the same, citing a sharp slowdown), and many startups were shuttered or acquired. The utopian growth narrative of the previous year suddenly had a hollow ring.

But the exercise in frugality brought value. It added to the maturity of the ecosystem, promoting more robust business models and tempering the breakneck growth with steady profitability. Meanwhile, industry disruptors continued to leverage the latest technologies to cater to fast-evolving consumer trends and enterprise-level requirements.

We took a month’s break after publishing the annual review in January, listing the best of the 30 startups shortlisted from the 320 profiled throughout 2022. But now we are back in action, ready with the February list, after delving deeply into how startups prepared to build a stronger future.    

While young businesses are learning to cope with a challenging landscape, the all-new ground rules are expected to give rise to a more robust startup ecosystem, currently the third-largest in the world. The funding inflow is still down, though. During January and February of 2023, Indian startups cumulatively raised $1.7 Bn, a drop of more than 81% year on year.

Is it business as usual in startup land?

Well, they quickly shrugged off the aftereffects and went back to the drawing board to work out new business strategies. Some of the theses are already well-known, including the hyperfocus on profitability, differentiated business offerings and a spotlight on the sunrise sectors like e-mobility and climate tech. For the new entities, 2023 is an opportunity to find a new growth path not taken by their less successful counterparts. 

Clearly, the next big thing will take time to happen. We cannot get ahead of our time without solid groundwork and a slow but steady climb up the ladder.

30 Startups To Watch: February 2023

The February edition of 2023 – overall, the 36th edition of Inc42’s 30 Startups to Watch – explored the current trends and featured some promising startups operating in enterprisetech, ecommerce and fintech. These sectors have seen exponential growth in recent years, and their continued success validates the vibrancy of the country’s startup ecosystem. 

There is a renewed focus on digitalising employee-employer communications and workflow collaboration in the enterprisetech space. In fact, out of the seven startups covered under this category, four are building data-driven open platforms for employee engagement and retention. 

Then there are D2C brands and marketplaces. True to their mettle, these formats evolved in the past three years as consumer/prosumer behaviour changed significantly. We have featured seven of them in the current edition as they continue to dominate the digital commerce space. 

Others who made their way to the curated list include four startups specialising in fintech, two each from EV, gaming, edtech and agritech, and one each from climate tech, logistics, foodtech and travel tech.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

aastey

Sustainable Athleisure For The Petite And The Plus

The onset of the pandemic in 2020 prompted people to adopt healthy lifestyles such as consuming natural foods, opting for holistic wellness and exercising. As people spent more time in leisure and workouts, the global demand for athleisure/activewear went through the roof. And for many, it became the new style on the street. 

In India, the activewear market was worth INR 80 Cr in that year and counting. But work friends Jeevika Tyagi and Kanupriya Mundhra observed a size disparity between what women needed and what was available in the athleisure market. To do away with the limitations of clothing choices, the duo set up Aastey in 2021.

The Mumbai-based D2C brand offers a sustainable line of athleisure apparel under three categories – Aastey Flex (gym wear), Aastey Seed (comfort wear) and Aastey Breeze (sportswear). Made of recycled polyester that uses plastic waste from landfills (procured and processed by GRS-certified vendors), the mid-luxury, long-lasting clothes are lightweight, stretchable and breathable. Also, sizes vary from petite to plus, another deal-maker for many women body-shamed by the traditional fashion industry.

Overall, there are 70+ products under five categories, ranging from apparel to eye masks, scrunchies, yoga mats and water bottles. All products are made in-house and sold on the brand’s website.

Aastey aims to become carbon neutral by FY24 and triple its annual revenue from FY22 by serving a community of 60K+ women in 2023.

Aerem

A Fintech’s Cleantech Drive To Empower MSMEs 

More than 38% of Indian MSMEs do not rely on any formal source of power provided to industrial units. Yet, few have shifted to green energy alternatives like rooftop solar in spite of several schemes promoted by the government. 

Anand Jain, an MBA from Yale University, was aware of the pain points hindering rooftop solar’s easy adoption – a lack of low-interest credit for installation, difficulty accessing the tech stack and no ready reach to a green energy market to monetise excess production. On the other hand, large-scale implementation would have brought down fuel imports, decarbonised the country and led to significant job creation. Keen to use his domain knowledge in solar and finance to help change the existing power dynamics, Jain set up the solar financing platform Aerem in 2021.

Its flagship is Aerem Asset Assurance, a collateral-free financing solution for approved rooftop solar systems. Loans are provided through its NBFC arm Aerem Finance and its partner bank, the Bank of Baroda. Loan amounts vary between INR 5 Lakh and 1 Cr for a tenure of 36-72 months, and interest rates (undisclosed) are low. 

Aerem also does in-house quality checks of the hardware offered by various solar installers and EPC companies. Post a comprehensive product scrutiny, MSMEs on the platform can compare prices for the best possible deals and opt for post-purchase support. 

The solar-focussed fintech is now creating brand awareness and building partnerships with installation companies to bring solar capacity to more than 2 Cr MSMEs by 2025.

Amama

Crafting A Classic-Contemporary Jewellery Range 

With many Y2K trends making a comeback, minimal metal jewellery (read subtle but impactful) has carved a niche and appealed to both millennials and Gen Z. It has also seen the rise of startups like Noida-based Amama, selling a unique range of handcrafted silver and gold jewellery. Inspired by her grandmother’s heirloom silver, former Louis Vuitton and Forever 21 executive Nikita Gupta launched the D2C brand in 2018.

Amama’s in-house production unit in Noida has created more than 5.5K jewellery pieces. Its ‘Exclusive’ range of jadau, kundan and navratna jewellery, made to order by the startup’s designers, brings a royal touch to contemporary concepts. In contrast, its ‘Curated’ category features items from global designers. 

The startup sells its products across marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart but claims 95% of the revenue comes from its website. It also participates in jewellery shows to promote its premium-affordable range and gets a 10% ROI. 

Amama products are available in more than 47 countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France and Switzerland, among others. 

The brand eyes an annual revenue of INR 18.3 Cr in FY23 and aims to 4x it in another two years by growing its online business globally and setting up physical stores in India. It also plans to open walk-in stores in Tier 2 and 3 Indian cities in 2023 to increase brand awareness.

Aponyx EV

Re-engineering EV For The Differently Abled

The EV ecosystem in India is fast nearing large-scale adoption, with the government planning to electrify more than 30% of the vehicles by 2030. However, few startups in this space have rolled out an adapted vehicle to make this new-age technology genuinely inclusive. Gurugram-based Aponyx (formerly GoGreenGo) is an exception, though.

Its flagship is a recently launched tri-scooter for the differently abled. The vehicle is fitted with a proprietary 48V lithium-ion detachable battery, which runs up to 95 km on a full charge and can be charged up to 2,500 times. Its removable storage space also allows riders to use the vehicle commercially. 

Aponyx has a portfolio of 13+ products, including two- and three-wheelers, loading vehicles, e-bikes, EV batteries and software. It has a company-owned manufacturing unit in Gurugram and a dedicated team of engineers and designers for developing EV hardware and software. Plus, it ties up with small retailers and roadside shops to set up EV charging stations.

The startup was set up in 2017 but launched its first product in 2021 after years of R&D. Compared to its new-age peers, its digital presence needs to be improved, but the EV player has made big strides into the offline ecosystem. 

Aponyx claims a strong dealership network for B2B (white-labelled EVs) and B2C (personal use) markets. It is also building a physical distribution network and plans to launch more high-speed bikes and tri-bikes for the differently abled by 2025.

Aretto

Making Shoes Which Expand As Kids Grow

Kids are bound to outgrow clothes and shoes within a few months, and preschoolers grow even faster, going through up to six clothing sizes by the time they are three. It is often a strain on parents’ wallets and leads to massive waste generated by the kids’ wear industry.

Pune-based Aretto is solving part of this problem by designing a footwear brand that can grow with a child’s feet.

Launched in 2022 by school friends Satyajit Mittal and Krutika Lal, the D2C startup’s flagship is Aretto Leaps. These shoes are made using proprietary technology that helps expand shoe soles up to three sizes or 18 mm and thus reduces the standard size chart from 15 to 5 for kids aged two to six. The startup has a patent in India and filed for a utility patent (a patent for invention) on its sole technology across 20+ countries.

Biomechanically speaking, Aretto shoes provide expandable soles, memory foam insoles and a 3D knit pattern, making footwear flexible, breathable and comfortable. It offers 38 SKUs in five sizes, nine styles and four categories, made in its Faridabad factory and sold pan-India via the website. The shoes are priced affordably between INR 2,199 and INR 2,799.

In addition, it has partnered with preschools, primary schools and kids’ enrichment centres, helping 3K+ parents shift to the brand in the past three months.

Aretto plans to launch an affiliate programme for mompreneurs in 2023 as part of a wide sales funnel. In another two years, it will target selling 500K+ shoes and open exclusive brand stores (EBOs) in Tier 1 cities. It will also enter the US, the UK and the Chinese markets in 2026.

BHyve

Building Tools For Intra-Company Tacit Knowledge Transfer

Water cooler chats go far beyond petty office gossip, paving the path for solid social interactions in an oft-disconnected professional world and revealing interesting insights into a company’s culture. Now that work has gone hybrid and work from home (WFH) has become more routine than exceptions, most employees need a ‘digital’ water cooler place to stay updated on anything that matters.

Launched in 2020 by childhood friends Ketaki Ogale, Omkar Pandharkame and Vihang Mirkhelkar, Mumbai-based enterprise tech startup BHyve has developed web and mobile applications to offer just that, connecting employees in large, hybrid organisations.

Its flagship is a knowledge passport for all employees, featuring their skills, interests and positions in the organisational hierarchy. It also allows colleagues to endorse them, learn from them or create toolkits for casual questions.

Employees can ask questions, host polls, discover mentors and share their knowledge across formats (audio, video and text). This helps reduce the learning curve for new team members and do effective knowledge harvesting, capturing the knowledge of experts within the organisation. In addition, the gamified platform rewards employees for asking questions or sharing answers through points and social recognition.

BHyve has a subscription-based revenue model with monthly charges per user, given the number of licences a company has purchased. It is available globally but currently building a B2B client base in India. So far, it has onboarded 11 companies and 15K+ employees.

By FY24, it aims to reach $1 Mn in annual revenue by entering the US market. The long-term plan is to build a connected community product called Hexaverse that will act as a knowledge transfer platform between corporations and universities and enable companies to discover and hire talent.

BranchX

Easy Banking For Non-Tech-Savvy Migrant Workers

As India’s fintech ecosystem took wing and explored different subsects, serial entrepreneurs Sajid Jamal, Rajesh Johnny and Ankur Gupta wanted to factor in inclusivity to push growth. They had exposure to the global remittance space and also witnessed the plight of the underbanked migrants at home when cash became scarce due to policy reasons or during the Covid-19 crisis. So, the trio built a neobank called BranchX in 2020, mainly to help the rural poor who frequently migrate to urban India in search of income.

At BranchX, every family gets two debit cards – a Raja card for the breadwinner and a Rani card for the family – linked to a single wallet. The BranchX Android app acts as a ledger for the whole family and tracks all money movements. It also features an animated AI chatbot Xenie that educates users about financial products like micro-insurance, investments and small-ticket loans in six or more Indian languages.

The startup has partnered with more than 3K small retailers and individuals who operate as customer touchpoints. For a small commission, they will help migrant workers access their wallets to load, transfer or spend money. BranchX earns a 20% commission only when users opt for loans, insurance, investment and other financial products.

By the end of 2022, the neobank created 11K+ wallets and facilitated 400K+ remittances worth more than INR 300 Cr. It plans to acquire 30 Lakh+ customers, set up 50K+ financial outlets and facilitate transactions worth INR 1,200 Cr+ in another two years.

Elchemy

From Selling To Shipping, A Zero-Hassle Service For Chemicals Manufacturers

Globally, India is the sixth-largest chemicals manufacturer, accounting for nearly 7% of the country’s GDP. However, low-volume growth, a falling rupee and extreme competition make it difficult for small and medium enterprises to run their plants at 100% capacity or build businesses at scale. So, Elchemy is helping them increase export revenue by eliminating supply chain inefficiencies and ensuring a seamless customer journey.

Launched in 2021, the New Delhi-based startup runs a tech-powered marketplace and distribution platform that connects Indian manufacturers with global buyers and ships the cargo to more than 13 countries, including the US, the UAE, Singapore, Brazil, Switzerland, Uganda and Tanzania, among others. It has partnered with logistics players at various levels (first-mile and last-mile deliveries, FCL/LCL shipments, tracking, customer service, and more) to provide end-to-end shipping solutions. Currently, it has a presence in more than 20 national and international ports.

Elchemy supports the movement of 55+ chemicals across six industries – adhesives and sealants, agrochemicals, water treatment chemicals, cosmetics and personal care items, dyes and pigments, and plastics and polymers. The platform helps companies with order procurements, quality checks, domestic and international logistics and customs clearances, earning a gross margin on the orders fulfilled.

The startup claims to be making around 10 FCL shipments every month since October 2022. It aims to improve its supply chain operations in 2023 and strengthen the team to make order fulfilment more efficient. By 2026, it plans to do $5 Bn worth of business with small chemical manufacturers in India.

Eveez

An EV Rental Startup For Every Need

As clean mobility becomes part of our everyday narrative, Gurugram-based EVeez has created a hassle-free option for businesses and individuals to take this ‘green’ revolution ahead. Launched in 2019, EVeez offers e-bikes on rent for commuting, delivery and in-campus mobility, helping reduce the carbon footprint of vehicular traffic and deal with incredibly high fuel prices.

These customisable e-bikes are meant for individuals, gig workers, small businesses and logistics companies, and users can rent these as long as they want. The startup has worked out a wide range of monthly subscriptions, keeping in mind EV features like range (60-130 km per charge), carrying capacity (up to 150 kg), speed, battery capacity, number of battery swaps and more. Plus, there is no additional cost for a rider as the company takes care of maintenance and replacement of parts required due to wear and tear.

EVeez has partnered with OEMs to deploy more than 2.5K e-bikes across Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. With more than 1.5K gig workers, 150 small businesses and 15 logistics players and fleet operators on the platform, it hopes to clock INR 6 Cr in revenue in FY23.

By 2024, it plans to rent 25K e-bikes, delve deeper into personal mobility solutions and add preventive maintenance to its list of services. The next target is to cater to 100K gig workers by 2026 and establish a presence in all metros and Tier 1 cities.

Faarms

An Agri E-Marketplace For The Underserved Farming Community

The agrarian distress in India is far from over. According to the Economic Survey Report recently tabled in Parliament, the agri growth rate was down to 3% in 2021-22, and a ‘reorientation’ is urgently needed to cope with multiple challenges. Among the major issues are rising input costs and a fragmented supply chain that fails to make farming profitable for small-scale farmers. Aware of the ground reality, Bengaluru-based Faarms has developed a comprehensive agri ecommerce solution to lower input costs and drive revenue growth.

Set up in 2020, the startup operates at three levels. To begin with, it runs a procurement marketplace and sells a complete range of farm inputs, including seeds, biofertilisers, agrochemicals, animal feed and agricultural equipment. Better still, it makes doorstep deliveries, reaching out to nearly 9 Lakh farmers in 140+ pin codes in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

In addition, the platform helps farmers list their produce in a centralised catalogue management system and enables them to sell to institutional buyers across the country. The startup charges a commission on the products sold through the marketplace.

Registered users can also pay utility bills via Bharat BillPay, buy insurance products and pay premiums. Faarms has partnered with Axis Bank to provide short-term agri loans to its farmer base and charges a fixed (undisclosed) processing fee.

Finally, there is Faarms TV, a YouTube channel featuring best farming practices and related information from scientists and agricultural experts. It offers videos in seven languages and has nearly 6K subscribers.

The startup will begin pan-India operations by 2024 and help small farmers with agri exports in the long term.

Hesa

Providing Digital Access To Rural Consumers Via Assisted E-Shopping

It is tough to convince rural communities to adopt a new digital commerce platform unless recommended by someone they trust. Aware of how rural India differs from urban e-shopping, the husband-wife duo – Vamsi Udayagiri and Hema Nandiraju – decided to bank on the power of ‘peer influence’ and launched the assisted ecommerce startup Hesa in 2020.

The Hyderabad-based startup has onboarded local partners/influencers across its operational areas to help rural consumers access a wide range of products and services, from financial solutions (such as small-value loans, FDs, insurance schemes and cash withdrawal facilities) to agri inputs, skill development courses and more.

These influencers, or Hesaathis, are trained to assist buyers in finding the most relevant products. They also bundle and process bulk orders via an Android super-app to simplify online shopping. Overall, they act as a customer touchpoint for all issues and get a small commission from the startup.

On the B2B front, the startup has partnered with more than 35 brands from agritech, edtech, fintech and FMCG segments to sell their products on the super-app. It charges a 1-30% commission depending on the product/service. Hesa is responsible for last-mile deliveries (in the case of products) and connects Hesaathis with relevant officers to ensure smooth procedures (in the case of services).

The startup currently operates in seven Indian states, claims to have onboarded 46K+ Hesaathis and eyes an average monthly turnover of INR 15 Cr in FY23. As agritech and FMCG categories account for 60% of its revenue, Hesa plans to add more brands under the top-grossing categories to 5x its revenue in the next financial year. It will also double the Hesaathi base to support extended business operations.

Jollee

An Ecommerce Marketplace For New-Age Parents

Parents tend to get overwhelmed when buying kids’ clothes because there are too many brands in the D2C space. To simplify their buying journey across product categories – from everyday essentials like clothes and diapers to baby accessories, toys, books and more, IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus and former Udaan executive Akriti Gupta launched the ecommerce platform Jollee in 2022.

The Gurugram-based managed marketplace provides a one-stop shopping solution, helping parents discover the most suitable products for babies and kids up to 12 years. According to the startup, it works with a handful of companies chosen by experts. Among these are Cherry Crumble, R for Rabbit, Thasvi Wooden Toys, Smartivity, HarperCollins, Bloomsbury and more.

Jollee runs a website and Android and iOS apps, selling 10K+ products from 100+ brands. It earns a seller’s margin on each product sold and ships the goods pan-India. It has started making revenue from Q1 2023 and plans to streamline the model by FY24.

Kalvium

Bridging The Gap Between Classroom Knowledge & Industry Skills

The lack of ‘employable’ people among university degree holders underlines the biggest bane of Indian education – a gaping mismatch between academic learning and job skills in demand. Eventually, many ‘freshers’ get stuck in low-paying, low-skilled jobs with few growth prospects. Realising that a new sync would be needed between higher education and industry-level skills in a post-pandemic India, Bengaluru-based Kalvium was started in 2021.

Its flagship product is a four-year, earn-as-you-learn undergraduate programme in computer science held in partnership with accredited universities. In the first year, students undergo rigorous training in relevant industry skills. During the next three years, they intern as remote software developers with leading tech companies alongside their academic training. This helps them earn a minimum monthly stipend of INR 15K.

Currently, students from India, the Middle East and Africa can join the programme, and upon completion, it will help them earn an annual package between INR 25 Lakh and INR 40 Lakh. The edtech startup charges a 10% fee on a student’s annualised CTC in the first year. But students need to pay it only after their graduation. 

Kalvium partnered with Lovely Professional University in 2021 to launch its first B.Tech cohort of 34 students. By 2024, it plans to tie up with more than 10 Indian universities and build a student base of 500+. In another two years, it will join hands with 20+ universities in India and onboard 20 more across the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, scaling to an annual intake of 20K+ students.

LabelBlind

A Food Rating System Doubling Up As A Nutrition Labeller

When the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) made nutrition labelling mandatory for packaged food items, many F&B brands struggled to comply with the new system. However, Mumbai-based LabelBlind recognised a fresh opportunity emerging from heightened compliance.

The startup was launched in 2021 as a SaaS-based food rating system. But the FSSAI mandate to disclose nutritional information on food packages soon spurred its product offerings. By December 2022, it was ready with three products – a digital food rating solution (LabelBlind), a food labelling solution (FolSol) and a nutrition and quality checker called the Positive Nutrition Labelling (PNL).   

LabelBlind rates the nutritional value of food products on a scale of 1-to-5 (where 5 signifies the highest standard), thus helping consumers with healthy eating. The algorithm of the rating system has been validated against the guidelines set up by the FSSAI and the US FDA. 

Still in beta, FoLSol is a web-based label-making solution that has aggregated and digitalised the entire compliance process for F&B players. A company opting for this service has to choose the F&B item/s from the menu, add serving sizes and specify nutrition data, health tags, allergen advisory and other parameters to generate the digital label. This can be downloaded and printed for a small fee. 

FoLSol also puts all essential services, including laboratory tests, quality checking and standard certifications, on a single platform for F&B companies. This minimises the risk of incorrect labelling. 

PNL is an R&D work-in-progress, studying the baseline nutrition values of packed food products. 

As the FolSol solution is less than a year old, the startup is still in talks with F&B companies to understand their nutrition labelling requirements. Based on the input, it will create a standardised labelling software product by 2025. 

Lio

An All-In-One App For Mobile Data Management

India held a mobile edge when the pandemic struck the world in 2020. And its app economy has continued to flourish due to a significant rise in mobile-first consumers and businesses. Whether it is work or entertainment, education or health, ecommerce or hyperlocal deliveries, there is an app for every possible use case, underlining an urgent need for mobile data collation, analysis and management at business and personal levels. Hence, brothers Anupam and Anurag Vijayvergia built Lio, an easy-to-use, all-in-one mobile app to optimise efficient data usage.

Launched in 2020, the Mumbai-based SaaS startup has developed all-in-one Android and iOS apps to help organise all sorts of data under 60+ data templates, varying from income and expenditure tracking to creating wedding registries to making to-do lists and more. It is available in 10 Indian languages and Bahasa (used in Indonesian), with more than 45% usage in vernacular languages.         

Lio’s user base includes SMEs, home businesses and solopreneurs, communities with professional affiliations (doctors, salespersons, taxi drivers, farmers and the like), personal interest groups like fitness or travel enthusiasts or individual users like students or homemakers. The apps allow businesses to work with their teams in real time by creating documents together and sharing them with others on WhatsApp, Gmail and other social apps.

The startup has a freemium model and plans to expand its reach by adding more languages and integrating with more communication apps to enhance user experience. It has not disclosed its revenue but plans to build more data templates to engage with a large number of professionals and interest-based communities.

Liquide

Equity Stock Trading Simplified For Newbies

With the investment tech industry awash with perplexing jargon, Bengaluru-based Liquide was launched to make stock market investing more simple and more fun for new users. Its journey started in 2021 with an equity investing app. It allowed a user to log in with an existing brokerage account and get the essential context regarding the stocks. 

On the Android app, users can buy stocks curated by Liquide’s specialist investment team and get automated notifications about selling. They can also analyse market movement and investor sentiment, browse top-rated stocks, track portfolio health and manage their stock holdings. 

The app offers freemium features such as expert guidance and access to exclusive benefits, including smallcase (Liquide-curated portfolios), expert hotline, VIP screeners, unlimited trades and unlimited portfolio health checkups (one-time free consultation available).

Liquide’s prime product is LiMo, an AI-powered bot that accesses in-depth stock research reports and offers buy/sell/hold recommendations for free, resulting in gains nearly 75% of the time. For context, the startup is registered as an enterprise research analyst with market regulator SEBI.

Liquide has not disclosed its plans but claims a steadily growing investor base of 200K+ and an AUA of INR 500 Cr with more than 5% monthly returns to investors.

Mantys

Business Planning & Analytics For New-Age Tech Companies

Data management and data-driven actions become increasingly complex as companies grow due to disparate data sources and high reliance on spreadsheets. Bengaluru-based Mantys aims to simplify this process by integrating different data sources (such as CRM and ERP) and automating data processing. 

Set up in 2022, the SaaS startup provides a business planning and analytics solution for mid-market, new-age tech companies. Its web-based dashboard enables them to access real-time data, including financial and business metrics, in one place, track the metrics, simulate different scenarios, get insights faster and plan for the way ahead. 

The startup claims that its automated processes reduce the time to generate reports and metrics by at least 60%. The subscription-based plug-and-play solution also provides access to many planning and analysis templates, cutting down on data input and structuring time.

MatchLog

Optimising Logistics To Reduce Supply Chain Wastage

Globally, the supply chain architecture tends to be capital-intensive, but not without reason. Think of under-optimised resources (empty rides post deliveries, poor warehousing and inefficient inventory management) or inadequate data sharing among key functions, leading to ballooning costs. That is why Mumbai-based MatchLog has developed a suite of solutions to reduce wastage in the supply chain and deliver value to all stakeholders – sellers, buyers and logistics companies.         

For starters, the SaaS player offers its logistics clients a plug-and-play web dashboard called MiSTY (MatchLog’s Integrated Street Turn Yard) to ensure streamlined road, rail, air and maritime transport operations.

MatchLog offers first-, middle- and last-mile deliveries and drayage services, all supported by a single-window transport management system (TMS). This ensures optimum route planning (based on cost and minimum carbon emission), offers intermodal and multimodal shipping, enables quick price comparison, manages documentation and bookings and tracks shipments and invoices.

Then there is container triangulation or street turns, where containers are taken directly to the next loading points to cut down on empty rides. The startup says this practice has reduced 36K Mn tonnes of carbon emissions annually and saved its customers millions in freight charges. 

Its TMS also ensures that the cargo, equipment and vehicles are within a mile’s range of each other to reduce multiple/empty trips. In fact, more than 40 parameters are considered before a decision is taken in these cases.

MatchLog charges a customised fee in each case as MiSTY’s end-to-end logistics interface manages the entire journey for its client base of exporters, shipping lines, BCO/4PL/3PL players, transport partners and asset owners.

Nimbbl

Adding Hassle-Free Multi-Payments To Ecom Carts

Ecommerce has changed the way we shop. But digital-first brands still struggle to cope with payment hassles as very few fintech companies provide comprehensive solutions for a fast-evolving environment. Mumbai-based fintech SaaS startup Nimbbl addresses this pain point by integrating major payment methods, technologies, products and services. 

Set up in 2020, the startup’s key product is a one-click checkout that simplifies payments for online shoppers. It eliminates redundant form fields, unnecessary steps and multiple OTPs and redirections, making e-transactions easier and reducing cart abandonment. It enables businesses to run their payment operations from one place with multiple payment gateways where businesses can choose from a list of providers. Businesses can track their payments via the startup’s dashboard.

Nimbbl’s ‘payment links’ allow businesses to receive payments via UPI, cards, net banking, wallets and more through a personalised link, while its ‘payment pages’ offer a ready-to-use interface for businesses operating without websites and apps. Another no-code solution provides multiple payment gateways, and businesses can choose from a list of providers.

It also offers an RBI-compliant consumer credit product/BNPL so that ecommerce brands don’t have to set up a similar tool. It only needs to specify the type of BNPL (standing instruction, stack-up, balloon and more), select/create a funding partner, add and enable the payment plans and upload customer credit limits. 

Nimbbl’s products are designed to serve businesses of all sizes, from ecommerce players to payment aggregators, BNPL providers and more. These can be integrated into websites using SDKs and help companies plug into various enablers like Shopify, Woocommerce, OpenCart and Magento. The fintech charges a transaction fee based on the transaction volume of the business.

NymbleUp

Workforce Automation For Retail Players

With the ‘gig’ model dominating many industry sectors, enterprises and aggregators increasingly look for automated solutions for efficient workforce management. But Mumbai-based NymbleUp has gone beyond the routine and built a retail-focussed forecasting engine that can predict demand across all sales channels to help companies with resource planning and workforce scheduling.

Launched in 2019, the SaaS startup’s AI solution guarantees 90% forecasting accuracy, resulting in smooth operations and a 1-3% reduction in labour costs. Moreover, service levels are not compromised as NymbleUp ensures that workers with the right skill sets are available across all hours. 

Once the solution is integrated with a company’s human resources management system (HRMS), a customised dashboard will pull employee details to generate schedules based on sales demand, operational guidelines and team availability. The startup also provides tools for digitalising store tasks and conducting checks and audits. In addition, its AI-based operational analytics helps retailers make data-driven decisions and respond to changes in demand in real time.

The startup has not disclosed its revenue but claims to be working with two global food service brands and plans to cater to other industry sectors, including warehousing, healthcare and hospitality, by 2024.

Pice

Simplifying Financial Management For Small Businesses

Financial management is the backbone of any business, big or small. While big companies leverage large teams and robust tech solutions to manage accounting, payrolls and payments, small businesses often do things manually to cut costs. Launched in 2021, Bengaluru-based Pice aims to solve the challenges of payment processing for small and micro-entrepreneurs.

One of its key offerings is a hassle-free, inline payment system that does not require multi-platform capabilities. Payments made via the SaaS platform are instantly settled without any waiting period for new beneficiaries or restrictions on the first transfer amount. Its all-in-one web dashboard enables instant salary disbursals and automatic reconciliation to run day-to-day operations without a hitch.

These are viable solutions for small businesses as the startup has a flat fee structure and does not limit the number of transactions.

Pice claims to have finished beta-testing its products and plans to launch the service suite by mid-2023.

Podeum

A One-Stop Digital Engagement Platform For Cricket Fans

Fanboys and fangirls are back in action post-Covid. But given the digital enhancement, both in-stadium and at-home sports viewers seek deeper engagement. Apart from traditional broadcasts (and webcasts), a plethora of fantasy games, prediction contests, analyses and discussions on social media and the web keep people engaged. However, the market is far from saturated, and there is enough scope to monetise content and merchandise. Aware of the demand-supply gap, Podeum was launched in April 2022 to bring all activities and engagement solutions for cricket fans within a single app.

The Bengaluru-based startup offers creator-led engagements and customisable fantasy and prediction games. For instance, influencers on the Android app-based forum can host games and run live sessions during live matches to boost engagement. Fans can participate in these live prediction and fantasy games, engage with others and access live match analyses by experts and celebrities.

Podeum was a pre-revenue startup until December 2022, but now it has started charging gamers a one-time subscription fee. Users can make in-app purchases from April 2023, and creators will be paid for branding and promotions.

In 2024, Podeum plans to build its community of gamers and cricket enthusiasts while scaling up its platform and building a bigger market. In the long term, it intends to leverage the rapidly growing user base (current growth rate is 4x month over month) to emerge as one of the largest sports fandoms in India.

Rivia.AI

Product Demos Created In A Jiffy

A lot of tech products/solutions are too difficult to understand at first go and need product demos or instructional/how-to videos for better customer engagement. But click-through demos are often too generic for one’s liking, while making personalised product videos is time- and resource-consuming. So, Bengaluru-based Rivia.AI provides users a Loom-like video solution and interactive features to create and share media.  

Launched in 2020, the SaaS startup has developed a no-code Chrome extension for companies to create interactive videos by cloning their solutions and then recording, annotating and editing the screens on top of the clones. These demos can be instantly shared by links or by embedding them in websites. One can also add voice-overs and ensure that end users can play these videos at their required speed.

Although intended for product demos, the startup claims that the Chrome extension is increasingly used by companies to record their workflows and automatically convert those into step-by-step guides complete with screenshots. The solution is mainly used to create onboarding and training guides, document products and internal tools and share know-how. 

Rivia.AI has not disclosed its financials or plans, but the startup claims it is working on product development and monetising the solution.

SanKash

Travel Now, Pay Later Is Transforming The Way Indians Travel

The pandemic has waned considerably, but revenge travel continues to trend even in 2023. Aware of a vast gap between aspirations and constraints (fund crunch was a common issue even before the unprecedented health crisis), Abhilasha Negi and Akash Dahiya launched SanKash in 2018.

Although sales slumped during the pandemic, the travel fintech startup built sound business partnerships and currently provides a travel-now, pay-later option, enabling users to borrow between INR 10K and INR 10 Lakh. Some TNPL features include easy loan processing, instant approval and a customised payment plan for booking a package with its partner tour operators such as SOTC, Thomas Cook and Veena World.

The startup charges a processing fee from customers, an MDR fee from travel partners (typically a percentage of the total transaction amount for transaction processing) and a commission from its partner NBFCs.

SanKash has a wide offline presence with 90K+ PoS, but it plans to enter the online market in a big way and work with OTAs, hotels and airlines by 2024. Its revenue has been growing nearly 40% month-over-month in FY23, and it will up its customer base and annual revenue by 50% in the next financial year.

Studio Sirah

Focussing On Indian Lore For Mid-Core Gaming

The gaming industry in India is rooted in Western lore and myths. But there lies a vast but untapped repository of Indian content that can be used for a wide range of intriguing games. So, brothers Abhaas and Prateek Shah launched Studio Sirah in 2020 to tap into the immense potential and build unique games embedded in millennia-old Indian culture.

The Bengaluru-based startup combines rich content with immersive art and deep progression systems to create mid-core mobile and PC games. Its flagship free-to-play game, Kurukshetra: Ascension, is inspired by the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, besides the country’s ancient literature portraying gods, heroes and mythical creatures. 

The game, still in beta, claims more than 120K organic downloads on Android and Steam (a platform for buying and playing video games). Its DAU/MAU ratio (a stickiness metric) exceeds 20%, and an average session spans more than 25 minutes.

The startup plans to launch its second game by 2024 while adding features to its existing game and monetising it through collectable cards, in-app purchases and more.

Threado

A Community Management Platform For Driving Growth

As online communities empower brands to engage with a larger audience meaningfully, they play a crucial role in driving awareness, customer loyalty and sales while reducing business costs. Aware of their growing business impact (not surprising as customers want a say in how things are run), Bengaluru-based Threado has developed a web-based solution and dashboard to help businesses manage their online communities on platforms like Slack, Discord, Twitter and GitHub. 

Set up in 2020 by former Zomato executives Pramod Rao and Abhishek Nalin, the SaaS platform generates actionable insights into how community members engage (maximum contribution and other essential metrics are considered for the same), enabling community managers to optimise their strategies. 

Threado automatically fetches and analyses the data from integrated platforms so businesses can view, filter and customise member cohorts based on engagement criteria and send personalised messages at scale. It also provides easy-to-use templates for member onboarding, engagement and surveys.

The startup offers a 21-day free trial and three types of monthly subscription plans (Pro, Growth and Enterprise) based on the size of the community, number of integrations, workflow templates, personalised reach-outs and more. It also claims to engage with nearly 3 Mn people across 680+ online communities and businesses such as On Deck, Rocketlane, Glide, Ultrahuman, Scalar Academy and FamPay. 

Threado plans to 10x its clientele by 2025 after launching on Product Hunt in August 2023.

Up

An All-In-One Upliance for Smart Cooking

Young people away from home often need help with what (and how) to cook. But faced with a similar challenge during the pandemic, IIT-Bombay alumni Mahek Mody (a former Ather executive) and Mohit Sharma (earlier with Chaayos) decided to build a smart cooking system to help people prepare nutritious, bowl-style meals minus the hassle.

Keen to transform modern Indian households, Mumbai-based Up has launched its first home ‘Upliance’ called delishUp in 2021. It features a smart jar with pre-set cooking tasks (chop, grind, stir fry, sauté and boil), an integrated weighing scale and 200+ recipes (essentially, step-by-step guides) on a tablet-style touch screen. One can choose from the existing oriental food bowls (rice, pasta and more) and cook for up to four people using delishUp. 

The Wi-fi-enabled appliance uses jar sensors to read food temperature and blade sensors for ‘customised’ food processing, as these can perceive the thickness of ingredients. The product has been patented in India and manufactured in-house in Bengaluru. 

The startup has adopted a D2C model and offers a four-day trial for INR 499 in Bengaluru. The commercial delivery of the product started in January 2023. 

Upplans to deliver 150K+ appliances by FY24 and targets INR 150 Cr in revenue. It plans to build and beta-launch a smart and connected microwave (warmUp) and a refrigerator (chillUp) by 2026.

Upsurge

Gamifying 21st Century Skills For Young Learners

Gamification is good for learning, says seasoned professional Karan Baweja, and what he preaches has been put into practice with the launch of his skilling startup Upsurge. Launched in 2021, the New Delhi-based edutainment platform uses gamified solutions to help schoolchildren learn a host of 21st century life skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving, communication and empathy, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and more.

The platform focusses on STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics), a holistic combination of logic and creativity, and features educational games, content, quizzes and knowledge quests curated by experts. Games like Gourmet Empire (virtual café management) and Knowledge Quests (10-15 minute adventures) are designed to be fun and engaging. But they also challenge young learners while teaching them important skills like teamwork, leadership and creative innovation fit for a fast-evolving, largely automated world.

Upsurge has developed a unique rewards programme to keep children learning more and making progress. Kids earn points that can be redeemed for real-life prizes like books and stationery, educational trips and vouchers from Decathlon, Crosswords, Zomato and Swiggy.

So far, Upsurge offerings have been free for its 3K+ users. But it has adopted a monthly subscription model and eyes INR 25 Lakh in revenue in March this year. By 2024, it plans to grow its user base to 1 Mn with at least 10% paid customers. It will also add more than 25 games and 50 courses and run a B2B campaign to onboard more schoolchildren.

Zenduty

Incident Management Made Quick And Easy

Cybersecurity incidents disrupt all industries and businesses in today’s hyper-connected, tech-first society. But some geographies suffer more than the rest. For instance, IBM Security’s annual X-Force Threat Intelligence Index found that the Asia-Pacific region topped the attack list in 2022 for the second consecutive year. The growing concern over such threats has led to the rise of incident management platforms like Zenduty. 

Set up in 2019, the Bengaluru-based startup provides comprehensive solutions to help companies respond quickly and efficiently to critical incidents. Its flagship is a web-based dashboard called Zenduty Incident Command System (ICS). While cybersecurity incidents are just one of the many types that Zenduty alerts on, it is used by infrastructure, SRE and support teams amongst others. The solution can be integrated with infrastructure, application monitoring and logging tools and a wide range of collaboration tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat.

The SaaS platform’s intelligent routing and notification system alerts the right people within 30 seconds of an incident. An on-call and post-incident management feature allows employees across divisions to communicate fast for rapid action. And an analytics dashboard helps engineers learn from such incidents for better prevention. Overall, these risk mitigation solutions can effectively help DevOps, SRE (site reliability engineering), ITOps and support teams.  Zenduty charges a subscription fee based on the number of employees served.

It plans to enter major global markets across North America, the EU and the APAC region by 2024 and add a host of solutions, including incident intelligence and diagnostics, automated root cause analysis, alert correlation and incident forecasting, to its suite of services.

Zerocircle

Seaweed Packaging To Fight The Plastic Menace

Mumbai-based Zerocircle is the brainchild of ex-Googler Neha Jain, an environment enthusiast promoting a minimal carbon footprint. She started to explore what could be done at an industrial scale to maximise greening and came across a natural alternative to paper-and-plastic packaging – seaweed, to be precise.  

After extensive R&D, Zerocircle was launched in 2020 to produce thin films, coatings and glues from seaweed. These products are home-compostable and marine-safe (in case the bioplastic packaging materials end up in the water and get consumed by aquatic life). 

The low-energy, green processing technology can be easily integrated with the existing (plastic) production line with minimal changes, thus ensuring an affordable green transition without impacting jobs. 

Most importantly, its large-scale use will soon reduce the packaging industry’s heavy dependence on single-use plastic that does not get dissolved even after hundreds of years.  

The startup has tied up with two farms in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu to procure red, brown and green seaweed sustainably. After collection, the weed is dried and powdered to make products like wrapping film, fabric, bags, shoe soles, gloves, masks, medical sutures, laminates and more.

Zerocircle is at a pre-revenue stage, still conducting R&D and creating products for government certification. It is also in talks to set up a large-scale, affordable manufacturing ecosystem in Pune by 2024.

[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eye In February 2023 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Indian startups witnessed a roller-coaster ride in the past three years. They were pounded by the pandemic in the first place, followed by geopolitical uncertainties and the ongoing economic downturn. However, technology adoption, strategic thinking and a VC-led funding spurt (2021 turned out to be a record year in terms of capital inflow) kept the lights on for the startup ecosystem.

Overall, startups across the country found ways to adapt and innovate, positioning themselves for success in a fast-changing market.

The trials and tribulations continued, though, and many companies (even mature businesses) did little to impress their users in 2022. In contrast, a host of early stage startups rose and shone with solutions that addressed real-life pain points.

Interestingly, the strategy playbook of Indian startups also underwent a sea change during this critical phase. With the onset of a funding winter in 2022, startups abandoned their growth-at-any-cost strategy and focussed on revenue generation for long-term play. When consumer spending dwindled, businesses embraced utility and value addition to keep them coming back. And when the competition was fierce, we observed market consolidations as never before.

As always, Inc42 has carried the torch for the country’s startup ecosystem, and our flagship series, 30 Startups To Watch, has been a testament to that.

In the past 11 editions, we have featured 320+ startups across sectors, and in this special edition, 2022 In Review, we bring you the top startups from those 320+ business entities.

The top two sectors with the maximum number of startups from our 2022 lists include enterprisetech and fintech. We have featured more than 90 enterprisetech startups across HR, marketing and sales, inventory and billing management and more. Similarly, we have listed 88 fintech and blockchain startups operating in a number of sub-sectors such as insurance, lending, investment/wealth management and lending.

Other sectors with a large number of startups are ecommerce (61), healthtech (17) and EV (9).

Most of these startups were launched shortly after the tech push post-pandemic and are bootstrapped or sparsely funded.

Sadly, some of these early stage startups also fell prey to harsh market conditions and shut down their operations or laid off many employees.

After A Harsh Funding Winter, Can Spring Be Far Behind?

As experts predict, the downturn will likely continue for at least a couple of quarters going into 2023. But in spite of the tight money supply, drastic cuts in expenditure, pivots and shutdowns, there is much to be optimistic about the new year.

“While the world slips into an economic slumber, Indian founders and teams will build. From our experience across multiple cycles, we know that the right motivations drive the founders who start their entrepreneurial journey under these conditions. They will build business models with more core strength,” Nitin Sharma, partner at the VC fund Antler India and global blockchain lead at Antler, told Inc42.

According to him, the key themes in 2023 will be the emergence of GenZ founders, the rise of SaaS and deeptech and the adoption of digital public goods as startups focus on building global platforms instead of geography-specific products.

As startups develop innovative technologies and new business models in sync with evolving requirements, exciting things are bound to be in store. Besides, many will find strategic sweet spots and product-market fits, leading to impressive growth narratives.

The regulatory landscape also continues to evolve, providing more growth opportunities as startups push the boundaries and explore new horizons.

While reviewing the startups featured in our 30 Startups To Watch column throughout 2022, we took a close look at their growth and explored their plans moving forward. Here is a rundown of the top 20’s achievements and vision. However, we need to keep in mind that business rules and the environment will continue to shift in 2023, and new leaders will emerge.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

Arthan Finance

Loan Disbursements Jump 7x, Profitability On The Cards

Short-term, small-ticket lending is the core business model of many fintech startups. But Mumbai-based Arthan Finance has seen growth like no other. Inc42 featured the MSME lender in January 2022, when it used to disburse monthly loans worth INR 5 Cr. But the amount jumped more than 7x, crossing INR 35 Cr in December. Additionally, the number of loans processed each month reached 2.5K+ compared to 400 in December 2021. Overall, it disbursed INR 300 Cr since its launch in 2018, of which INR 250 Cr was paid out in 2022.

Arthan also hit operational breakeven in November as the number of loan disbursals  grew nearly 10x year over year. Its AUM also quadrupled YoY, from INR 25 Cr to INR 100 Cr. Besides, its branch network doubled as it launched operations in 27+ states and UTs, 200+ cities and 3K+ pin codes. 

The lending tech startup raised $6 Mn in equity and $10 Mn in debt funding from Dell Foundation and other existing investors. Arthan will use the money to lend to more than 50K businesses and disburse loans worth INR 750 Cr+ in 2023.

BuyOFuel

This Biofuel Aggregator Clocks 2x Rise In User Base, Revenue

To reduce India’s dependence on exports and fossil fuels, the government wants to ensure that biofuels will account for 20% of the country’s total fuel mix by 2030. Among the cleantech startups working towards this end is Coimbatore-based BuyOFuel, which aggregates biofuel suppliers, consumers and waste generators (waste biomass is converted to biofuels). 

When Inc42 listed the startup in May 2022, It had a user base of 1K+. The number nearly doubled to 1.8K+ in the following six months as BuyOFuel launched its Android and iOS apps in June to grow its user base. It claims that 90% of its users are active and repeat customers, and the business has clocked a 2x increase in monthly revenue since May 2022. 

The cleantech platform saw transactions involving 30K million tonnes (MT) of waste and biofuels since May, substituting 10K MT of fossil fuels. It plans to launch a sustainability dashboard to help businesses with their ESG reporting based on global greenhouse gas protocols. 

BuyOFuel is also working with small companies to help them generate a regular income from waste sales and thus establish a sustainable market. It is currently operational in certain parts of west and southern India but aims to foray into north India in 2023 and clock INR 200 Cr+ in annual revenue.

Capitall

Gross Margins Up By 35%; MSME Funding Among Key Pillars

After equity financing took a backseat in 2022 due to economic headwinds, debt-based crowdfunding (P2P lending) surged as a viable option for many businesses. Since Inc42 listed Capitall in February 2022, the crowdfunding-based lending tech startup decided to bank on this emerging trend to grow its business manifold.

The Bengaluru firm redesigned its underwriting algorithm to include MSMEs, in addition to startups, which were its sole clients until September. Between September and December, the MSME sector accounted for 30% of its monthly loan disbursements.  

Throughout the year, Capitall onboarded more than 1,500 new investors, funded nine companies and signed lending term sheets worth INR 1.5 Cr+. It also tied up with a P2P NBFC partner.

Capitall claims a 35% YoY rise in gross margins in 2022. Its north-star metrics included a 120% monthly growth in loan disbursements, a 72% repeat borrower rate and a 30% rise in the average investment amount per deal, while 45% of users referred new customers. It also claims zero NPAs/delayed repayments and a 25% rise in the average loan amount. 

In 2023, the startup aims to raise a seed round, reach INR 10 Cr in monthly disbursements and have INR 30 Cr+ assets under management (AUM) from its community of investors. It will diversify investment opportunities by including fixed-income options, enter Tier 2 cities to widen its MSME client base and onboard overseas investors to let the world invest in India’s growing economy.

Chargeup

This Battery-As-A-Service Provider Serves 2K+ EV Drivers, Clocks 1 Lakh Monthly Swaps

New Delhi-based Chargeup wants to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles through its network of battery swap stations, which will reduce range anxiety and enhance ease of use. When Inc42 featured the startup in April, it used to serve 1.2K drivers via its 150+ swap stations in Delhi-NCR. 

Although it has not extended its operations beyond the region yet, the number of swap stations has gone up to 200+. Currently, the startup clocks 1 Lakh swaps per month and caters to 2K+ EV drivers. 

Chargeup recently raised a pre-series A round of $7 Mn from Capital A, Anicut Capital and several angel investors to expand its services to 20 more cities and increase its user base to 50K+ in 2023.

Elever

INR 3.5 Cr Assets Under Administration; Equity-Only Portfolios Launched

Since it was featured in Inc42’s fintech edition (July 2022), investment tech startup Elever added new financial goals to its offerings, including vehicle purchase and early retirement plans. Most notably, the company launched five equity-only portfolios in November for passive, long-term investments to help its 3.5K users.

The Bengaluru-based startup plans to launch 15-20 more equity-only portfolios by March this year. It has also started beta-testing financial planning services to increase assets under administration (AUA) and drive conversion rates. Currently, it has INR 3.5 Cr worth of AUA, with a monthly committed SIP of INR 26 Lakh. 

The startup saw 25K+ app downloads and 3K+ sign-ups during August-December, clocking MoM growth of 119% and 58%, respectively.  

In 2023, Elever will push financial planning and tactical model-based equity strategies like factor and sector rotations. It will also provide B2B services (details undisclosed) from Q2 2023 and aims to serve 50K customers by the end of the year, amassing $60 Mn AUA in the process.

Explorex

This Restaurant SaaS Player Operates In 15 Cities; Billing Volume Up 25% MoM

SaaS was suitable for digitalising restaurant operations when eateries functioned partially amid the Covid-19 pandemic. By the time fine dining (and all other establishments) became fully operational again, the benefits of this technology were heartily acknowledged and actively sought. As a result, restaurant SaaS specialists like Explorex have continued to flourish. 

Featured by Inc42 in July 2022, the Bengaluru-based startup soon experienced rapid growth in the food & beverages space. For instance, more than 50% of the payments at its client restaurants were processed on its web-based platform. Within four months, it handled $1.5 Mn worth of bills, clocking 25% MoM growth in billing volume. It also added 150 restaurants to its client portfolio between July and December 2022 and started operations in Mumbai and Delhi, taking its presence to 15 Indian cities. 

Explorex processed more than 3 Mn orders worth INR 150 Cr+ since its launch in 2020. It also received four awards from the restaurant and the SaaS sectors and secured a seed round of $5 Mn. 

The startup has partnered with Pine Labs (for payment gateway) and Axis Bank (to help restaurants take business loans). It will focus on customer acquisition, product development and pan-India expansion in 2023.

Falca Solutions

Achieved: A 100K-Strong Active Farmer Base, INR 150 Cr In Annual Revenue

Agritech startup Falca Solutions has digitalised many critical functions of traditional agribusiness since 2018 and made it to the Inc42 list in October 2022. 

In the two months that followed, the Bengaluru-based startup piloted its f-Hire feature to connect farmers with agri machinery renters and onboarded more than 11K farmers. 

In December, Falca started to procure maize, soybean, wheat and paddy in three districts of Madhya Pradesh for export. It also secured $2 Mn in debt funding and bagged supply contracts for 7K tonnes of maize and 30K tonnes of paddy from leading agri manufacturers and exporters, respectively. 

The startup claims an annual revenue of more than INR 150 Cr in 2022 and an active farmer base of 100K.

Falca eyes annual revenue of INR 300 Cr in 2023 by expanding its operations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It will open 60+ physical centres to onboard 150K+ farmers by the end of this year.

Goldsetu

Onboarded: 5K+ Jewellery Retailers; Nearly 50% Avail Procurement Services

Pandemic or not, fine jewellery is selling, but the way of doing business has changed from traditional to digital to ensure business continuity and growth. Leading this digital transformation is Noida-based SaaS startup Goldsetu, creating digital storefronts for jewellery retailers, automating workflow and offering supply chain services.  

When Inc42 featured it in the February 2022 list of 30 startups, Goldsetu was in the pre-revenue stage. Since then, the startup has added a B2B procurement channel for its 5K+ retail partners (up from 300+ from its time of listing), enabling them to source materials, parts and products from pan-India vendors. The startup claims that more than 2.2K retailers are actively procuring through its B2B website.

The SaaS player also acquired the B2B jewellery ecommerce firm BuymyJewel for an undisclosed amount for a deeper foray into the B2B space and raised seed funding of $1.1 Mn in October 2022. A month later, it claimed to have clocked INR 3.8 Cr in revenue from its usage-based transaction fee and said it was on track to reach INR 5.2 Cr in December.

Goldsetu has ambitious plans for 2023, including launching and scaling up a supply chain credit product. It will also expand its presence in four states to earn monthly revenue of $10 Mn.

Kosh

Loan Disbursals Up 2x, IM Feature Drives Customer Retention By 30%

When we featured Gurugram-based Kosh in July 2022, the lending tech startup for blue-collar workers used to process INR 4 Cr worth of loans every month. But by November 2022, the amount nearly doubled to INR 7 Cr. 

Meanwhile, Kosh also launched an instant messaging feature on its Android app, enabling borrowers to communicate with the team or use its channels to find financial solutions. One of these channels focusses on job search, an instant crowd-puller, upping customer retention by 30%. 

The startup onboarded new B2B clients such as SIS, GarageWorks and Numer8 to help their workers with loan assistance. It also tied up with new NBFCs such as Apollo Finance, Arvog Finance and Arthmate to expand its loan portfolio. 

Kosh plans to 5x its monthly loan disbursal to INR 35 Cr by the end of 2023. It is also working on more features within the IM (Kosh Chat) to help users with lending, savings and job searches to grow its operations.

Moneyboxx Finance

Active Customer Base Doubles, Loan Disbursals Grow 184%

Lending tech platform Moneyboxx was featured in Inc42’s January edition and achieved new milestones throughout the year. To begin with, the Mumbai-based startup, which provides unsecured loans in the range of INR 70K-3 Lakh, disbursed total loans worth INR 155 Cr to 22K+ customers in 2022. Among these borrowers, 45% were women entrepreneurs, and 35% were new to credit, the startup said.

Its active customer base more than doubled to 19K+, and YoY loan disbursements grew 184%.

Moneyboxx claims an AUA of INR 200 Cr and a network of 50 branches across six states. It also raised INR 35 Cr in equity funding in June from undisclosed investors to grow its operations. Besides, it signed lending partnerships with the SBI, Tata Capital, two more NBFCs and a small finance bank (details were not provided in these cases) to grow its AUA.

The digital lender eyes an AUA of INR 350 Cr by the end of the current financial year and plans to reach INR 1K Cr by March 2024. It will also double its branches by the end of 2023.

Oben Electric

After 17K+ Bookings, Oben To Kickstart 2023 With Deliveries, 4 More EV Launches

One of the early movers in the electric motorcycle space in India, Oben Electric was listed by Inc42 in March 2022. At the time, the startup had just announced its flagship EV2W Rorr. But throughout the year, it had seen significant traction and 17K+ bookings across India, the UAE, Germany, the UK and a slew of other Southeast Asian countries.

The Bengaluru-based EV startup bagged $4 Mn in an extended pre-series A round with plans to raise $50 Mn in Series A for further research and four more product launches. Using the money from the previous round, it will fulfil existing orders, ramp up production capacity and expand its distribution network. Rorr deliveries are scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2023.

Plix Life

New Products Among Best-Sellers, Sales Jump 3x

In the past year, personal care brands offering vegan (cruelty-free) and eco-friendly products caught the attention of ‘woke’ customers and led to the growth of D2C startups like Mumbai-based Plix Life. Featured in Inc42’s January list, this one specialises in plant-based offerings, including women’s health, wellness and weight loss products and workout supplements. 

The brand has now launched hair care and skin nutrition categories for all, resulting in a 3x rise in sales. Its new product range includes ingestible sunscreens, hair growth supplements and topical and drinkable skincare products. Plix has also introduced dermatologist-tested vegan hair growth serums, which are the highest-selling products, the company claims. 

Plix sells 60+ SKUs under six categories via its website, online marketplaces and retail stores, and its customer base has grown to 1.5 Mn+ in the past year.

The startup eyes an ARR of INR 180 Cr by March 2023 and aims to reach INR 350 Cr in annual revenue by the end of the year. It will grow its wellness and personal care range in 2023 and retail its products through 10K+ stores.

Poshn

From $100 Mn To $1 Bn ARR: Poshn’s Ambitious Supply Chain Play

New Delhi-based Poshn focusses on fixing a broken supply chain, making sales and procurement easy for farmers and institutional buyers, respectively. Since it was featured in May, the two-year-old agri supply chain startup expanded its offerings beyond food grains and added new categories, including dry fruits, milk and wood pulp.

Poshn offers 1K+ products, caters to 400+ pin codes and currently works with more than 500 wholesalers. It has partnered with major institutional buyers such as Jubilant FoodWorks, Swiggy, Blinkit, Dunzo, Reliance Retail and more. 

The startup claims 5x revenue growth YoY, while the new categories account for 30% of its topline. It eyes an annual run rate of $100 Mn in FY23 and has recently raised $2 Mn in venture debt from Alteria Capital to reach $1 Bn in ARR in the next financial year.

Recur Club

This B2B Lending Startup Claims INR 3K Cr AUA, 2.5x Growth In User Base

Amid a lull in equity funding, SaaS and D2C businesses with recurring revenues are increasingly opting for revenue-based financing to meet their capital requirements. New Delhi-based Recur Club is a trading platform that helps recurring revenue companies trade their contracts/subscriptions to raise quick and hassle-free funding.

When Inc42 listed it in March, it backed 400+ companies which traded their recurring subscription revenue for upfront capital. By December 2022, Recur Club’s customer base grew by 2.5x to 1K+. It also claimed INR 3K Cr worth of assets under administration (AUA), growing at 200% MoM. 

In April, the fintech startup raised $30 Mn from InfoEdge Ventures and others to launch its operations in the US and Singapore. It also partnered with IVY Growth Associates to allocate up to $10 Mn to the VC fund’s portfolio companies. Recur Club plans to fund 500 IVY-backed startups in the next few years. It also aims to reach more than 2K customers in 2023 and increase its AUA to $1 Bn.

SALT

A Neobank Helping 300+ Businesses Expand Globally

Bengaluru-based neobank SALT aims to make global expansion easy and affordable for everyone, a concept widely lauded when the business was featured in Inc42’s fintech edition in June. 

The startup has three focus areas – inward remittance (peer-to-peer and peer-to-merchant), investment inflow to India and overseas business expansion. Although it did not provide growth details regarding the first two segments, SALT worked with 300+ Indian companies between June and December, enabling them to scale up their operations in more than 50 countries. 

It has also created communities on WhatsApp and Telegram to help small businesses understand how to run international operations. Additionally, it plans to more than double the number of partner companies in 2023. 

Between 2023 and 2025, SALT will expand its use cases to make P2P and P2M remittances as easy as using UPI, offer cross-border banking solutions and automate compliance procedures.

Solv

Serves 273K+ MSMEs, Revenue Grows 5x YoY

Indian MSMEs often struggle to access growth capital and tap into potential customer base due to the lack of technology adoption. With an e-marketplace stack and a bouquet of financial and logistics solutions in place, Bengaluru-based Solv has addressed the pain point and serviced 273K+ MSMEs since its launch in 2020.

When we listed the startup in April 2022, Solv worked with 200K+ micro-entrepreneurs and planned to add another 100K by the end of the calendar year. Backed by Standard Chartered, it has now expanded its offerings to ‘softline’ businesses, those specialising in ‘soft’ goods such as apparel, footwear, fashion accessories and home furnishings. 

The B2B ecommerce startup has not disclosed its revenue but claims 5x YoY growth in 2022 through deliveries of 3 Mn+ bulk orders. 

In June 2022, it launched Solv Atom, an invoice financing service backed by 12 anchor and 12 FI partners, and also raised $40 Mn in Series A, led by SBI Holdings and SC Ventures.

The June Shop

User Base Up 20% MoM; Revenue Jumps 1.5x

D2C home décor and lifestyle brand The June Shop made it to Inc42’s 30 Startup To Watch list in August 2022. At the time, it offered 7.5K products across 20+ categories, with home décor being its mainstay. In the past four months, the Kolkata-based startup added many new products to its line of iPhone covers, planners and journals, leading to a 2x jump in orders and a 1.5x increase in revenue. 

It also upgraded its website and servers to ensure ease of use, which upped the conversion rate by 30% and helped drive the daily traffic to 200K.

The June Shop claimed 20% MoM growth in user base and an average increase of 35% in the MoM sales of new products. The D2C startup saw a big surge during its Black Friday Sale in November, followed by a strong December marked by the sales of journals and planners.

In 2023, the brand aims to introduce more lifestyle products designed in-house and expand its customer base by adding sustainable, made-in-India products.

Traya Health

Servicing 2 Lakh+ Users, Clocking 20% Revenue Growth Month Over Month

Traya was covered in the May 2022 edition, but the Mumbai-based haircare brand added many categories and products since then to improve the overall efficacy of its offerings. These include a night lotion for those suffering from dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis (scaly scalp and skin) and psoriasis; a range of products to prevent hair loss in women and an ayurvedic range of gut health products to address issues like chronic constipation, acidity and bloating (these can also trigger hair loss).

In December 2022, the brand started selling on Amazon India, where its hair vitamin is one of the best-rated products. Sales of the hair vitamin product alone resulted in a revenue of INR 30 Lakh for the startup. 

Traya claims to have treated more than 2 Lakh Indians since its inception in 2019 (1 Lakh customers signed up in May-December 2022) and increased its team size from 60 to 200.

Overall, the D2C brand saw 20% revenue growth month over month, with more than 50% coming from repeat customers. Also, 40% of its revenue came from product sales sans any marketing spend compared to 10% in May. 

Going forward, Traya will develop solutions to improve hair quality. A line of ayurvedic products is also on the cards to address the nutritional needs of women to cope with the postpartum phase, menopause, PCOD, anaemia and more. Plus, it will develop an app to help users round the clock. It also acquired a U.S. company (name not disclosed) to expand its global reach in 2023.

What’s Up Wellness

Top-Selling Products Trigger 50% MoM Revenue Growth, 35% Repeat Buying

D2C wellness brands have thrived in the wake of the pandemic due to their focus on holistic healing. After getting listed in August, this Kolkata-based startup launched sleep gummies to aid muscle relaxation and pain recovery. These FDA-approved gummies are designed to regulate sleep cycles and contain muscle and nerve relaxants to help users wake up feeling refreshed and energised.

The sleep gummies have gained significant traction, ranking among the top four sleep supplements on Amazon India in less than two months of their launch. The startup recently started selling on Nykaa and claimed more than 35% repeat purchases and gross monthly revenue of INR 50 Lakh as it recorded 50% MoM growth.

The brand also raised an angel round, but the details were not disclosed. 

What’s Up Wellness targets an annual revenue run rate of INR 18 Cr in 2023 and plans to launch 10 more products in two new categories. As part of its ESG activity, it donated 1% of its revenue through Give India to fund 60 girls under the Every Girl In School programme.

ZFW Dark Stores

Post-Pivot, Serving 60+ D2C Brands, Clocking $60K MRR

After pivoting from the logistics business in late 2021, Delhi-based ecommerce enabler ZFW Dark Stores launched same-day intercity delivery service for D2C brands and other ecommerce businesses. Inc42 featured it in January, post which it added 50 more D2C clients from five markets – Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. In fact, it forayed into the last two markets in 2022 alone.

The startup clocked 20% MoM growth in order volume and currently serves more than 60 D2C brands, with the monthly recurring revenue (MRR) at $60K. Additionally, it signed contracts worth $100K with a host of brands, which will be launched by March 2023.

It recently partnered with ZYPP Electric to incorporate EVs in its fleets and move towards a sustainable delivery system. It already has a fully electric fleet in Delhi-NCR. 

ZFW closed two funding rounds: $1.2 Mn in a seed round and an undisclosed amount in pre-series A from South Asia Technology Partners, RiSo Capital, SEA Fund and many angel investors. The money raised will be utilised for pan-India expansion, including major state capitals, tech investments and growing its brand portfolio to 200 by 2023.

Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal

The post 2022 In Review: The Best Of Inc42’s 30 Startups To Watch appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The lasting legacy of Covid-19 has disrupted the startup ecosystem as never before. But when the pandemic waves waned considerably in 2022, and the world looked forward to a cash-gushing year filled with big IPOs and mega-funding rounds, there came a hard-hitting downturn and sustained market pullback due to macro factors.

It is not new. Startups had been through these periodic down cycles, these moments of fear and panic, before roaring back to business. This time, too, there is a severe funding winter, wiping off the ebullience of easy capital.

Undoubtedly, every entrepreneur has tried to navigate the choppy waters, but few have come out unscathed. Many startups abruptly shut down or announced multiple rounds of layoffs to cut costs. According to Inc42 data, as many as 17,000 people got the pink slip by the time we published this monthly column. Valuations were slashed, too, and the ‘growth at any cost’ mantra is no longer valid.

Indian startups have been jolted out of their comfort zone really and truly. But this disruptive era’s learning and unlearning are also paving a recovery path. The business fundamentals have changed to operational profitability, and the means to achieve it is innovation – technology efficiency, which is affordable and resource-friendly.

The startup ecosystem in India has been hustling persistently to build disruptive brands, and for some, it has paid off. The late-stage funding scenario has been stark compared with just a few months ago, but this has been an eye-opener for early-stage investors. They are now guiding their portfolio companies better than before.

As businesses continue to innovate guided by aces, Inc42’s 30 Startups To Watch list adds another edition of 30 remarkable young companies which are building from India for the world.

30 Startups To Watch: November 2022

More than growth, startups are now focussing on sustainability and business continuity. This has led to the exploration of new niches, building scalable products and innovating for both enterprises and consumers.

The 34th edition of Inc42’s 30 Startups To Watch list features a healthy mix of B2B and B2C entities across fintech, enterprise tech, blockchain, deeptech, manufacturing, green mobility (EVs), ecommerce, logistics, healthtech and more.

From intelligent data management to democratising the creator economy, insurance aggregation to end-to-end access to cancer care, babywear made of bamboo linen to making Asian condiments for every kitchen – this edition showcases many faces of technology and the growing maturity of India’s tech ecosystem.

Gone are the days when the unique usage of the internet and deeptech, heavy discounting and product personalisation wooed consumers who wanted to try everything under the sun. It is the era of utility and scalability, showcased by the startups in this list.

Check out the 34th edition of Inc42 Plus’ 30 Startups To Watch list.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

AIBorne Tech

Automated Inspection For Enterprises In Need

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic mandated the need for remote connectivity across most sectors. However, inspection companies with critical ground operations suffered at the time as they needed a unified way to collect, integrate, share and monitor real-time, on-the-ground data.

To help companies specialising in survey, service and maintenance, Delhi-based IaaS (Inspection as a Service) startup AiBorne Tech has developed a two-layered solution for a thorough but cost-effective digital inspection. There is a no-code simplifier to digitise survey data and an AI/AR platform to enable quality checks to ascertain whether all is well with the operations under its scanner.

Think of a surveyor assessing a damaged car, an EPC company monitoring a solar farm or an engineer in charge of an automated pipeline, and you get an idea about AiBorne’s service range.

The procedure is quite simple. Once the images/videos of the ‘target’ are uploaded on a dashboard, an interactive, AR-based graphic is created, much like what we see on 360-degree virtual tours on Google Maps. Next, the startup’s AI platform auto-checks this visual for quality issues and provides details of repair costs, if needed.

The startup had a commercial launch in 2021 and claims to have reduced manual QC by 85% for its 150+ enterprise clients, which pay a monthly subscription fee. It plans to expand globally in 2023 and aims to serve more than 25K businesses in the next five years.

Ceres Foods

Tasty Condiments For Asian Delectables

Between 2016 and 2019, Mumbai-based Ceres Food ran 45 cloud kitchens and specialised in authentic Asian cuisines. But when the pandemic struck in 2020, the food startup pivoted to produce a lip-smacking range of culinary sauces, pastes and frozen items to help add authentic flavours to many delicious Asian dishes.

Ceres offers more than 20 products under two brands – Ceres Foods (liquid desi spices for non-veg dishes) and MoiSoi (a collection of oriental sauces). All items are produced at its two in-house units in the state. But the startup is planning to add two more factories in 2023.

Products are sold on its website, online marketplaces/entities like Amazon, Flipkart, BigBasket and Swiggy, and physical retail stores. It also runs a B2B business and supplies to restaurants and hotel chains. Ceres sauces and mixes are also shipped to the UAE, Singapore, Nigeria and South Africa.

Big expansion is on the cards as the startup will enter the US market by December 2022, open its brick-and-mortar retail stores across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Kolkata, and add 20 more products to its offerings.

On average, Ceres sells 15K+ units per month but aims to triple its sales in 2023 and take its annual revenue to INR 15 Cr.

DataBrain

A BI Dashboard For Smart Monitoring

Data scientists Rahul Pattamata and Vysakh Sreenivasan earlier built several machine learning and data products and understood the complexity of creating a central data repository. But the problems multiply when business functions (finance, sales, marketing and more) across companies demand separate data dashboards for every critical metric set. So, the duo is building a business intelligence (BI) platform called the DataBrain to iron out the data silos and provide companies with a comprehensive view of the data landscape.

The Chennai-based SaaS startup is developing a multi-functional, cloud-native dashboard that will present real-time data for task monitoring, in-depth data visualisation and comprehensive analytics, resulting in informed business decisions.

One only needs to connect all the data sources to the dashboard for BI reporting, as DataBrain supports 150+ data warehousing solutions. Companies can write simple codes for customisable visualisation of key metrics or use pre-existing templates.

DataBrain charges an annual subscription for its services and currently runs an invite-only model to set up its client base.

Dhiway

A ‘Building Block’ For Silo-Free Information Flow

Despite a rapid surge in tech developments across Web 2.0, our validation processes tend to be slow and manual. But verifying documents with a blockchain system where intermediaries do not broker the trust factor can efficiently deal with these challenges. Bengaluru-based Dhiway has taken this path to ensure large-scale data management, sharing and authentication with zero friction.

The three-year-old blockchain startup has developed a Layer 1 open-source project called CORD to help enterprises build decentralised digital repositories/utility networks at scale for hassle-free information management.

Coupled with Dhiway’s MARK Studios, a patent-pending digital credential management platform, this comprehensive tech stack enables all sorts of data exchange/migration and sharing, along with tamper-proof validation. In fact, MARK Studios creates a verifiable trust mark anchored on the CORD Network, allowing any on-ramp organisation to verify the authenticity of off-chain data.

This blockchain solution is in stark contrast to silo-based information management systems and high-cost, centralised data centres maintained by legacy enterprises.

Dhiway charges an annual subscription from enterprises using MARK Studios and has a pay-as-you-use model for those building their digital repositories on the CORD Network. It also eyes an annualised revenue of INR 2.5 Cr for the current financial year.

Currently, more than 1,500 educational institutions use the CORD Network. But Dhiway is looking to scale it up to cater to diverse goals and targets involving financial and economic inclusion, healthcare, education, agriculture, governance, migration and registry management.

DhiWise

Adding Speed & Customisation To Programming Via LCNC

Low-code/no-code (LCNC) platforms are gaining popularity as they help automate repetitive programming tasks and reduce the time and costs required for manual coding. The only glitch: Users have to choose from pre-existing modules on most platforms, leaving little scope for customisation.

However, IT consultants Vishal Virani and Rahul Shingala saw a great scope to bring both speed and creativity to routine LCNC ops. Surat-based DhiWise was launched in 2021 to help developers focus on unique-to-programme features and customisable interfaces.

For development work, the startup uses an MVC format or three interconnected elements – the model (application), the view (interface) and the controller (the backend).

Developers on DhiWise only need to code the ‘controller’ part or modify the auto-coded parts, making the process 10x faster, the startup claims. But unlike other platforms, one can also customise the ‘view’ by creating a new interface or importing a previous ‘model’, following which it will be converted into structured, legible and simple codes.

DhiWise’s API plugin will further automate the newly coded part by adding data binding, authentication, run time permissions, authorisations and more.

Individual developers can use the platform for free, but teams and enterprises have to buy monthly/annual plans for using the SaaS tools. DhiWise has not disclosed its financials but says the platform has more than 37K users. It plans to more than triple the user base by 2023.

EMotorad

Building Dual-Suspension E-Bikes For Clean Mobility

The concept of clean mobility for all has become increasingly popular as people and businesses across the globe join the fight to reduce vehicle pollution. Pune-based EMotorad had a similar mission and came up with a wide range of e-bikes and accessories, minus the charging headache.

Its flagship product is EMX, a dual-suspension e-bike with a 10.4 Ah removable Li-ion battery, a top speed of 25 kmph, a 50 km range and multi-terrain modes. To date, the startup has 10 SKUs across four categories – mountain e-bikes, foldable bikes, kick e-scooters and accessories such as batteries, bike helmets, cycle locks, tyre pumps and more. It has a manufacturing unit in Pune with a capacity to produce 90K e-bikes and e-scooters per year.

As the bikes come with removable batteries, these can be swapped easily or charged with a three-pin plug.

EMotorad sells its e-bikes and e-scooters online (via its website and marketplaces) and offline (through dealers, distributors and exclusive brand outlets). It claims to have sold more than 40K bikes since its launch in 2020 and has a monthly revenue of INR 10 Cr. Besides India, its products are available in a number of countries, including Nepal, Japan, the UAE, Spain, Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Australia.

The EV startup plans to build an activity tracker for its e-bikes and develop Android and iOS apps to create a cycling community by 2023.

Fairdeal Market

Offline Distribution Made Easy For D2C Brands

Gurugram-based Fairdeal Market was launched in April 2022 to make offline distribution of D2C brands as easy as selling via online marketplaces. So, it has developed a web-based platform and additional features to help brands choose the retail outlets through which they want to sell their products.

The digital platform onboards all types of retailers – kiranas, convenience stores, pharmacies/drug stores and superstores from various locations – for widespread reach and deep collaboration. Brands can sign up on Fairdeal to connect with their preferred retailers, and the startup helps them with logistics.

In simple terms, the marketplace-like distribution platform has done away with the brands’ dependency on wholesalers and other intermediaries who claim a large chunk of the revenue as sales commission.

Besides running the B2B bazaar, Fairdeal uses AI tools to provide real-time insights into brands’ inventories via a one-stop dashboard. It also partners with NBFCs to finance retailers who need the money for bulk buying.

The startup charges an undisclosed price markup from D2C brands and charges registered retailers a subscription fee for platform usage and brand relationship management. It has not disclosed the number of retail outlets on board but claims to be working with 12 brands, while 30 more are expected to join the platform by March 2023.

Fanztar

Web3 Makes Fans & Creators Partners In Profits

Built at the intersection of Web3 and the creator economy, Gurugram-based Fanztar promises a more rewarding engagement between creators and their fans. In this case, both can benefit monetarily from an interlinked digital journey.

For starters, fans will no longer consume content passively, hoping that a growing subscriber base will eventually attract monetary gains for their favourite creators. Instead, they can buy Fan Card NFTs developed by creators to drive their favourite’s growth. But this will not be a one-way thing.

Fans, too, stand to gain as each fan card is loaded with exclusive content, meet-and-greet opportunities, backstage access, social hangouts, virtual interactions and more. Plus, one gains from an income-sharing agreement for a limited period – say, a certain percentage of earnings from Insta ads or Spotify streams.

These creator NFTs are built on the Polygon blockchain and can be traded as collectables. Fanztar earns by charging a service fee on every transaction.

The year-old startup claims to have onboarded 80K users and more than 18 creators, besides selling 80K+ fan cards on its web-based platform. It plans to 10x the user base by 2023 and eyes more than 10K creators and over 10 Lakh fan cards in circulation.

Finequs

Financial Inclusion Goes Offline

Embedded finance like BNPL (buy now, pay later) has gone mainstream to enable large-scale financial inclusion. But most Bharat consumers need access to technology and devices to avail themselves of these new-age credit facilities. Realising the need to bring the ecosystem offline for greater reach, former banker Krishnan Vaidyanathan launched Finequs in 2019.

The Chennai-based fintech startup helps retail stores facilitate small-value loans, credit card usage and insurance schemes through its web platform. Users can visit the startup’s partner retail stores and specify their financial requirements, following which store owners can input the details via the Finequs dashboard. Next, the fintech firm uses its proprietary algorithms to assess credit risks, and loans are disbursed by its 60+ lending partners.

Users can apply for loans up to INR 10 Lakh for five years. Those seeking credit cards and insurance can specify their requirements, and the Finequs dashboard will display products to suit specific needs.

The startup claims it has tied up with more than 1 Mn retail outlets to facilitate loans for walk-in customers. Each retailer gets a commission on a successful application, while the fintech charges a service fee from its lending partners. For context, it only acts as an intermediary within the loan cycle but does not take any risk.

Finequs has not disclosed its financials but says it is growing its pan-India network to act as a catalyst for widespread financial inclusion.

Finverv

Embedding Credit Into Consumer Tech Platforms

Embedded financing has two distinct operational segments – the consumer tech players and their lending partners. To make the operations smooth and seamless for both sides, fintech experts Siddharth Bhardwaj and Sangeet Verma launched Finverv in 2021.

The Gurugram-based fintech SaaS startup offers a small-value loan product, enabling consumer internet companies to provide credit to their users. Besides, it helps them find a lending partner of choice (from its current portfolio of 10) or onboard a new lender by taking care of the agreements, tech support, onboarding and more.

For lenders, it has a plug-and-play toolkit covering loan origination and loan management systems, credit bureau services, risk management, KYC and onboarding of borrowers.

Finverv charges a subscription fee from lenders and their consumer tech partners, with plans to build a loan book of INR 100 Cr by mid-2023. As many as 20 companies have embedded the credit infrastructure, and the fintech aims to double the number in the current financial year.

FitBudd

All-In-One App For Personalised Health Coaching

Personal health coaches help people get 70% better results than self-serving apps and gym memberships. But appointing a personal trainer costs a lot, and only a few can afford them. Launched in 2021, Gurugram-based Fitbudd has a mission to bridge this outcome gap to change one’s lifestyle in a meaningful, sustainable way.

The all-in-one fitness app has been designed to provide full-stack services, including training and nutrition modules, activity tracking, analytics, chat and video calling, CRM features and e-payment options.

Trainers/instructors can use the SaaS platform for a subscription fee and engage with their clients digitally without losing their quality or personal touch. Fitness enthusiasts can pay a fee for the personal coach of their choice and start working out.

FitBudd has onboarded 1K+ solopreneurs from 20 countries and plans to more than double the number in 2023.

FretBox

A SaaS Platform For Rental Property Management

Platforms for managing rental properties are becoming increasingly popular as they focus on essential functions like tenant acquisition and screening, lease development, rent management and customer care.

Joining the bandwagon in 2021, Noida-based SaaS startup FretBox has developed a multi-featured app for hostels, PGs, coliving chains and rental housing communities to look after a whole bunch of routine-to-critical tasks. These include maintaining a digital notice board and a visitor log, amenities booking, digital assistance, rent collection, security desk and more.

Using FretBox is quite easy. A property manager has to set up an account on the platform and add the building and its residents to activate the service. Residents, too, can add their respective societies via FretBox’s Residents app and use it as a digital helpdesk. The platform charges a monthly subscription from housing societies/property owners.

FretBox caters to 100+ PGs and 10+ college campuses in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Odisha, earning a monthly revenue of INR 10 Lakh. It plans to onboard more than 300 properties by 2023.

Gladful

Lip-Smacking And Loaded With Protein

FMCG veterans Parul and Manu Sharma put the concept of Gladful into motion in early 2021 when their family paediatrician told the couple how protein deficiency could impact a child’s growth and daily activity.

Months of research later, the Jaipur-based D2C startup ventured into ready-to-cook chilla (multigrain pancakes) batters, offering vegetarian mixes made of rice, pea, beetroot, sprouts, milk protein and more. The FSSAI-approved brand also makes protein-rich cookies using unrefined cane sugar.

Gladful has 14 SKUs under two categories, containing 4-5g of protein per serving. All products are made at its in-house unit in Jaipur and have a shelf life of 270 days.

The FMCG brand has completed 60K transactions in a year, clocking 25% MoM growth. Nearly 30% of its revenue comes from sales on its website and through WhatsApp commerce, and the rest from ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and more.

It plans to cater to the quick commerce space from 2023 and earn an annual revenue of INR 600 Cr.

Goofy Tails

A One-Stop Hub For Petcare Products

More often than not, pet parents have to hunt through numerous websites to find best-in-class products – nutritious (and tasty) food, treats, toys and accessories – to keep their furry friends healthy and happy. To make their life easier, pet parents and brothers Karan, Kartik and Kunal Gupta joined Ashish Kaushal and launched Goofy Tails.

Started in 2019, the Delhi-based D2C brand has set up a one-stop hub for petcare products. It offers 80+ SKUs under four categories, including food (toppers, treats and broths) for pups, adult and older dogs, cat foods, pet toys, bowls and feeders, beds and mats, houses and water fountains, grooming accessories, bows, bandanas, party gear and more.

All its products are designed at the startup’s studios in Delhi and Noida and contract-manufactured in Delhi-NCR and Gujarat. However, its FSSAI-approved pet foods are developed by pet chefs and vets and exclusively produced at its in-house facility in Delhi.

Products are now sold on marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart, on the startup’s website and through vet clinics and pet stores, totalling nearly 2 Lakh orders since its launch.

Goofy Tails projects an annual revenue of INR 1.2 Cr by 2023 and plans to enter the Middle East, Singapore and the UK markets.

Gordian

Tech-Powered Lockers For Secure Parcel Delivery

Ecommerce has emerged as the most popular retail format due to its convenience. But every business model has a downside, and digital commerce is no exception. Lack of product provenance, loss of parcels, and fake and damaged goods often hit the headlines and make customers angry. So, Bengaluru-based logistics startup Gordian developed a secure delivery solution to prevent on-transit thefts.

To keep parcels safe during intracity transit in and around Bengaluru, Gordian offers IoT-enabled portable lockers and a dedicated delivery fleet. One can book the tech-locked safe box via its mobile app, and a delivery executive will arrive at the pickup location to initiate the process.

The sender can open the box using an OTP, secure the item inside and relock it. The storage box is tracked throughout the journey, and once it reaches the drop location, the recipient can open the same using another OTP.

Gordian’s services are primarily used by businesses and individuals delivering fine jewellery, gold coins and bars, laptops, mobile phones, documents and other expensive or important articles. It has a monthly subscription service for businesses and regular senders, but an on-demand booking for a one-off delivery is also possible.

Gordian has 200+ clients in the jewellery segment and plans to double the number in 2023. It may also launch secure delivery in two more cities early next year.

Karnival

Bolstering Post-Purchase Customer Engagement

In a consumer-first economy, getting real-time customer feedback is essential for businesses for sales growth and retention. But the manual process of gathering this data could be time-consuming, tedious and error-prone, leading to below-par performance and a broken engagement. So, Bengaluru-based Karnival is looking to simplify and personalise the post-purchase journey by leveraging a proprietary ‘smart receipts’ technology.

Launched in 2019, the SaaS startup offers a plug-and-play service suite for brick-and-mortar stores, including a digital billing tool, coupons for upselling and cross-selling, digital forms for surveys and feedback, rewards-driven engagement, warranty cards and more.

A partner brand will have to integrate Karnival’s API into its ERP, and the ‘smart receipts’ solution will capture and store user data during billing in compliance with the law of the land. The data capture and subsequent analytics will allow retailers to target customers better and engage with them meaningfully via texts and email messages.

The martech startup claims a 50%+ increase in feedback responses and a 130%+ rise in data collection from targeted campaigns. It currently caters to four enterprise clients and charges them an annual subscription fee.

Kidbea

Making Sustainable Babywear From Bamboo

Making quality baby clothing is no child’s play, especially when it is made from sustainable materials like bamboo. For context, bamboo makes an excellent fabric – soft, breathable and naturally hypoallergenic, protecting tender baby skin.

But Noida-based D2C brand Kidbea has gone one step further and used a proprietary nanotech to make the fabric spill-proof and easy to clean. The startup sources raw materials directly from bamboo farms, and the fabric is made at partner mills in Delhi. Next, the products are designed and manufactured at its in-house unit.

Kidbea launched a range of diapers and babywear in 2021 and currently offers 60+ SKUs under these categories. Products are sold on its website and across major ecommerce platforms like FirstCry, Myntra, Amazon, Flipkart and Fynd.

The baby clothing brand will open physical stores in India, expand to the MENA region and launch a baby skincare range in 2023. It plans to enter the US market by 2025 and build a community for young and soon-to-be parents.

Kytchens

A Multi-Brand, Multi-City Cloud Kitchen Operator

F&B brands (read restaurants) are increasingly looking at volume growth, but rapid expansion – within the city or pan-India – costs a pretty penny that few can afford. Enter Kytchens, a cloud kitchen service provider that allows F&B brands to operate on its turf for intra-city and intercity growth.

The service was launched in 2020 by former UberEats operations head Bansi Kotecha and celebrity chef Nachiket Shetye.

Mumbai-based Kytchens offers a ready-to-access solution that covers order procurement, production and food delivery for neighbourhood F&B brands if they want to expand to other parts of the cities where they operate or wish to enter new locations. Standalone restaurants can join its cloud kitchen operations, and customers are serviced via food aggregators like Swiggy, Zomato and Kytchens’ own outlets.

However, Kytchens now operates only in Mumbai, and its multi-city cloud kitchen services have yet to start.

The startup works with partner restaurants on revenue-sharing and helps them scale from 1 to many locations without any capex or opex burden. The cloud kitchen’s proprietary Kytchens Operating System (KOS) provides easy access to customers’ choice brands and streamlines inventory management, workforce training and planning, SOP implementation and more.

It currently runs seven cloud kitchens in Mumbai and has partnered with 25+ food brands. Kytchens also plans to increase its footprint in the city in 2023 by opening a QSR chain. In the next three years, it aims to reach the top 30 Indian cities where online food ordering sees significant growth.

OneAssure

A Nudge Towards The Right Insurance Plan

Too many term plans and health insurance options can confuse people as most want simpler choices and proper guidance to nudge them towards the best plans. Three-year-old OneAssure is focussing on that to make insurance buying seamless and hassle-free.

The Bengaluru-based insurance aggregator has developed a web-based platform where one can book an appointment with a OneAssure agent to make an informed choice. Several critical parameters, including insurance needs, lifestyle details, coverage limit and premium, among others, are considered during the consultation to zero in on the best deal in the market. The startup also offers lifetime assistance and helps with claim settlement.

OneAssure has more than 150 agents who help people choose from 10+ partner insurers. It earns a commission on every transaction, has an insurance broker’s licence from IRDAI and claims to have served more than 2.5K users.

Pricing.AI

Helping Businesses Manage Dynamic Pricing

Finding the optimal price for a consumer is a critical challenge faced by companies with dynamic pricing. Oftentimes, customers and service providers are unhappy with the outcomes, and the former frequently complain about being overcharged.

Realising the need for a DIY tool that can be commercialised and used by all and sundry, Rahul Gupta, OYO’s former head of data science, launched Pricing.AI in 2021.

The AI-powered SaaS tool enables retail and travel enterprises to set up pricing and discounting experiments. A business can sign up and build a custom dashboard with details of its products. Next, the startup’s web-based algo runs through more than 500 parameters (current demand, price elasticity, competitor’s price, season, day and dates, paying capacity and more) to optimise product prices and discounts. This prevents underselling products and protects a company’s bottom line.

The startup charges an annual subscription fee and claims to have onboarded 22 clients, while 90% of its revenue comes from the US, the UK, LATAM and a few Middle East nations. It targets an annual revenue of $1 Mn in the current financial year, with an EBITDA margin of 25%. By FY25, it plans to 10x the number of clients and annual revenue.

ProfitWheel

A Consumer Intelligence Platform For Optimised Marketing

Companies today prefer to run targeted campaigns instead of generic ads for the best possible outcomes. The only hitch: Customer behaviour evolves fast, and one needs to stay attuned to it for maximum impact. Real-time insights into consumer intelligence can get this job done without hassles, a core theme adopted by the Mumbai-based startup ProfitWheel.

Set up in 2020 by serial entrepreneurs Vivek Bhargava, Gautam Mehra and Aman Khanna, its flagship is Consumr.ai, a web-based dashboard allowing advertisers and their agencies to decode the mindset of their target audience.

The platform creates an initial layer of customer data that companies provide and combines it with non-personal behavioural signals from audience-focussed platforms. These behaviour points help brands understand what their customers are passionate about, the kind of content they consume and the activities they undertake, thus providing actionable insights for targeted advertisements.

ProfitWheel charges an annual subscription fee and plans to increase its client base in India and the US in 2023.

PulsOps

Data Analytics Made Efficient

In this age of big data, businesses have to handle more data than is cognitively possible for humans to monitor and analyse. In fact, without cutting-edge techvantage, navigating numerous data points across company dashboards, spreadsheets and manual processes may easily lead to misinformed or delayed actions, thus impacting business efficiency.

Aware of the complex nature of business data analysis, Delhi-based PulsOps has developed a full tech stack for data monitoring and a root cause analytics platform to help businesses derive actionable insights.

Launched in 2021, it provides a web-powered, company-specific dashboard where the operations team can connect all relevant data clusters, specify the filters/context for running the analysis and set up alerts to monitor all changes in the data.

PulsOps currently targets ecommerce and logistics sectors and monitors critical metrics such as fleet, inventory and incentive optimisation. It looks at weekly business performance via its machine learning algorithm and deduces patterns and anomalies.

The data intelligence platform charges a subscription fee and plans to hire more engineers and data scientists to enhance its product.

QubeHealth

Care Now, Pay Later

Compared to the global average of 4.1%, only 0.4% of Indians have health insurance. But the scenario gets worse due to inadequate coverage as pre-existing diseases/critical illnesses are not always covered by a standard package, or there is a long waiting period.

Mumbai-based QubeHealth was set up in 2019 to help the under-insured, especially salaried employees, and introduced the concept of no-cost EMIs to meet their out-of-pocket medical expenses.

When a company opts for QubeHealth’s services, it has to add its employees to the startup’s customised dashboard to extend access to a money-on-tap feature. Based on their salary details, QubeHealth’s finance partner Apollo Health provides a credit line to the employees of the registered company.

Employees can raise additional amounts for healthcare/medical expenses not covered by the company-provided health insurance. One can use the physical/digital health card or QubeHealth’s Android/iOS app to raise money. But to avail of this medical financing, they must be treated at one of the 11K+ QubeHealth-affiliated hospitals and clinics.

The startup charges a subscription fee from employers and an affiliation fee from hospitals and clinics. It claims to have disbursed more than INR 1,000 Cr in medical loans and eyes an annual revenue run rate of nearly INR 60 Cr by March 2023.

Ripik

AI Power For New-Age Manufacturing

In recent years, consumer and enterprise tech have matured by leaps and bounds, but the same cannot be said about manufacturing. So, in early 2020, third-generation manufacturing engineer Pinak Dattaray launched Ripik, an AI platform providing a bunch of solutions to make manufacturing more efficient and competitive.

By February 2022, the Delhi-based startup registered more than 11 IPs (intellectual properties) in the US and launched as many as six SaaS solutions. These enable production managers and manufacturing units to run analytics across procurement, distribution and shop floor optimisation for real-time decision-making.

For instance, Ripik Vision uses machine learning to convert random data into structured models to help decide on raw material and equipment requirements as well as production targets. Ripik Optimus enhances line balancing, scheduling and manpower allocation. Again, its APC (advanced process control) solution creates digital twins to optimise manufacturing processes.

Among the other three, there is Ripik Maintenance, a predictive maintenance solution for workforce management and store planning. Ripik AIFE helps build AI models of equipment to conduct root cause analyses (RCAs) and identify operating sweet spots that will maximise yield, energy efficiency, quality and throughput. Finally, there is Chao/s, a purpose-built solution to bring down costs by 3-5% at chlorine, alkali and caustic soda units.

The startup charges a development fee for creating floor plans and a monthly fee for its solutions. It eyes INR 3.75 Cr in revenue for the current financial year and plans to enter global markets by 2025.

Sangti

Controlling Carbon Footprints, One Shipment At A Time

Businesses today need to reduce their carbon footprints to control environmental impact. Many greentech platforms across industry segments are helping companies achieve net zero, but only a few focus on the supply chain, which cannot put a brake on gas or travel. So, former Bain & Company consultant Hitesh Bhuraria and second-time entrepreneur Nishant Singh started Sangti in July 2022 to help logistics players reduce their carbon footprints.

The Indore-based carbon tracking and advisory platform uses a plug-and-play dashboard to measure carbon outputs per shipment based on the weight and nature of the consignment and the type/s of shipping vehicles used.

Next, it features a host of suitable carbon management and climate financing solutions for the concerned companies so that they can make meaningful contributions to offset their carbon outputs.

Sangti currently works with India’s three largest logistics players to help them achieve decarbonisation goals. It charges a subscription fee for its dashboard use and an advisory fee on the carbon management solution/s chosen by its clients.

Shypmax

A Specialist in Cross-Border Logistics

India’s burgeoning export-import ecosystem requires robust logistics support. Keeping that in mind, New Delhi-based Shypmax has developed a SaaS solution for end-to-end cross-border shipping, including air and road freight, door-to-door delivery of small-to-large parcels (50g-5,000 kg) and everything in-between.

Launched in 2020, the startup caters to B2B, B2C and C2C markets, helping clients book and track their global shipments in a hassle-free manner.

For the B2B segment, Shypmax takes care of all compliances and taxes, customs clearance, end-to-end warehousing, freight forwarding and more. For B2C businesses, it offers an API solution that can be integrated with carts, marketplace accounts and order processing platforms for quick and reliable services. Individuals looking to ship their packages can book its courier service.

Shypmax owns first-mile and last-mile fleets in 20 Indian cities and partners with 70+ third-party logistics and warehousing companies for global connectivity. It currently operates in 220 countries, including the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and a few Middle East nations, among others.

The startup eyes an annual revenue of $10 Mn in FY23 and plans to expand its presence in 50 more cities in India. It will introduce self-owned fleets in major operational areas by 2023 and offer ocean freight services.

The Energy Company

Quick Battery Boost For EV 2Ws

The Energy Company (TEC) founders – Rahul Lamba, Pratik Somani and Prashant Rathee – were part of the founding team of EV maker Ather Energy and product managers at mobility startup Micelio. But soon, the trio realised that most of the EV two-wheelers made in India failed to fulfil the commercial requirements of green mobility due to issues around battery technology.

So, the hardware-focussed SaaS startup was launched in 2021 to provide a state-of-the-art energy storage system. Its battery, called FlexiPack, can be charged in just under 15 minutes for a 50 km top-up and requires 40 minutes for a full charge to cover a 100 km range.

Better still, these batteries can be used with all popular EV models and chargers. TEC promises to repurchase them after the battery life ends in about four years.

FlexiPack’s operations are further boosted by FlexiTwin, a freemium SaaS tool that provides timely insights into predictive maintenance, performance improvement and sustainability. But it is still in the MVP stage and will be open for beta testing in March 2023.

The Bengaluru-based startup is still at a pre-revenue stage but has run pilots with two fleet operators. It plans to sell more than 3,000 batteries in early 2023.

Wranga

Rates & Reviews Kids’ Content To Guide Parents

Kids today are growing up in a digital-first world, constantly surrounded by gadgets and technology. The outcome: Most of them, including younger children and toddlers, are glued to the internet and social media, sampling content that may not be suitable for their age.

Despite parental controls and limited screen time, iPad kids are aplenty, and content curation for young adults remains a critical issue. Enter Delhi-based Wranga with Android and iOS apps to help parents find kid-friendly content.

Launched in February 2022, the startup categorises kid-specific content, games and apps under suitable age groups and provides detailed reviews and ratings to guide parents. It also flags objectionable content in any format, whether audio, audio-visual, images or graphics.

Still in an early stage of content curation, Wranga is building its library with manually created long-length reviews of prominent pieces.

A parent has to log in to the platform and choose a piece of content from the gallery to check its suitability. Or they can pick a piece of their kid’s choice and check the ratings and reviews. If the content is watched or downloaded on the Wranga app, they are charged a pay-as-you-go fee.

The startup also creates online safety curricula for schools and conducts interactive workshops. So far, it has hosted five physical workshops. In addition, the platform makes people aware of parental controls to safeguard children’s exposure to social media and provides a toolkit to help parents counter incidents like cyberbullying.

Wranga is currently building an AI platform to aggregate parents’ reviews, ratings and choice of age-appropriate content. Next year, it will license its patent-pending review algorithm for OTT platforms and other content-focussed apps to show a kid-friendliness score and content review on the go. It will also launch a community feature, helping parents talk with experts and clarify queries.

YouShd

Turning Customers Into Influencers for Brand Marketing

Organic word-of-mouth recommendations tend to hold sway even when they come from perfect strangers. That’s why looking at customer reviews is a must for most online shoppers. But this feeling of trust is bound to grow manifold when the voices of friends and family gain weightage on social media, winning as much traction as influencer marketing does.

Interestingly, Delhi-based YouShd is building an entire ecosystem around this concept of ‘customers turned influencers’. It helps D2C brands gain traction based on the positive shopping experiences posted (on request) by shoppers on social platforms. In doing so, the startup has also democratised the world of influencer marketing.

This is how it works. YouShd’s B2B2C marketing solution can be integrated with a brand’s Shopify stores. When shoppers buy from that store, there will be auto sign-ups on the YouShd platform, and they will be asked to share their purchases with friends and family on social media. In return, the customers-turned-influencers will get monetary rewards based on views, clicks and conversions.

The social commerce enabler was set up in 2022, but it has yet to launch commercially. It will charge a performance-based fee from clients, a percentage of which will be awarded to consumers-turned-influencers. Currently, YouShd is inviting brands to join its waitlist.

ZenOnco

Holistic Support To Fight Cancer

Fighting cancer is a life-changing experience, more so due to the lack of a one-stop platform featuring the A-to-Z of cancer care, from treatments and procedures to lifestyle modifications and stress management. But no one understands this ordeal better than those who have lost their near and dear ones to cancer. It was precisely why cancer researchers Dimple Parmar and Kishan Shah launched ZenOnco in 2019 to provide streamlined, end-to-end patient care in India.

The Bengaluru-based startup has developed Android and iOS apps to connect patients with cancer experts and oncologists over calls and texts for details on surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and other advanced treatments.

It also provides support services such as diet monitoring, oxygen therapy, use of medical cannabis (for pain control) and ayurvedic practices, immune system stimulation, exercise and counselling (for patients and their families), and access to support groups.

ZenOnco charges a fee per service and has partnered with more than 12 hospitals for patient appointments via its apps.

[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eye In November 2022 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Indian startup ecosystem is undergoing a paradigm shift. But young companies are no longer on the same track followed by the country’s storied IT industry or deep-pocketed startup veterans like Flipkart, Ola and Zomato.

Today’s entrepreneurs have moved away from the exclusive realm of software services and are treading the hitherto unexplored territory. Hardware, to be precise.

With Industry 4.0 well and truly upon us, new-age technologies have already transformed machines and manufacturing processes. IoT and IIoT, or HeSaaS (hardware-enabled SaaS), for that matter, will be the game changers soon, bringing the cognitive edge to proprietary hardware. So, it is surprising to see a steady rise in the number of Indian startups that design and sell these next-generation connected devices.

Having said that, one has to admit that the ecosystem lacks adequate exposure to lab research and market testing, making this segment hard (and expensive) to penetrate. In fact, there are two schools of thought prevalent around startups specialising in hardware.

The first argues against investing more capital and resources into these digital devices and targets the ‘software’ products – the nerve centre of innovation until now. The second school acknowledges the ‘high cost’ concerns but states that the rise of hardware companies will stabilise the market that primarily deals in SaaS.

As we sat down to shortlist the startups for Inc42’s 33rd edition of 30 Startups To Watch, we wanted to showcase how easy it could be to explore a niche and develop physical products with digital excellence/software-like functionalities. The journey has started even when equity funding in startups is at its lowest in two years. This is also why the latest edition is nothing short of a meaningful deep dive into the core of India’s startup ecosystem.

While manufacturing in India is slowly but surely getting disrupted with deeptech-led automation, the world is taking notice. Much of the tech-driven precision manufacturing is moving to India in spite of the availability of cheap labour across other South and Southeast Asian countries.

Add to that the Indian government’s pro-industry policies and production-linked incentive schemes, which have paved the path for a hardware metamorphosis.

Consider this. More than 12 startups out of our carefully curated 30 are building commercial hardware tools and devices with a layer of cloud-integrated software applications. This is the right time to turn the spotlight on them as they try to revolutionise their specific industry segments.

30 Startups To Watch: October 2022

Although enterprise tech startups never fail to catch our attention, the Inc42 team was determined to make this list completely sector-agnostic (and tech-focussed) this time. What’s more, we have primarily focussed on bootstrapped startups or those securing less than $1 Mn in funding. But entering the hardware-heavy tech ecosystem and bringing to the fore novel use cases truly intrigued us, and our readers would love the experience.

Our current edition features a myriad of startups. From remote working enablers to esports studios, from EVs to drones, from blockchain-driven checkouts to fintechs reimagining savings and investments – we have it all and more. As many as six of the 30 startups are enterprise tech businesses, followed by five ecommerce startups. There are four fintechs with unique value propositions, three each in agritech and EV, two each in healthtech, blockchain and deeptech, and one each in gaming, HR tech and proptech.

Check out the 33rd edition of Inc42 Plus’ 30 Startups To Watch list.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

AgriGator

An Agricultural Marketplace For B2B Deals

The agri-supply chain in India is broken, to say the least, leading to food wastage and impacting farmers’ incomes. Aware of the ground realities (especially the profiteering intermediaries), IIM-Ahmedabad alumni Udit Sangwan and Charu Chaturvedi set up AgriGator to ensure sustainable growth for agri-businesses.

Started in 2019, the platform runs an online marketplace that brings together producers/suppliers, agri processors, bulk buyers and logistics providers to facilitate sound and fair trade.

The B2B marketplace deals in food grains and focusses on end-to-end supply chain management, including product discovery, price negotiations, supplier review, shipping, payments and reconciliation. It also provides agri-financing in partnership with banks and NBFCs.

AgriGator charges a commission on every transaction plus a membership fee from agri-businesses for premium services like supply chain analytics.

The startup began its journey from Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal, to be precise) and expanded into Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. It is now planning to grow its annual revenue by 5x to INR 400 Cr in FY23.

BirdAI

Bridging The Gap Between Digital & Physical

As hybrid work becomes the new normal, collaborative workspace solutions are in great demand. BirdAI was set up in 2021 to bridge the divide between physical and digital spaces in sync with the new-age requirements.

The Bengaluru-based startup has adopted HeSaaS (hardware-enabled SaaS) to come up with BirdHub, a wireless collaboration device with a built-in camera, an array of microphones and a digital whiteboard. Placed on a TV/computer monitor, it transforms an existing meeting room screen into a collaborative workspace with immersive videoconferencing and presentation capabilities, thus reducing Zoom fatigue.

Another flagship is BrightClass that caters to the hybrid learning ecosystem. Simply put, this is an AV whiteboard with a host of features such as a built-in learning management system (LMS) and support for all learning modes, including live discussions, classroom-style teaching, quizzes and presentations.

Most of the startup’s revenue comes from device sales. BirdAI claims to have sold products worth $1.5 Mn within six months of a pilot and plans to reach $20 Mn by 2023 by entering international markets.

Butterfly Learnings

Paediatric Care For NDD, Behavioural Issues

In India, one in six children aged between two and nine suffers from at least one type of neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD). (For context, NDDs can range from learning disabilities to mental retardation, autism and more.) Moreover, young adults aged 7-15 also feel depressed, which may lead to functional impairments and other behavioural disorders also coming under this overarching category.

Aware of the lack of paediatric care in this space, Sonam Kothari and Abhishek Sen, both of them medical practitioners, founded Butterfly Learnings in 2021. The platform helps children suffering from NDDs and behavioural issues through applied behavioural analysis (ABA), speech therapy and occupational therapy.

It runs four brick-and-mortar centres in Mumbai and Thane and also provides online sessions for real-time treatments.

Butterfly Learnings is looking to scale up and treat more than 2,000 children in 2022 and expand its physical presence across the country.

Crowd Control

Building The Esports Fraternity

Esports is becoming increasingly popular in India, but the ecosystem still needs an organised fraternity to spur its growth. So, Gurugram-based Crowd Control Esports has been building such a community since 2020.

The phygital platform provides access to gaming events to a dedicated fan base and helps them benefit from the ecosystem. Currently, it offers three services.

CrowdForge helps gamers create local esports intellectual property (IPs). KhelShala is for honing skills as it teaches how to develop games using GFX, VFX, 3D, XR and more. Then there are brick-and-mortar CCE Studios in India and Singapore that hold tournaments and live events like e-gaming conventions.

The startup also mentors gamers, streamers and community ambassadors and streams online sessions of not-so-popular games.

Crowd Control declines to disclose its revenue numbers, citing confidentiality but claims it is growing 20% month-on-month. It plans to host a couple of conventions, expand to gaming infotainment and teach how to build games to more than 12,500 enthusiasts with the help of 2,500+ professionals involved in game design and development.

dox2U

Hassle-free Information Warehousing

Document management at the enterprise level remains laborious and expensive for companies still sticking to paperwork, using legacy DMS with data silos (read virtual walls that hinder moving from one folder to another) or storing digitised information in local servers. Gurugram-based dox2U has solutions for all.

Unlike the hard-to-read scanned documents uploaded in most workplace databases, this startup uses an integrated ICR (intelligent character recognition) engine to extract text from images efficiently. More importantly, 160 languages are covered by this tool.

Once the documents are processed, and the repository is built, these can be stored in easy-to-navigate smart cabinets in the cloud. Moreover, every piece of information can be quickly retrieved using content-based deep search and multilevel filtering. dox2U also ensures bank-grade security, enabling companies to control information access as per requirement.

The SaaS startup did several pilots since its inception in 2020 and finally went live in August this year with 15 enterprise clients. It has adopted a freemium model, offers a pay-as-you-go option and aims to onboard more than 1K enterprise clients from India, the Middle East and North America by 2023.

Dubverse

Auto-Dubbing Videos In Multiple Languages

Video consumption will grow by leaps and bounds as technology finally removes language barriers. Launched in 2021, Gurugram-based Dubverse uses generative AI to auto-dub video content in more than 30 regional and international languages. Moreover, video creators (both individuals and brands) can choose from 150+ pre-set voiceover tracks and add subtitles in English or any other language.

One needs to upload the video on the web-based platform and choose the language and the voice track for dubbing. Next, a script in the specified language is generated for the user to self-review before the actual dubbing. Understandably, this reduces the cost and time of video regeneration.

Dubverse says it has worked with 600+ users and processed 20K+ videos since its launch. There are two payment options – a monthly fee per creator and a charge for per-minute dubbing in case of one-off projects. It has yet to disclose revenue numbers but claims to be growing 2x month on month.

By 2023, the SaaS platform will offer contextual translations and focus on training, learning and development, knowledge building, product explainers, how-tos and review videos.

EroEV

EV Charging Made Easy

EVs are the most preferred mode of sustainable commuting in the net-zero era. But with less than a thousand public charging stations in India, the ecosystem needs a boost. EroEV is a 10-month-old Kolkata-based startup that instals IoT-powered fast EV charging points in commercial buildings, kirana stores, malls and offices to ensure round-the-clock service for all EV users.

EV owners (2W, 3W and 4W vehicles) can download the startup’s Android/iOS app to locate the nearest charging point and scan the QR code to pay and schedule a charging session. One can pre-book a slot or book it on arrival by scanning a QR code at the charging station. The device gets activated after payment, and an LED indicator denotes it when the vehicle is fully charged.

EroEV’s revenue mainly comes from device sales to property owners who set up charging points on their premises. It also charges a maintenance fee to ensure the infrastructure runs smoothly 24×7.

The startup is operational only in Kolkata, works with one enterprise client and runs five charging stations. But it plans to expand to 10 more Indian cities, deploy 2K+ charging points and have 4K+ daily active users (DAU) by FY23. It also targets an ARR of $150K in the current financial year.

In the long term, EroEV plans to set up 50K+ charging outlets and cater to 100K+ daily active users.

Esmito

EaaS For Commercial Vehicles

Battery-swapping is a popular option to keep EVs running minus range anxiety. But only a few solutions exist for goods and passenger vehicles like pickup trucks, three-wheeler cargo carriers or electric buses. Chennai-based Esmito is an early-mover in this space and provides IoT-powered EaaS (energy-as-a-service) for logistics companies and last-mile mobility players.

The startup sells Lithium-ion batteries for electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers to end users and OEMs and runs battery-swapping stations using franchise and subscription models. It has also developed a centralised SaaS system for efficient management of EV charging, connecting drivers’ dashboards to charging stations.

Four-year-old Esmito claims to have done more than 10K battery swaps and operates around 520 charging stations across the country. It plans to maintain its growth momentum in the 2W and 3W charging space to push its revenue in FY23.

Falca Solutions

Tech Transforming Indian Farming

Farming in India is yet to see optimised production and better income generation. Fortunately, agritech startups like Falca Solutions are providing cutting-edge services to take Indian agriculture to the next level.

The Bengaluru startup has a phygital business model and offers high quality agri inputs, farm advisory services, marketplace connects, machine renting and warehousing across Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Its F-shop helps farmers procure farm inputs from 60+ manufacturers and choose from 950 SKUs. F-market enables the farming community to sell their outputs to 65+ corporate buyers. F-advisory offers personalised advisory services on call (best agri practices, crop maintenance, weather data, market prices and more). Again, F-hire is for renting farming machinery, and F-storage ensures reliable warehousing.

Falca says it has served more than 120K farmers since its launch in 2018, helped reduce production costs by 20% and increased production by 10%. As a result, farmers’ net income has gone up by 25%.

The agritech startup charges a markup on the goods and services and aims to grow its revenue nearly 4x in FY23 to INR 300 Cr.

Falca is working on private-label farm inputs and an in-house ERP called Falca Connect, scheduled to be launched in FY23. It also plans to integrate its call centre-style advisory services with WhatsApp, create a crop doctor tool and develop a crop quality analyser based on image processing. The agritech startup wants to reach 10 Indian states by 2025 and earn an annual revenue of INR 2,500 Cr.

Flebo

At-Home Diagnostics With Benefits Galore

Doorstep diagnostics are fast emerging as a go-to solution for people looking for convenience and quick results. But the results can take longer than expected, or documents may go missing, leading to stress and delayed medical treatment. So, Gurugram-based Flebo is looking to disrupt the system by offering a bunch of convenient options.

To begin with, people can book these tests online and select their preferred labs. They can schedule it at the time and place of their choice – it can be done at home or even in one’s office if the situation demands it.

Customers can compare the prices of more than 2,500 diagnostic tests/health packages from the marketplace-style web platform that features 80+ major labs.

Flebo also provides trained phlebotomists (for Covid testing), guarantees on-time sample pickups, uses bevel-tipped needles for patient safety and ensures safe transportation of temperature-sensitive samples in cold gel backpacks (developed in-house).

All reports will be available on Flebo, making it easy to access historical data. It charges commissions from lab partners and currently operates in the Delhi-NCR region. However, the medtech startup plans to expand into other metros by FY23.

Fuzen.io

The SaaS Enabler For Businesses

In a digital-first era, startups and legacy players adopt SaaS tools and systems for cost-effective and resource-lean business operations. But there is a problem of plenty. Finding the right setup from a wide range of solutions can take time, while developing everything in-house may not be viable for cash-strapped entrepreneurs.

Nashik-based Fuzen.io is building a no-code DevOps solution and a SaaS marketplace to bridge this gap. This will enable non-tech founders to assemble SaaS solutions as per their requirements and developers to build and sell applications via the marketplace.

A user has to sign in, create a project and choose a pre-designed template to start working. One can also develop a customised solution using the drag-and-drop feature of these web-based solutions. If a SaaS tool is available on Fuzen’s marketplace, users need to instal the same, pay the subscription fee and connect with the workflow to start using the tool.

As the SaaS builder is currently in private beta, users can only choose from pre-designed templates.

Fuzen aims to expand its user base to 100+ SaaS builders by FY23, besides adding a bouquet of services such as user analytics, visitor insights, content marketing, SEO and more. Once open to the public, the SaaS marketplace will charge a 15-25% commission on the subscription revenues earned by developers.

Investmint

Smart Solutions For Retail Investors

Retail investors in India are growing at a fast clip. But given their lack of in-depth knowledge of the financial markets – only 27% are financially literate compared to a global average of 33% – investment advisories are rapidly gaining traction.

Set up in January 2022, Bengaluru-based Investmint has a simple but critical value proposition. It clarifies short-term and long-term investment scenarios and offers several simulations to understand the nitty-gritty before actual investments.

One has to sign up on Investmint’s Android/iOS app to access its services. If the user has an investment portfolio, it can be linked to the simulations. Otherwise, the person can open an account with its partner brokerage firms.

The app features eight systematic and quantitative models to invest in concepts such as sector superstars, momentum investing, beat the index and more. After testing the simulations to understand what works best for one’s financial goals, the same can be replicated on the portfolio.

The app is currently in early access mode. Hence, its data-backed models and investment tools are free for its community of 1K+ retail investors. The startup is looking at a freemium model with subscription tiers and aims to get more than 250K members by 2025.

Karpine

Product Provenance Via Blockchain

Barcodes and holograms may not be adequate safeguards against fake products, as many online and offline shoppers have found. But the game changes when blockchain is brought into this mix. So, Bengaluru-based Karpine has introduced Web3-based anti-counterfeiting solutions for retail and an automated checkout system for brick-and-mortar stores.

To weed out counterfeits, the startup’s web platform uses IoT and blockchain to create a ‘digital twin’ for every physical product. It also generates a unique smart label for each item (similar to a product code). Any QR code/RFID/NFC reader can read the label online or offline (it is also stuck on a physical product) to track the product’s journey.

Additionally, a no-code plugin creates NFTs for limited-edition items directly from a brand’s catalogue to prevent online fraud. Brands can also develop loyalty board-style metaverses for these NFT usages.

The automated checkout is a two-click process aimed to improve the in-store experience. Here buyers can choose a product and swipe it on the machine for the ‘reader’ to view the digital code and authenticate it. Users can pay after product provenance is established beyond doubt.

Unlike the AI-powered checkout machines priced at around $100K, Karpine’s blockchain-based hardware costs about one-tenth.

The Bengaluru-based startup ran a pilot with a brand two months ago and currently works for fashion and luxury retail segments. It will charge companies per ‘digital twin’ and expand its client base in FY23.

Loopworm

A Sustainable Leap From Food Waste To Animal Feed

Commercial insect-farming to produce nutrient-rich animal feed (fishmeal, poultry feed, livestock and pet food) and soil fertilisers is still a niche segment in India. But early-mover startup Loopworm is bang on it, building multi-species insect-rearing units in partnership with smallholder farmers.

Started in 2019 by IIT-Roorkee alumni Ankit Alok Bagaria and Abhi Gawri, the Bengaluru-based business collects and uses food waste (post-consumer waste accounts for 50% of the total waste in India) for insect rearing. It is still in R&D mode but will soon develop animal feed products for B2B customers, mainly feed manufacturers.

Loopworm will sell four products – Loop-Meal (defatted insect protein concentrate), Loop-Oil (fat source for animal food), Loop-Grubs (feed for fish and birds) and Loop-Frass (soil fertiliser made of insect skins, droppings and fibres).

It plans to manufacture 2K tonnes of products per month by FY23 and 300K+ tonnes of insect protein and insect-based oil every month by 2030.

LXME

A Neobank Targeting Inclusivity

Mumbai-based LXME is a neobanking startup that taps into the middle-income segment and helps women control their finances better. The two-year-old startup was the brainchild of Harvard Business School graduate Priti Rathi Gupta who realised how the digital-only banking ecosystem fell short of financial inclusivity.

LXME offers the usual features of a neobank, investment and insurance products, financial planning calculators and financial literacy modules. It has recently introduced mutual fund-style child education plans and ventured into the personal loan segment.

The startup operates via its Apple and Android apps and charges commissions on all its products.

It claims cumulative downloads of more than 100K downloads as well as 30 Mn+ content views across a community of 4K+ women. It also plans to take the number of women on its platform to more than 10 Mn in the next five years.

MasterChow

Pepping Up Asian Cuisines

Most Indians love authentic gourmet dishes, especially the delicious varieties from all over Asia. Aware of this penchant for delectable Asian cuisines, F&B entrepreneurs Sidhanth Madan and Vidur Kataria opened New Delhi-based MasterChow in 2020.

The D2C startup offers 14 SKUs under three categories, including Asian stir-fry sauces, oils and ready-to-eat dips, to help home cooks quickly whip up restaurant-style dishes. The startup creates original recipes, uses natural ingredients and produces all condiments in-house in batches of 100K bottles.

Currently, MasterChow products are available on its website, major marketplaces and a number of kirana stores. But it plans to set up offline distribution in FY23 and eyes revenue of INR 25 Cr. The food brand aims to become a household name by 2025 and clock a 20x jump in revenue.

Neuron Energy

Powering Up The EV Future

In spite of an up-and-coming EV ecosystem in India and the government’s production-linked incentive schemes, EV battery startups are pretty few. However, childhood buddies Pratik Kamdar and Raj Shah quickly identified a huge opportunity in this segment and set up Neuron Energy in 2018 to reduce the country’s dependency on China.

The Mumbai-based startup makes lead-acid and Lithium-ion batteries for EV two-wheeler and three-wheeler manufacturers. Its sophisticated batteries feature a microprocessor-based battery management system to ensure constant output, quick charging, a longer cycle due to optimum utilisation and multiple safety layers.

Interestingly, Neuron is also the parent company of Adler, which makes battery-powered golf carts.

The startup sells more than 3K batteries a month and plans to scale up the monthly production to more than 20K by 2024. It will also expand into ancillary products such as chargers and charging stations across 24 cities and targets an annual revenue of INR 100 Cr by 2025.

Okulo Aerospace

UAVs For Smart Monitoring

Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones are now built in droves for mapping, surveying and aerial photography. However, Bengaluru-based Okulo Aerospace specialises in two varieties of surveillance drones – one to cater to enterprises and another to fulfil defence requirements.

Okulo’s long-endurance solar-EV hybrid drones and pseudo satellites (high-altitude unmanned aircraft) are patent-pending in India. Those developed for the defence forces will also feature military-grade intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. Once deployed, these UAVs will help with live target monitoring, quick decision-making based on real-time data and critical mission controls.

The startup is still in the pre-revenue stage but claims to have five prospective clients. Okulo will sell its UAVs to defence units and other customers and offer surveillance-as-a-service. It also plans to conduct test flights and get all necessary certifications by FY23.

Planify

A Marketplace For Founders And Funders

Raising funds for startups has become a daunting task with the onset of a funding winter. Investors, too, find it equally challenging to zero in on curated companies with good growth prospects. Hence, Gurugram-based Planify offers a marketplace-style investment platform that benefits both founders and funders.

Set up in 2021, the investment tech platform helps founders with personalised financial projections, pitch decks, investment decks, research reports, valuations and equity restructuring services. It also educates startup employees about ESOP programmes, helps determine the value of their ESOPs and enables ESOP liquidation when required.

For investors, it offers pre-IPO and secondary share sales in partnership with AIF distributors, mutual fund agents, stock brokers and more. All its revenue is generated through investment activities.

Planify claims it has 250 unlisted companies/startups on the marketplace and 10K+ investors. It plans to grow the number of investors to more than 50K by 2025.

Reevoy

Export Enabler For Fashion & Home Décor SMEs

Coming from textile business families, Ishan Dadhich and Mohit Agarwal had a fair idea about the difficulties encountered when exporting fashion and home décor items from India. So, the duo joined hands with fellow Drip Capital colleague Ankur Khetan to foray into this space with Reevoy.

Launched in 2020, the Mumbai-based export marketplace helps big brands in fashion and home décor space buy from small businesses across India and Bangladesh. Apart from finding quality exporters, Reevoy streamlines the entire production process (from concept to final quality checks) and purchases goods on credit from its 80+ partner factories across India and Bangladesh.

The B2B commerce startup currently caters to importers from the UAE and the UK. The latter can directly find the suppliers on the web-based platform and share design expectations with them. Otherwise, they can choose the products from Reevoy’s extensive catalogue. The startup uses 3D modelling for cost and TAT (turnaround time) estimates and ships the orders booked on the platform.

Reevoy says it has sold more than 1 Mn products and aims to sell another 2 Mn by FY23. It will also add 200+ factories and 40+ importers to its portfolio by that time.

Runo

Mobile CRM For End-To-End Call Management

Forget the age-old call centres or new-age, cloud-based CRMs. Hyderabad-based Runo has built a SIM-based mobile CRM solution with loads of features, making it both efficient and cost-effective.

In simple terms, a number is allotted to a registered company for seamlessly managing all telecalling processes, especially sales CRM. This can be a standalone system or connected to existing CRMs and cloud telephony operations.

Set up in 2018, Runo’s Android and iOS apps fulfil the requirements of a full-fledged CRM service suite, including outbound call management for sales and marketing, customer care, follow-up and callback notifications, contact database management and more. It tracks and records business calls, meetings, email messages and the live status of remote teams, as well as all other interactions between salespeople and prospects.

Businesses can also customise mobile CRM features as per requirements.

The startup is looking to expand globally and will enter the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the US markets in a phased manner.

Settl

Co-Living Makes A Comeback

The pandemic drove people away from offices and academic institutions for months, and co-living as a business model took a beating for more than two years. But Bengaluru-based Settl was foresighted enough to estimate the regrowth in the era of the hybrid workspace. (It would require people’s physical presence in a given location if not mandatory office attendance throughout the week). That was why former Nestaway executives Abhishek Tripathi, Bharath Bhaskar and Ashok Reddy went ahead with their co-living startup in 2020 when people huddled up at home.

Settl currently offers more than 1,500 beds across 30 properties.

The business model is simple. It pays (long-term) leasing fees to owners of fully furnished properties, manages renters’ onboarding and looks after maintenance and marketing.

Its earnings come from rents that cover housekeeping services, power and water bills, Wi-Fi charges and more. Settl property managers also organise events like parties and picnics to build an engaged community.

Currently, Settl properties are only available in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurugram and have 98% occupancy. But the startup plans to expand into three more cities, offer 3,500 beds and hit an annual revenue of INR 15 Cr in FY23. It targets more than 15K beds across 10 cities by 2025 and eyes INR 200 Cr in yearly revenue.

Strive

A Stock Exchange-Style NFT Marketplace

The Gurugram-based Web3 startup was launched in December 2021 to create a mass-level understanding of the new-age tech ecosystem. Within two months, it amassed more than 35K learners but pivoted to an NFT marketplace after noticing that part-ownership of NFT assets was a niche not explored much in India.

In mid-2022, Strive launched a multichain-compatible fractional NFT protocol, allowing NFT holders to sell part ownership of their collections. Interestingly, people can buy NFTs of physical collectables on this platform for as low as $1.

Additionally, users can launch NFT collections on multiple chains, buy NFT index fund tokens (mutual fund-style baskets for investments) and short NFT collections for better profit.

The startup charges a commission of 0.25-0.5% on NFT buying and selling and 10% for NFT minting when users launch their non-fungible tokens. It plans to introduce a native token called STRV, build a million-strong user base and hit an annual revenue of $5 Mn in FY23.

TeamInUp

An Intelligent Platform For Job-Talent Match

Hiring the wrong candidate is the worst nightmare of every business. So, Bengaluru-based Teaminup has developed a role recommendation engine based on behavioural analytics to bring together ambitious companies and talented candidates.

Employers can create projects/tasks on the startup’s mobile app or web-based platform and use its patent-pending psychometric solution to find ‘collaborators’ or hire team members with the desired skills and mindset.

Teaminup also has a database of 50K+ jobseekers who can search the platform to discover ideas, projects or events that match their interests, skills and comfort levels.

Since its launch in 2021, the startup has done paid pilots for a few large organisations. It has a pay-per-use model in place and eyes an ARR of $70K in FY23.

Tradyl

A Marketplace Pushing Sellers’ Growth

The world loves the creative excellence of Indian fashion and home décor items. But big gaps in the cross-border supply chain often hinder the global growth of local manufacturers. Shweta Agrawal noticed this during her stint with Flipkart and set up Tradyl to connect international retailers with Indian SMEs specialising in these verticals.

The social marketplace was launched in 2021, enabling global D2C brands, online sellers, digital labels and influencers-turned-entrepreneurs to communicate, procure and explore unique and stylish products online. On the sellers’ side, there are more than 50 small manufacturers and suppliers from Tirupur (Tamil Nadu), Panipat (Haryana), Surat, Jaipur, Delhi, Kolkata and other Indian cities.

Tradyl takes care of quality control, order placement, payment processing, customs clearance and logistics for buyers and sellers. It charges an undisclosed product margin from sellers and targets an annualised GMV of $1 Mn in FY23.

By 2025, the marketplace plans to onboard more than 1K buyers and 2K+ suppliers for selling desi products across international markets.

Unscript AI

Reducing Cart Abandonment With Re-Engagement

Ecommerce lacks the personal touch of brick-and-mortar retail, often leading to a high cart abandonment rate. So, IIT-Kharagpur alumnus Ritwika Chowdhury decided to leverage AI and communication technology to protect the business bottom line of online sellers. She set up unScript.AI in 2021 and onboarded cofounder Apurv Jain (also an IIT-KGP alumnus) in July this year.

The Bengaluru-based SaaS startup follows a three-pronged approach to re-engage with customers. When a shopper abandons the cart, it sends a personalised video as a product reminder. If they are first-time visitors, messages are mailed and retargeting videos are sent via WhatsApp to turn them into customers. It also offers a guided video shopping experience within a seller’s app.

In the backend, a seller needs to upload just one video and the product catalogue, and the AI tool clones the speaker’s face and voice for product-specific interactions.

The startup charges a fee per video and targets an ARR of $1 Mn in FY23. It will enter the US market within the next six months and the EU and other Southeast Asian countries by 2025.

VFLYX India

Driving Drone Adoption For Critical Use Cases

The drone ecosystem in India is still nascent, but Bengaluru-based VFLYX has already made its mark among the early movers. Founded in 2021, this startup builds UAVs for different use cases. These include agricultural ops (spraying and seeding), mining activities (surveying, inventory tracking, stockpile estimation and more), air cargo services, mapping, surveillance and inspection.

Approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), these drones have a maximum payload of 16 kg, can fly up to 50 minutes, have a battery capacity of 13,000 mAh and feature ultra HD cameras for video and pictures.

Revenue comes from selling and renting drones (drone-as-a-service) to logistics companies and other industry segments. The startup plans to push the sales of its heavy-lift drones to cater to top logistics players dealing in medical and ecommerce supplies.

VFLYX claims to be working on wireless charging of drones and drone pods to automate their operations further and ensure maximum convenience.

Wright Research

Automating Investment Intelligence For Retail Investors

Robo-advisors for ‘informed’ investment decisions are not exactly new. But with the number of retail investors skyrocketing and many people lacking in-depth financial knowledge, more fintech startups need to enter this space for easy enablement at pocket-friendly charges.

Set up in 2019, SEBI-registered robo-advisory Wright Research does just that with the help of its web-based investment intelligence solutions. The startup offers portfolio strategies designed on market movements, risk modelling, AI-driven performance forecasting and its research team’s financial expertise.

These strategies are built on a data-driven approach, quantitative themes such as momentum, value and growth, and additional factors like analyst expectations and institutional holdings.

When users sign up for the investment tech firm’s subscription-based services, they have to build their risk profiles on the platform. Curated portfolios will be created accordingly to take the investments forward.

Mumbai-based Wright Research says it has already onboarded 40K+ retail investors and has close to INR 200 Cr assets under its advisory ambit. It eyes an annual revenue of INR 3.5 Cr in FY23 and plans to get a PMS (portfolio management service) licence this year to work with HNIs and institutional investors.

YOHO

A Footwear Brand Blending Comfort With Style

Footwear brands are plentiful in the market. But finding trendy yet comfortable shoes could be difficult, as former 1mg executive Prateek Singhal realised early on in his life. When he met ex-Paytm executive Ahmad Hushsham, the latter was already selling shoes offline. By then, the rise of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in India intrigued both and led to the launch of Yoho in 2021.

The startup has worked with orthopaedics and polymer scientists to create a range of 50+ slippers under three categories – Wave, Bubbles and Breeze. All of them are lightweight, supported with cushioned padding and comply with global standards. Design and quality testing are done in-house, but the products are made in partnership with several white-label manufacturers.

Yoho sells its slippers through its website and ecommerce marketplaces, besides supplying to a few B2B clients. It also claims that its revenue is growing 60% month on month. The New Delhi-based startup plans to launch a collection of shoes by 2025 and aims to go global with its new range.

Zenskar

Solutions Tailored For SaaS Billing

SaaS solution providers have been on a roll since the pandemic as the world, and its businesses, have gone digital-first. But are they earning as much?

Most SaaS companies do high-volume and cross-border transactions and offer a multi-tiered product mix, including upselling and cross-selling, upgrades and downgrades. Done manually, this will gobble up time and resources and may lead to miscalculations and costly revenue gaps.

To help SaaS firms with the right billing solutions, Bengaluru-based Zenskar has developed a web tool with a drag-and-drop interface for easy configuration of deal structures and pricing based on usage, subscription models, discounts, credits and multicurrency payments. Moreover, it works for various SaaS stacks like CRM and ERP.

Besides bill processing, the startup automates accounting, streamlines receivables management workflow and provides billing analytics.

Zenskar charges a subscription fee and has worked with just one company since its launch in March this year. However, it claims that 12 more clients are on the waitlist, and they will be onboarded by 2023.

[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eye In October 2022 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Thirty-one editions and 900+ startups later, we can rightfully claim that the 30 Startups To Watch series is truly sector-agnostic (except when we were close to in-house events and focussed on specific areas). All these years, we have thrown light on some of the most promising startups building robust businesses across emerging sectors. 

But we must also acknowledge that the startup ecosystem evolves fast, and our focus changes accordingly. Think of the former poster boys in this space – the edtech startups during the pandemic or the thriving fintechs exploring novel concepts and ushering in new business models with much fanfare. Both seem to have lost their early sheen for different reasons.

Edtech needs to rediscover its innovative touch as life gradually returns to normal, and attending remote classes is no longer synonymous with educational continuity.

Fintechs, on the other hand, are struggling to cope with the regulatory disruptions of late. It could be a long and arduous journey to innovation if they have to enter the ‘sandboxes’ to validate how sound their new products and services will be (contrary to the optimism and funding inflow). 

Quality healthcare is all the rage, and so are ecommerce, blockchain and deeptech. But the one word that has caught the attention of innovators across the startup ecosystem in the year 2022 is enablers.

Whether it is something as routine as payment aggregation or ecommerce checkout, recording meetings or automating invoicing, or something as daunting as queue management or sales channels analysis, business and technology enablers are all the rage now. 

The viability of enterprise tech has also won the attention of investors, who are increasingly funding these startups. In Q3 2022, the segment raised $423 Mn from 58 deals, the second-highest among all sectors.

Unsurprisingly, these B2B startups have stolen the limelight in this edition as they are transforming pen-and-paper businesses and siloed tasks. Despite the rise of B2C startups, one cannot ignore how companies of all sizes have understood the need for rapid digitalisation and even entrusted certain business operations (especially workflow management) to focus more on their core competencies.

30 Startups To Watch: September 2022

As we took a deep dive into nearly 100 early stage startups for the September 2022 edition, we shortlisted 30 startups based on their disruptive solutions, technical capabilities and the innovation they bring to the table.

Interestingly, most are enterprise tech startups with a unique value proposition that makes them stand out. As efficient enablers, these B2B players are making life easier for MSMEs and mom-and-pop stores. (Do we see an overarching narrative of collaborative growth here?)

More than two-thirds of the startups offer solutions around payment management (along with bookkeeping and tax help), client engagement and automation of in-house processes. 

There are 15 enterprise tech startups, four ecommerce players, four fintech entities, and one each in blockchain, deeptech, edtech, HR tech, real estate, social media and the gig economy.

Finally, we suggest you should not miss the B2C players in the list as these consumer-facing businesses are the first to identify new opportunities and customers.

Check Out The 32nd Edition Of Inc42’s 30 Startups To Watch list.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

ALYF

Why ALYF Made It To The List

Holiday home ownership has traditionally attracted high and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. But it has been out of reach for most people, considering skyrocketing prices, limited usage and property management expenses. As these second or even third homes are not used all year round, former NoBroker executive Saurabh Vohara set up ALYF to allow partial ownership of holiday homes by two-eight persons.

Launched in June 2022, the Mumbai-based startup takes care of the entire process – from onboarding to reselling – when a user ‘co-buys’ a holiday home. Three months into the launch, the realty startup has already done a recce of 15 properties in Lonavala, Alibaug and Goa, providing a detailed analysis of locations, amenities, co-ownership prices and maintenance costs to help one make an informed decision.

Incidentally, all co-owners can use the entire property for a specified number of days, depending on the number of co-owners. For instance, a person holding one-eighth ownership can use the holiday home for 44 days a year. A dedicated property attendant manages the co-owners’ schedules with the help of the ALYF app.

The startup also takes care of legal requirements such as due diligence, title ownership and government taxes. Additionally, it offers end-to-end property maintenance services and takes charge of leisure needs like spas, parties and chefs.

ALYF charges two types of fees – a 5-10% commission on property deals and a property management and maintenance fee. It eyes INR 50 Cr in sales by March 2023 and plans to expand to 10 more locations by 2024. By 2025, it aims to enter major global holiday destinations and hit INR 2,000 Cr in sales.

Arth

Why Arth Made It To The List

Economic independence is the backbone of a strong nation. However, a large number of micro-entrepreneurs from semi-urban and rural India find it difficult to access working capital as the country is yet to optimise financial inclusion.

To bridge this gap, phygital (physical+digital) lending startup Arth was set up in 2018 to cater to the owners of nano and micro-enterprises like local kirana stores, food stalls, small boutiques, home-based beauty businesses and more.

The Gurugram-based startup provides short-term micro-credit (inventory payment, unsecured loan) and insurance products (medical and credit insurance, among others) without requiring too many documents. It works with 500+ hyperlocal partners such as distributors, contractors and NGOs who help onboard new-to-digital and new-to-credit individuals.

Arth has partnered with NBFCs and insurers such as Capital India, Setu and Digit Insurance to deploy its products. So far, it has disbursed INR 470 Cr+ in credit to more than 370K individuals, of whom 55% are new to credit, the company claims.

As potential borrowers look for collateral-free loans, the fintech startup has developed an underwriting system based on socioeconomic factors, occupational insights and alternative credit data such as bill payment history, government transactions, property records and more.

Arth charges a processing fee on loans and claims to be on a revenue run rate of $2 Mn+ for FY23. It plans to co-develop a RuPay-enabled credit card-based solution in FY23 to provide on-demand credit.

The startup will expand its products and services by 2025 for upscaling MSMEs via a financial services platform which will feature business tools and financial literacy content for micro-entrepreneurs.

Augnito

Why Augnito Made It To The List

When physicians create clinical documents manually, it detracts from the time available for direct patient care and often leads to poorly written notes that are difficult to decipher. So, Mumbai-based Augnito is simplifying the process with its AI-based speech recognition technology.

Set up in 2020, the startup offers a software programme based on natural language processing that converts a doctor’s audio notes into electronic medical records, making clinical documentation faster, more accurate and easier to access across the healthcare ecosystem.

With Augnito’s patent-pending products Everywhere and Voice Services, doctors can create, edit, format and complete reports through dictation and voice commands. Hospitals, too, can integrate its APIs and SDKs with existing clinical software for instant use.

The startup charges annual subscription fees for all its products, and currently, 10K+ physicians and 240+ enterprises in more than 15 countries are using them. It is looking to scale up all existing accounts in FY23 and aims to launch voice biomarkers by 2025.

Breakout

Why Breakout Made It To The List

Equity financing is one of the most popular (and most expensive) methods of business funding. But with the onset of a long funding winter, most Indian startups have started exploring other capital options like recurring revenue financing or collateral-free debt instead of diluting their stake.

Founded in 2021, Bengaluru-based Breakout offers INR 10 Lakh-50 Cr collateral-free and non-dilutive finance, especially to D2C and ecommerce brands. Currently, it has four products – Jarvis, Expand, Extend and Hawk Eye.

The first provides an automated vendor payout system for managing bill payments and the second provides unsecured business loans based on recurring sales-based revenue. The third is a BNPL-style merchant financing solution and lastly, Hawk Eye users get a real-time monitoring system that connects sales, accounting, banking and ERP to get a holistic visibility of expenses, liabilities, revenue trends etc. Loans are disbursed through its lending partners, M Capital, Arthmate and U GRO Capital.

Companies looking to raise ‘Expand’ funding must share capital requirements, indicative future growth, bank statements, GST returns and sales details. Breakout provides a provisional term sheet after running the data through its proprietary underwriting model and disburses the loan within seven days.

Under the ‘Extend’ scheme, the lending tech startup finances a company’s inventory, but the amount must be repaid in 30-90 days, unlike the industry practice of daily/weekly payments.

While the startup’s revenue figures are undisclosed, Breakout is looking to grow its B2B client base and expand its offerings to brick-and-mortar retailers trying to go online.

Chat360

Why Chat360 Made It To The List

The global chatbot market is estimated to reach $2 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of more than 22%. Despite the current nascency, interactive and intuitive AI chatbots will soon become the gold standard in customer service across sectors as digitalisation is happening en masse.

Keeping in mind how omnichannel conversational bots can optimise business outcomes, Pune-based SaaS startup Chat360 has developed a drag-and-drop chatbot builder for WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram and websites, enabling businesses to boost sales and engagement. These chatbots can help with sales and marketing (explaining products and closing deals), order-taking (for restaurants), customer support and more.

Setting up the programme is not difficult, either. The startup’s web-based dashboard allows businesses to create individual no-code chatbots for social platforms and websites. The dashboard also saves all permitted contact details of users collected via chatbots for marketing purposes.

To ensure bot responses are lucid and proactive, companies need to fill in all information regarding products and services, as well as standard answers to customer queries.

Revenue comes through subscriptions, but Chat360 has not disclosed the numbers. However, the three-year-old startup claims to have onboarded more than 100 clients such as LeadSqaured, Prystin Care, Renault Saudi Arabia, LG Saudi Arabia, Vectus India and more. It is also looking to expand its user base in India and the UAE in the current financial year.

Cheerio

Why Cheerio Made It To The List

The art of storytelling is changing as digital content creators take centre stage. But new-age creators often find it challenging to build, engage, retain and eventually monetise their respective communities. For users, too, it is not easy to find people who cater to their specific interests.

Bengaluru-based Cheerio was launched in 2021 to bridge this gap. The startup has developed a SaaS tool to help creators build communities, engage with members (by sharing newsletters, creating polls and more) and monetise all content formats. It also helps them automate content posting through RSS feeds, hold events and offer rewards to followers.

On the other hand, users can leverage its interactive content discovery and community aggregation platform to easily access communities and content creators appealing to their interests.

Users can also act as group admins and moderators and curate quality and paywall content for their communities. Content creators will incentivise them by sharing the revenue from paywalled content curated by them.

The startup charges subscription fees from creators, group admins and moderators, processing fees for paid events and locked content, and a premium subscription fee for all other users.

It has already onboarded more than 200 creators who have 10K+ followers. Cheerio plans to connect to 5K creators and 500K followers by FY23 and 2 Mn+ creators by 2025. It has projected $150K in revenue for FY23 and $50 Mn by 2025 on the back of 50 Mn users.

Cone

Why Cone Made It To The List

Hiring a CA at the tax season’s peak is a nightmare for many SMEs. But few have the means to hire full-time accountants throughout the year. To address this pain point, Cone was launched in June 2022, connecting SMEs to its dedicated accounting team for bookkeeping and taxation services.

Apart from basic features, the Hyderabad-based fintech service provider offers a bouquet of specialised solutions depending on the nature of the business and its requirements.

For ecommerce, it provides a dedicated financial expert and a web-based dashboard to generate real-time P&L statements, reconcile sales channels, analyse marketplace performances and more.

For startups and other businesses, Cone tracks KPIs such as topline numbers, ARR and burn rate, manages cash flow (invoices and payments), forecasts specific metrics and handles multi-entity tax and cross-border transfer pricing.

Cone charges a subscription fee for its services and its solutions can be integrated with existing accounting software like QuickBooks, Zoho Books, Excel, Stripe and more.

coto

Why coto Made It To The List

India is home to an estimated 150 Mn digitally savvy women. But only 33% use social media due to a lack of confidence or for security reasons like online harassment. Launched in 2021, Mumbai- and Singapore-based coto aims to address this concern with a community platform for women to engage, connect and create content in a toxicity-free environment.

The web-based startup has tied up with blockchain behemoth Polygon for a zero-knowledge proof system that will allow only women (or those who identify themselves as women) to enrol. The forum will also implement facial recognition to identify all rogue factors and build a self-governing, Web3-based social community.

The Reddit-style platform is still in the pre-launch stage, but it has 500+ enrolments and aims for a hard launch in FY23.

Like all social media platforms, coto will feature user profiles and enable members to explore their interests without undue interference. (It will still have its community guidelines.) Besides, it will help women become creators and monetise their content.

Its long-term goal is to grow the community globally and experiment with revenue sources such as platform usage fees, content and merchandise commerce, NFT marketplace and brand partnerships.

Creatosaurus

Why Creatosaurus Made It To The List

Can creative tasks be automated or speeded up using tech tools? Whether it is content creation, curation, copywriting, graphic designing or publishing, various solutions are available for each requirement. In contrast, Creatosaurus was set up as an all-in-one enabler, helping users manage the entire content workflow on a single platform.

Founded in 2018, the Pune-based SaaS startup offers a host of cloud-based tools to collaborate with team members, curate ideas, design graphics, edit videos, schedule posts and manage social media accounts. Other value-added features include AI copywriting, hashtag analysis and integration with 20+ third-party apps such as Unsplash, Google Drive, Slack, Bitmoji and Giphy for quality-driven, asset-light production.

The startup has a freemium model and offers four subscription plans. But it has not clocked any revenue yet as the platform was in a restricted beta until recently. It is now open to the public and claims to have around 250 free users.

Creatosaurus plans to onboard 10K users by FY23 and add new features like video, audio and text editors. It also aims to increase third-party integrations to more than 50. It plans to onboard 1 Mn+ users by 2025 and earn $1 Mn+ in annual revenue.

DigiPhyNFT

Why DigiPhyNFT Made It To The List

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a recent phenomenon that gained popularity when creators of all sorts started tokenising their works and got huge returns. Soon enough, brands began to join the bandwagon in droves to incentivise customers, enhance engagement and earn additional revenues via digital assets.

NFTs for brands may not be a fad (given their scalability to the metaverse and endless possibilities). But Chirag Jain and Lipi Gulati were aware of the pain points faced by many companies.

For instance, there was a need to spread tech awareness and simplify the processes so that businesses could quickly launch their NFTs, crypto tokens, wallets and more. So, the husband-wife duo launched DigiPhyNFT in January 2022.

The Gurugram-based startup offers an all-in-one PaaS (platform-as-a-service) solution to help brands provide utility NFTs (coupons, tickets, and more). They can also integrate custom NFTs with their online/offline stores, trade those on the DigiPhyNFT’s marketplace and reward customers with crypto-based assets like tokens, NFT badges and metaverse accessories.

Additionally, a metaverse integration service allows businesses to create customised spaces.

In less than a year, DigiPhyNFT has partnered with more than 15 brands and creators (galleries and artists, musicians, fashion and jewellery designers, edtechs and event organisers) to build and showcase their NFTs on its marketplace. It charges a one-time fee for API integration and a commission on each NFT transaction.

The startup plans to work with 100+ brands in 2022 and targets 100K+ users on the platform. By 2023, it aims to reach 200+ brands, deal in 200K+ NFTs and earn $1 Mn in revenue.

DINGG

Why DINGG Made It To The List

Spas and salons can bring steady profits as life slowly returns to normalcy after the pandemic, and more people now focus on wellness and personal grooming. But small establishments using a pen-and-paper work mode often suffer as they cannot leverage the advantages of digitalisation to tap into their full potential.

Founded in 2018, Pune-based queue management startup DINGG realised how digitally transforming these beauty services would optimise operations and enhance customer services. So, the B2B SaaS platform pivoted in 2020 and developed an array of tools to help beauty clinics, spas and salons looking for a technology makeover.

DINGG’s services include booking management (through calls, messages and social media), inventory tracking and workflow automation for attendance and salary payment. It also offers invoicing services, automates marketing operations and provides customer insights. Businesses can access these services via a web dashboard and Android and iOS apps.

The startup charges an annual subscription fee and caters to around 1,200 companies in India and the UAE. It plans to enter the US market in FY23 and extend its services to gyms and fitness centres, wellness centres, nail art salons and tattoo artists, targeting annual revenue of $600K.

DocTunes

Why DocTunes Made It To The List

More than 20% of Indians are not bilingual, which means they are not able to read languages other than their mother tongue. As for English, only 20% of Indians use it as their first, second or third language.

To overcome this language barrier, data science and deep learning experts Dewang Bhardwaj and Kunal Singh Shekhawat set up DocTunes in 2021, which scans the written text in any language and converts it into an audio file in the user’s preferred language.

The text-to-speech conversion and translation service supports more than 30 local and foreign languages. Plus, it features 150+ sample voices to help users choose language, speed and pitch for a better experience. DocTunes leverages neural network learning, and users can access the service via its Android and iOS apps.

From news pieces to entire books, the Jaipur-based startup claims to have converted nearly 500 Mn characters for 50K+ users across 170+ countries.

It has adopted a freemium model and targets INR 25 Lakh in revenue in FY23. The number of paid subscriptions is still low, but its ad-supported model helps push the earnings. The platform aims to reach 10K+ subscriptions and INR 1 Cr in revenue by FY24 and plans to build a vocabulary of 5 Bn+ words.

DropTheQ

Why DropTheQ Made It To The List

India’s brick-and-mortar retail market is estimated to be worth $1.4 Tn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 9%. Interestingly, fast food and grocery buying will account for more than 50% of this market. As physical retail is not going anywhere soon, one can expect longer queues at the checkout counters of malls and stores.

Not anymore.

India may not have its desi version of Amazon Go (no-checkout shopping at brick-and-mortar stores). But Noida-based DropTheQ offers a unique point-of-sale (PoS) system that enables users to place orders directly at stores via a mobile app and pay online to self-checkout without queueing up at the till.

The startup was founded in 2019 but went live in January 2022 as life slowly returned to normal after pandemic disruptions. It now caters to B2B clients, mainly supermarkets, food courts and restaurants, and offers three comprehensive solutions via its consumer-facing Android and iOS apps.

Besides store ordering and payment, there is a specific service for food courts, restaurants/cafés and quick-service restaurants (QSRs). A QR code-based Order2Serve tool enables customers to order food from their phones and get it served at the table (users can pick up their orders at self-serve places). Plus, they can pay online for a hassle-free experience.

The pre-order feature also helps cafeteria and mess owners, as users can book their meals early and pick up the food later. Businesses can manage all orders via the startup’s web dashboard or integrate the backend with their existing CRM tools.

DropTheQ charges a per-order fee from partner outlets but has not disclosed the revenue run rate for FY23. But it claims to have taken nearly 200K orders by onboarding more than eight food courts and 15+ QSRs and restaurants/cafes in the last eight months. To scale up its business, it plans to onboard cafeterias and canteens of tech offices and management institutions.

Dubdub.ai

Why Dubdub.ai Made It To The List

If you have heard the Hindi, Bengali or Telugu iterations of late Pt Jawaharlal Nehru’s Tryst With Destiny speech in his own voice, meet the startup behind the dubbing.

Aware of the immense potential of vernacular content, Dubdub.ai was set up in 2021 to enable audio dubbing in more than 50 languages, using AI-powered speech synthesis and generative modelling.

The New Delhi-based SaaS startup claims that the system is 4-10 times faster than traditional dubbing and does not require a recording studio, making the process up to 70% cheaper. When a translated script is submitted, the web platform’s text-to-speech tool generates the audio by cloning the speaker’s original voice. In fact, clients can create or clone any voice and edit the speech in real time.

The startup is still in closed beta, but to prevent the misuse of ‘deep fake’ in dubbing, it only provides an audio cloning licence for restricted use cases. When it goes for a hard launch in 2023, it will ask users to disclose the dubbing usage and seek permission from voice owners for cloning (in case they are living persons).

Dubdub.ai charges a subscription fee, but there is a pay-per-minute module for short-duration and single-use dubbing projects. It has not disclosed revenue details, but its client base includes a mix of OTTs, content production houses and news and sports channels.

The startup will provide API-based solutions for social media apps in FY23 and aims to become the preferred content localisation partner for local and global studios looking to dub content in Indian vernaculars. Its long-term goal is to enter the US, the EU and the APAC markets.

Ezo Books

Why Ezo Books Made It To The List

Most small and medium businesses in India rely on kaccha bills and the age-old bahi-khata to manage their offline business accounting. But in the absence of a qualified accountant, managing those paper invoices, filing taxes manually and following critical compliances tend to be tough. To combat these issues, Ezo Books, an ad hoc invoicing solution for offline retailers, was launched in 2020.

The Mumbai-based SaaS startup has developed an easy-to-use accounting programme in more than 10 languages such as English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Punjabi.

Companies only need to register with Ezo Books and use the desktop interface for billing. The rest is done by the backend programme as it generates sales reports, builds customer profiles and updates the inventory and account payables and receivables based on sales, purchases and expenses. An entrepreneur can also manage multiple shops/businesses using a single interface.

Home entrepreneurs and freelancers can also use Ezo’s Android app to generate on-the-go bills and share payment links/QR codes for quick payments. Moreover, Ezo makes it easy for retailers to manage taxes as it helps with filing income tax and GST returns.

Globlam

Why Globlam Made It To The List

India is the fifth-largest manufacturing economy, but even now, its exports account for less than 21% of the country’s total GDP and contribute only 1.7% to global trade. But the big picture changed in the wake of the pandemic. Indian businesses underwent a digital transformation to cope with physical lockdowns; ecommerce grew by nearly 20%, and digital borders started disappearing.

Realising how the tide was turning, former IndiaMart executive Khushiram Kadian set up Globlam in 2021, a cross-border and category-agnostic wholesale marketplace, to help Indian companies grow their overseas business.

Based in Sonipat, Haryana, the startup onboards large manufacturers, traders, exporters and artisans for its B2B marketplace and provides them with a full suite of business enablement services. These include digital marketing solutions, access to international payment facilities and logistics support via tie-ups. An account management team is in place to iron out all operational challenges.

The Alibaba-like startup charges a percentage of the transaction value as its fee but has not disclosed the numbers.

Globlam currently features 20+ categories and 6.5K+ products and claims to have onboarded more than 70 merchants during its beta run. It is still working on a product-market fit and eyeing $500K revenue in FY23 by reaching 10K+ buyers across the globe.

Habitat

Why Habitat Made It To The List

The rise of online learning in the wake of the pandemic has brought several benefits to the student community. For instance, they can get coaching from well-known teachers/subject matter experts as there are no geographical barriers in the digital world. But the teachers (read: creators) may not find it too easy to get started.

First, they need to boost student engagement on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. Next, they must rely on encoded messaging platforms like WhatsApp or Telegram to securely share content links and monetise the same. Finally, many struggle with spreadsheets to manage workflow and track their incomes.

The shift to virtual learning will likely push higher education despite these glitches. Hence, New Delhi-based Habitat was set up to do away with multiple platforms used by creators to share their content and manage their workflow.

Founded in 2020, the startup’s web-based interface allows creators to automate the entire subscription management procedure, from sending payment links to keeping track of payments, renewals, memberships and offers.

Additionally, it has developed Android and iOS apps with WhatsApp and Telegram-like features to improve student engagement. Users can write posts, create polls and collaborate with other creators for a well-rounded experience.

Habitat charges creators a 3-10% transaction fee when their students pay for the content and claims to have onboarded 100+ creators. All other features available on the platform are currently free.

The startup has not disclosed its revenue run rate but says it is growing at 30% month on month. It plans to onboard about 1,000 creators by the end of this financial year and aims to monetise some of its free features (current and new) by 2025.

HireSure

Why HireSure Made It To The List

In these days of great resignation, quiet quitting, and moonlighting concerns, staffing remains a critical issue and a great equaliser. Companies of all sizes, especially new-age tech startups, are gunning for top talent to push business growth. But hiring fails to keep pace as many selected candidates ‘ghost’ or leave for greener pastures due to better salaries, more value-added work profiles, or both.

Keen to take the pain out of hiring and resolve the issues around right-compensating a candidate (both financially and non-financially), IIT-Kanpur alumni Anurag Dixit, Anshul Mishra and Ramesh Konatham launched HireSure in 2019.

The Bengaluru-based startup has developed an API-driven compensation benchmarking tool that provides real-time industry data and helps HR go beyond routine offer letters. In simple terms, it not only sells the job but brings forth the company culture and non-financial benefits along with a graphical salary breakup. HireSure also predicts a potential dropout based on the behaviour signals during interviews and suggests a course correction strategy.

The HRtech startup has also developed a chatbot called Arci for candidates to ask questions about the job offer or the company or request a shift in the joining date. In addition, the bot completes many recruitment formalities like document collection, procuring candidates’ signatures and onboarding.

HireSure solutions can be integrated with existing HR and payroll systems. The startup charges a subscription fee for its services and claims to be catering to 500+ startups. It plans to scale the platform for its Indian clients and aims to go global, starting with the US.

MeetRecord

Why MeetRecord Made It To The List

The sales function of any company, big or small, is critical for survival and sustenance. And when this function went digital, many conversational AI tools came up to extend online support. However, Indian SMEs rarely have trained resources to manoeuvre complex systems.

Snehal Nimje, Sachin Sinha and Paras Jain, cofounders of traveltech player Zoliday, faced a similar challenge and decided to build MeetRecord.

Launched in March 2022, its transcription tool uses artificial intelligence to analyse meeting and CRM data to generate insights and discover patterns in sales deals. The web interface can be integrated with all popular CRM systems like Salesforce and Pipeline to create teams and provide data-driven sales solutions for enhanced operations.

Also, unlike the intricate systems built for legacy tech companies, the startup’s web-based solutions can be easily used by non-tech businesses.

Bengaluru-based MeetRecord has adopted a freemium model and onboarded about 20 paying clients and 40+ free users within a few months of its launch. It charges subscription fees for premium features and claims to be en route to $150K in annual revenues for FY23. It also aims to hit $20 Mn in yearly revenue by 2025.

NautOne

Why NautOne Made It To The List

Online retail is dominating the new normal in the aftermath of Covid-19. The outcome? Both legacy businesses and small-format stores are now keen to move online and optimise sales. But to achieve that, companies must have a well-aligned channel mix plan to turn every prospect into a paying customer.

In comes Chennai-based NautOne to help businesses ‘market’ and ‘sell’ their products online.

Launched in 2021, the startup has trademarked its solutions under SHOWcial Commerce and SHOWcial Marketing. The ‘commerce’ part enables brands to manage and optimise all distribution channels like websites, apps, social media platforms and marketplaces (Amazon, CRED, eBay and the like) to drive multichannel sales. Also, its dashboard helps brands analyse where most users come from and create a marketing strategy accordingly.

SHOWcial Marketing, on the other hand, has been specially designed for service industries (think real estate or restaurants) to boost performance marketing on relevant marketplaces like NoBroker and Swiggy/Zomato, respectively.

The digital marketing agency charges real estate companies and restaurants a 2-3% commission per transaction, while D2C brands pay a flat fee to NautOne for managing their marketing. From its partner marketplaces, it charges a commission for upselling and cross-selling and gets commissions on advertisements.

With 250+ clients in its kitty, the startup is eyeing an annual revenue of $1 Mn in FY23 and aims to increase it 15x in another two years.

PickMyWork

Why PickMyWork Made It To The List

As the cost of living continues to skyrocket, many college students look for part-time jobs to earn a little money. While these opportunities (giving tuition, ghostwriting, data entry work and more) are plenty in Tier 1 cities, students from Tier 2 and beyond often face many hurdles finding such jobs.

Aware of the young people’s plight, second-time entrepreneurs Kajal Malik, Vidyarthi Badireddy and Utsav Bhattacharjee found a way to help non-metro students find gainful employment by training them as sales agents.

The trio launched PickMyWork in 2019 and primarily targeted the student base as their previous venture Reculta was a college placement startup. However, others can join the Internshala-style platform that trains part-time hires/freelancers to sell digital products by creating bank accounts, completing KYCs, enabling merchant acquisitions (for marketplaces) and doing efficient data labelling. All B2C users are paid commissions on weekly sales.

To create more job opportunities, the gig platform onboards internet companies looking to scale across Tier 2 locations and charges its B2C and B2B clients a fee per sale.

PickMyWork has not disclosed the current number of gig workers on its platform but aims to reach 1 Mn by FY23. It has 25 B2B clients, including Google, Flipkart, Lucidata and more, and plans to double this number by March 2023.

Produze

Why Produze Made It To The List

India ranks fourth among the world’s top agricultural producers. But poorly managed procurement and an inefficient supply chain controlled by multilevel intermediaries lead to inconsistent quality, low pricing and massive wastage, thus impacting agri exports.

To boost the earnings of Indian agri producers, former Ninjacart executives Ben Mathew and Gaurav Agrawal, along with serial entrepreneurs Rakesh Sasidharan and Emil Soman, launched Produze in 2022. The B2B ecommerce platform will connect Indian producers and wholesalers with retail businesses across North America, the EU and the Middle East, thus enabling direct transactions and ensuring a good profit margin on a par with global markets.

Global buyers will also benefit as they can access good quality agri produce at competitive pricing.

Produze will further help with source-level logistics, international port operations and last-mile distribution for a fee.

The startup has not yet launched commercially but recently raised a seed round of $2.6 Mn to onboard all stakeholders and build a full-fledged capability, from product discovery to fulfilment.

Rupyz

Why Rupyz Made It To The List

India is home to 7.9 Mn SMEs, and their production surpassed the pre-Covid level earlier this year. But as businesses grow exponentially, more companies need handholding and tech-based solutions for rapid growth.

Aware of the country’s massive potential in industry and commerce, Gurugram-based Rupyz was launched in 2018 as an end-to-end businesses enabler as its Android apps help companies with product discovery, online transactions, fulfilment, credit and cash flow management.

Its sales app allows brands, manufacturers and traders to feature their digital business profiles and transact via an online marketplace. Besides, companies can hold one-on-one chats, manage their order portfolio and promote their businesses on the app’s social feed.

Rupyz’s B2B business app also helps businesses build their respective credit profiles by managing and reconciling their payments and invoices using the app’s auto-reminder feature. This also helps analyse the red flags before raising working capital or business loans.

The startup is also educating small and medium businesses about the benefits of real-time business credit scores and aims to grow its customer base to 100 Mn in the long term.

Subtl.ai

Why Subtl.ai Made It To The List

People often look up specific queries on the internet using standard search engines like Google and Bing. But these public search tools do not work in private settings.

In a world that is rapidly turning digital, governments, banks, legal firms, libraries, universities and other organisations have come up with vast databases. And employees are compelled to use the traditional Ctrl+F function to search multiple documents for the most relevant data.

Hyderabad-based Subtl.ai was set up in 2020 to provide internet-search-like ease of access to those databases. It has developed a U.S. patent-pending plug-and-play neural search system that helps personnel locate the most relevant answers from their company databases, intranets, cloud storage and personal records.

Subtl.ai clients can integrate the API with their cloud databases and use the chatbot to ask questions. Like web searches, the startup’s neural processing tech reads through the text and pinpoints the most relevant information.

Currently, it works with three B2B clients and charges a subscription fee per user per annum for its search service. But there is a provision for usage-based pricing for companies that want to embed Subtl.AI in their search bars. It also offers a 30-day free trial for potential customers.

Subtl.ai targets more than $100K in revenue for FY23 and aims to serve nearly 5 Mn end users. It is also planning to enter the B2C space by 2025.

Sudo Foods

Why Sudo Foods Made It To The List

Veganism is no longer a micro-trend but a widely followed global lifestyle choice. But for some, the move to veganism is marred by the limited product range that fails to satisfy one’s taste buds or meet nutritional needs. One way to eat cleaner and healthier without giving up on gourmet delights is to choose mock/plant-based meat.

Launched in June 2022, the D2C pseudo-meat brand Sudo Foods has come up with more than five FSSAI-approved food products, including seekh kebab, chicken samosa, burger patty, chicken popcorn and mutton galouti kebab.

The Bengaluru-based startup claims that all its products contain high protein but no cholesterol/trans fats or preservatives. Also, most of these are soy- and gluten-free for better gastrointestinal health and fast autoimmune responses.

Sudo recipes have been created and curated in-house, and the product range is contract-manufactured in Kochi.

All products are sold through its website and marketplaces like BigBasket, Herbivo and VeganDukan. But the range will soon be available in Bengaluru supermarkets.

The startup did not disclose its revenue but said it would launch five more products in snacking and non-veg meal replacement categories. All products will be shipped to metro cities beyond Bengaluru by FY23. Sudo Foods plans to double down on its R&D and become a ‘House of Vegan Food’ in another two years.

The WorldGrad

Why The WorldGrad Made It To The List

In 2021, more than 4.4 Lakh Indian students went to study abroad, a 41% YoY increase, and the number continues to rise. This trend calls for expert education counsellors who can guide young students and help them make the right choices.

However, Mumbai-based The WorldGrad has gone one step ahead to bring remote learning to the overseas education format for several benefits.

Set up in 2021, the edtech startup ensures that the students qualifying for overseas programmes can learn remotely throughout the first semester with the help of a virtual learning model and one-on-one tutors. This will help reduce overall living expenses by INR 20 Lakh or so.

More importantly, students will have enough time to get all essential documents in place. Plus, the remote induction and year-long interaction will help students adjust quickly to the new socio-cultural environment when they go overseas for the rest of their tenure.

The WorldGrad also offers essential student counselling services, helping users to apply to 100+ foreign institutions and ensuring a 6+ yearly intake of students compared to the industry standard of 2-3. Besides, it helps with IELTS preparation, student visa and work permit.

The startup currently covers universities in the UK, the US, Australia and the UAE but plans to expand to Canada and Singapore by the end of this financial year. The fees for hybrid overseas study programmes comprise nearly 80% of its revenue, while the rest comes from other services such as IELTS prepping and visa support provided to 50K+ students.

The WorldGrad aims to grow its partner universities to 200 in FY23 from the current 100 and targets $3 Mn in revenue by increasing its student base by 10x. In another two years, it will explore upskilling programmes and international internship opportunities for its students in major foreign countries.

TSAW

Why TSAW Made It To The List

Delivery drones are likely to disrupt the future of the logistics industry. But Indian startups building UAVs or developing a third-party drone logistics platform are rare.

Launched in 2019, Technit Space and Aero Works (TSAW) has delved deep into this space and is currently working on a bouquet of solutions. These include building drones (Maruthi and Adarna), charting a government-approved dedicated drone corridor for last-mile intracity deliveries and developing a drone cloud intelligence system (DCIS) for real-time access to telemetry data from drone fleets.

Based in Noida (Uttar Pradesh), the drone-as-a-service startup is still in the pre-launch stage but has conducted trial flights in Kolkata, Indore, Mumbai, Gurugram, Madurai, Hyderabad and Coimbatore. When fully functional, it intends to provide its in-house drones with a 5 kg payload over a distance of 40 km and use its DCIS for path planning and drone traffic deconfliction.

TSAW will also provide access to its dedicated drone corridors for clients in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for transportation of medical supplies.

Although it is undergoing final-phase developments, the drone startup aims to launch its services in three Tier 1 cities by FY23. This will be done in partnership with Zypp Electric, a logistics company specialising in EV-as-a-Service.

It will charge a monthly subscription fee for its services but has not announced its full business model.

Unfinance

Why Unfinance Made It To The List

India recently overtook the UK to emerge as the fifth-largest economy. But according to a recent S&P survey, more than 75% of Indian adults do not have a thorough understanding of basic financial concepts. The gap widens for women – around 80% still lack financial education.

Aware of this pain point, serial entrepreneurs Kunwar Raj and Amit Singh set up Unfinance in 2021 to bring financial literacy to all so that people can make informed decisions.

The Gurugram-based startup began its journey as a social media page. It later evolved into a 60-word financial news app and also came up with a newsletter. The latter is distributed via WhatsApp and has an open rate of 85%.

It has a team of journalists who curate (and summarise) financial news and provide stock market updates, money-saving and money-making tips, and investment guides on the app. The startup also recommends personal finance books and teaches how to use the free decision-making tools developed by the platform. Lately, it has started publishing video news summaries.

Unfinance boasts 300K+ downloads (across Android and iOS) and a 25K+ reader base for its newsletter. Currently, its revenue comes from digital ads and paid content partnerships. But it aims to earn more from in-house courses and masterclasses to be launched in FY23. By 2025, the startup aims to onboard 500 Mn users, up from the current 1 Mn.

Vossle

Why Vossle Made It To The List

The global AR-VR market size is estimated to reach $110 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of nearly 25%. The technology will be used by businesses keen to enhance user engagement or build more interactive metaverses. This underlines a growing need for AR-VR enablers similar to what Shopify does for ecommerce and Akamai for content streaming.

Understanding the emerging trend, serial entrepreneurs and siblings Prafulla and Pulkit Mathur built Vossle in 2020 as a no-code SaaS platform in the cloud for businesses to create web-based augmented reality (WebAR) and virtual experiences.

The Gurugram-based tech startup enables businesses to create AR/VR campaigns for product visualisation, packaging, virtual try-on, interactive teaching, 3D reproductions for advertisements/gaming and more.

It has a freemium business model, and during the free trial, companies can create unlimited AR experiences that can get up to 100 free views per experience. Paid subscription starts from $99 per month, where users can create various AR experiences for up to 10K views and need to pay $0.01 per additional view. A commercial subscription also allows white-labelling/custom branding of virtual creations.

Vossle operates in India and the US and caters to 1,000+ businesses. It is looking to increase its client base in FY23 by bringing in more marketing and creative agencies. Besides, it plans to set up a network of channel partners and platforms by 2025 to enable more VR integrations.

Xpresslane

Why Xpresslane Made It To The List

Ecommerce, especially the direct-to-commerce (D2C) format, is thriving in a post-pandemic world. But all is not well with the e-retailers.

Around 51% of online shoppers still abandon their carts due to a lengthy checkout process or because they have forgotten login details or do not want to create yet another online account. Moreover, a higher COD rate leads to higher returns-to-origin as shoppers have no obligation to accept orders.

Realising the need for a one-click universal checkout, former Jabong executive Ashwin Koorakula joined Blue Yonder product specialist Madhukar Reddimasi to launch Xpresslane in 2019.

The Bengaluru-based ecommerce enabler has developed CheckoutOS for D2C brands to provide dynamic checkout experiences based on a user’s visit frequency (first-time/recurring). Simply put, when a shopper (not a first-time visitor, though) reaches the checkout part, the autofill option gets activated, and one need not fill in the information recorded earlier. Additionally, Checkout Analytics helps brands understand user behaviour, create custom campaigns and track campaign performances for better growth.

Xpresslane has not disclosed its revenue numbers but charges a fee per transaction and claims to have partnered with 120 D2C brands in India. In the current financial year, it will expand into headless checkouts (where shoppers can purchase a product on any digital interface instead of visiting the brand’s dedicated app/website) and aims to enter the global market by 2025.

[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]

Update | October 4, 2022, 3:30 PM

Minor changes in profiles and factsheets of some profiles.

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eye In September 2022 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

They came. They prepped the innovation blueprint. And they reimagined the consumer retail market with aplomb never witnessed before. Today, India is a thriving hub of 50,000+ digital-first brands keen to be a part of the $300 Bn opportunity. But their success stories were not scripted overnight.

It was the darkest hour when an unprecedented health crisis brought the country’s vibrant startup ecosystem to a grinding halt and threatened to eliminate all brick-and-mortar entities. But digital tech democratised the tools to start and scale a new class of startups that gunned for direct-to-consumer (D2C) distribution, thrived on enablers’ expertise and did their marketing on cost-effective social media to bag every revenue dollar they could.    

The tectonic shift in the customer mindset from offline to online also helped. Indian consumers are loving their newfound online engagement in the wake of the pandemic and the zero-intermediary, direct-to-business conversations that create value on both sides. Even then, D2C brands face challenging issues like high customer acquisition costs, complicated distribution channels, difficulties in brand building and a big question mark on the long-term viability of their products and services.  

A funding winter has followed the D2C bloom, and the current bleakness calls for a systematic discussion about the sector, its potential, challenges and the road ahead.

Unlike every month where we select sector-agnostic startups, we brought you a list of innovative and future-ready D2C brands for our August edition, published ahead of The D2C Summit 3.0 scheduled for September 16 and 17, 2022. We wanted our readers to explore the D2C brands that empower the sectors they are operating in.

Out of hundreds of startups, we looked at, these 30 would amply highlight how the internet made an impact on consumer preferences and brought about lasting changes.

30 Startups To Watch: August 2022 [D2C Edition]

As the focus was on D2C brands, we deep-dived into the sector and handpicked some excellent brands that brought several innovative products and use cases. For instance, snacking, eating, drinking and overall food habits were clubbed together to showcase eight F&B D2C bands and their impact on public life.

Feminine hygiene, consumer electronics, home décor and other lifestyle products constituted a major part of this list (14 in all). Better still, we found some exciting D2C brands doing remarkable work in the pet care space and baby care ecosystem.

It is interesting to note that before the pandemic, these businesses were few and far between. But thanks to high-speed internet (5G will be launching soon) and ease of logistics, these D2C brands are attracting a vast user base. In fact, the rise of the D2C business models has necessitated a forum to discuss the drawbacks of the ecosystem. 

Check out the 31st edition of Inc42’s 30 Startups To Watch list while we await your presence on the other side of the event!

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the D2C brands in alphabetical order.

Allegra

Why Allegra Fashion Made It To The List

Among all D2C segments, fashion, especially women’s apparel, has the largest market opportunity, worth nearly $20 Bn and growing at a CAGR of 20%. But this apparel sub-segment within ecommerce is marred by a 30% RTO rate, mainly due to size and quality issues. Given the growing market size, Gurugram-based Allegra Fashion saw an excellent business opening there and started to provide virtual sizing.

Allegra was set up in 2021, but the D2C band did not begin full-fledged operations until Q2 2022. By then, it had acquired its first 100 customers with an average basket size of INR 25K. Interestingly, there are two sides to this business. The startup offers nearly 500 products under categories like ethnic and western wear, nightwear, athleisure, swimwear, footwear and accessories. It has also partnered with eight fashion designers from the Delhi-NCR region for design customisation and production.

The other unique selling point is the fashion tech for virtual sizing. The process is simple enough. The website asks the buyer to input her height, weight and age post which she can choose the bust, hip and waist shapes. Based on the body type, Allegra offers the best possible size option. The digital-first fashion brand has not disclosed any financial details as the business has just started, and the customer base is small. However, it claims to have a sales margin of 25%.

Allegra sells through its website and social media channels. It is also planning an app launch by September this year and aims to carve a solid retail presence to put Indian designers on the global map by 2025. The fashion startup is eyeing INR 1 Cr revenue by FY23 and currently working with a third-party marketplace to build a new distribution channel.

Alpino Health Foods

Why Alpino Health Foods Made It To The List

When six childhood friends from Surat staked everything to launch Alpino in 2016, just a year after graduating, India’s annual peanut butter consumption stood at around 1K tonnes. It also took the founders three months to sell the first 100 jars. The reason? India was not aware of its health benefits and did not add the item to the breakfast platter. 

Interestingly, the West has already done so as the spread made from dry-roasted and ground peanuts is rich in protein and nutrients and takes care of heart health, body weight and blood sugar. And the young entrepreneurs were confident that India would soon follow suit. 

They assumed right. By 2022, the domestic consumption of peanut butter was growing at an annual rate of 33.7%, and Alpino was selling a peanut jar every 30 seconds. Besides the plain-vanilla product, the startup offers more than 40 FSSAI-approved items under four categories – flavoured peanut butter, muesli, peanut butter powder and coffee blends. 

For most of its products, peanuts are sourced from Junagadh in Gujarat and products are developed in-house in Surat. The startup has adopted an omnichannel approach, selling on its website and ecommerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, JioMart and the like. Alpino products are also available offline in 4K+ stores and across 40+ cities. Modern Bazaar, ITC and Godrej Nature’s Basket are some of its major brick-and-mortar partners.

According to Alpino, its products have reached more than 6 Lakh consumers. Now it plans to drive online sales and targets INR 44 Cr in revenue for FY23. The D2C brand will expand its product line in the next couple of years and introduce apple cider vinegar and cereals to promote healthy eating and therapeutic diets.

Avni

Why Avni Made It To The List

Menstrual care startups operating across India’s femtech ecosystem have one goal. They want to create mass awareness and educate their target consumers. But unlike other brands in this space, Mumbai-based Avni recognised a more critical issue – the ecological impact of machine-made sanitary napkins and other ‘period’ supplies.

For instance, around 12.3 Bn used pads, amounting to 1.13 Lakh tonnes of waste, reached India’s landfills in 2021. Also, there is a serious pollution threat as disposable pads contain up to 90% plastic. So, the husband-and-wife duo Sujata Pawar and Apurv Agrawal decided to take the sustainability route to meet women’s menstrual needs and launched the feminine hygiene brand Avni in 2021.

The D2C brand offers a range of GOTS-certified (global organic textile standard) products for menstrual care, intimate care and incontinence issues. There are more than 12 products across three categories, including panty liners, menstrual cups, wipes, cotton pads, reusable cloth pads and more.

The entire range is designed and tested at an in-house unit, but the production is outsourced to third-party manufacturers who employ women from rural and semi-urban areas. The packaging is also sustainable, and the startup claims to donate 80% of its profits to create ‘period’ awareness.

Although the startup has not disclosed its revenue run rate for FY23, it claims to be growing at 30% MoM and spreading awareness about its products, starting with urban women. As D2C (direct-to-consumer) is a preferred channel for many consumer-facing brands, the femtech segment will likely cater to a larger market.

Therefore, Avni is planning to launch various wellness products by 2025, catering to everything between menarche and menopause with help from a community of experts.

BabyAmore

Why BabyAmore Made It To The List

Baby skin is extremely soft, delicate and much more permeable than the skin of older children. Hence, skincare and other lifestyle products for newborns should not contain harsh chemicals, fragrances or dyes that may cause skin irritation and rashes. Buying the right products for toddlers thus becomes a challenging task for rookie parents. 

Former Wipro consultant Hameed Imthad was afflicted even more as his second child used to get rashes from most diaper and clothing brands. He was living in the UAE then, and products for highly sensitive baby skin were readily available in the country. But that was not the case when the family moved back to India. 

Realising how frightening such incidents could be for new parents, Imthad and his cousin Abdul Wahab started importing a few toddler-friendly products and sold them in India. But soon, they understood that the massive demand across the country warranted a full-fledged marketplace for baby care brands. The duo launched BabyAmore in 2019, which sells premium, organic and eco-friendly product lines. 

The Chennai-based startup offers more than 3.7K baby care products under 60+ categories, including skin and hair care, baby clothes, training pants, feeding utilities, changing tables and more. More than 115 local and global brands like Allter, Burt’s Bees, EZPZ, Masilo, Pampers, ZoLi and Johnson & Johnson already sell through BabyAmore’s website and its offline stores.

The FirstCry-like platform has adopted an outright purchase (it owns the inventory) and warehousing model for offline outlets and a dropshipping model (where it does not stock merchandise or hold an inventory) for its digital store. 

So far, BabyAmore has set up two offline stores in Chennai and claims to have served nearly 20K customers. It is currently working on a same-day delivery feature across metro cities and will be launching a BabyAmore community for parenting tips by March next year. The next big step includes setting up 50+ offline stores by 2025.

Bartisans

Why Bartisans Made It To The List

The rise of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns led to extensive home cooking, experimenting with novel dishes and a penchant for home bars as almost everyone had too much free time. The mother-and-son duo of Jovita and Jordan Mascarenhas was no exception. They used to experiment with various cocktails as they had some duty-free alcohol purchased from Dubai.

Many people could not go out at the time and get their drinks. But making the perfect concoction at home requires a specific skill, and few know how to do it. Jovita and Jordan had it and realised the need for shelf-stable cocktail mixes on such occasions. So, Bartisans was launched in 2021.

The Mumbai-based artisan brand offers 10 different drinks using two types of cocktail mixers. First, there are the classics that go to make margarita, mojito and whiskey sour and then the exotic mixers like tamarind and orange, smoked pineapple and basil, and hibiscus and lavender.

The liquid mixers have a six-month shelf life and can be mixed with different spirits to create new varieties. Bartisans also offers home bar tools like shakers, muddlers, jiggers and more. The D2C brand makes its FSSAI-approved vegan mixers in-house, does not add chemicals or preservatives, and sells these through its website and Amazon.

The startup has not disclosed its topline but claims a user base of 5K. Bartisans is planning to push the number by partnering with more ecommerce players by the end of FY23. It aims to go omnichannel in the long run and sell directly to bars, restaurants and other establishments.

Bombay Island Coffee

Why Bombay Island Coffee Made It To The List

Choosing a favourite brew can be challenging for someone new to artisanal and speciality coffee. The options galore and the information overload indicate the need for a solid coffee brand that can guide newbies to the world of fine coffee and turn them into coffee aficionados. 

Set up in 2018, Bombay Island Coffee vows to do just that. The D2C coffee brand started as a simple roastery but later added a complete bean-to-cup experience via its flagship cafés in Malad and Vikhroli. It sources coffee beans from its partner farms in Chikmagalur (Karnataka), the birthplace of coffee in India, and these beans are roasted in-house at the Vikhroli experience store.

The D2C brand now offers eight coffee blends and more than five brewing gear (brew makers, french presses, grinders, espresso machines, filter papers and more). It also provides vending machines and coffee beans to 150+ corporate houses and HORECA businesses.

The brand sells its products through its website, ecommerce platforms and two flagship stores. Plus, there is a subscription model to attract coffee lovers. It targets more than INR 2 Cr in revenue in FY23, amounting to 50% YoY growth. Moreover, its cafés host coffee workshops throughout the year, aiming to capture a significant share of the $1.5 Bn Indian coffee market via these popular events.

CURRYiT

Why CURRYit Made It To The List

Life in metros (and other cities) is changing rapidly as young people increasingly migrate there for higher education and better career opportunities. Millennials with kids, young people living alone or busy professional couples often skip cooking at home and dine in or dine out. They also opt for fast and easy cooking but find it difficult to get the right ingredients for whipping up authentic flavours. 

The demand for tasty spreads grew even more in the wake of the pandemic as restaurants offered limited services, and people preferred to eat at home for health and safety reasons. Given the fast-growing target market, CURRYit was launched in 2020 with a specific mission: It would reduce cooking and cleaning time by up to 90% and bring home the taste of gourmet food. 

The New Delhi-based D2C brand offers 20+ products under three categories, including curry pastes, biryani paste and vegetable pastes. These FSSAI-approved products are preservative-free, chemical-free and do not contain refined oils, added sugar or trans fats.

However, they have a shelf life of nine months as Flexi-packs are used to reduce the presence of moisture. All products are made at the startup’s kitchen in South Delhi, and ingredients like spices and vegetables are sourced from local partner farms.

CURRYiT’s products are sold pan-India through its website and third-party marketplaces. However, it has not disclosed its revenue numbers but claims to be growing 30% month-on-month. According to the D2C brand, it has sold more than 100K+ products and grown 20x in the past two years.

The brand has seen a significant rise in demand among customers whose friends and families stay abroad and look for similar products to bring the taste of authentic Indian cuisines to their food items. So, it plans to build a robust supply chain by 2025 to export to countries like the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and others with a sizeable Indian diaspora.

Deciwood

Why Deciwood Made It To The List

Indians love listening to music and typically spend 21.9 hours per user per week, compared to the global average of 18.4. It also underlines their love for quality audio, and many prefer to use top-quality speakers with a series of filters for a customised experience. But half a decade ago, the audio journey was not so smooth.

Few homegrown hardware companies were around then. And the market for Bluetooth speakers was peppered with Chinese imports with not-so-perfect basses and trebles (the sound used to get distorted when the volume was high) or hugely expensive overseas brands which people could ill afford. 

Recognising this gap, three friends with a passion for music and an urge to make good quality, acoustically sound audio devices, launched the Deciwood Bluetooth speakers in 2018.

The New Delhi-based D2C brand combines the sound purity of a wooden medium with its patented audio technology Energy Tube that channelises sound waves into the device to balance bass and treble and ensure minimum distortion. The wood-and-leather designs bring cottage core aesthetics to the streaming era, where the likes of Spotify come with sleek interfaces and high-quality audio.

Other features of this product line include batteries ranging between 1,200 and 4,500 mAh, 5-45W output, playback time up to five hours, Bluetooth 5.0 for a wireless range of 10-25m, hands-free calling, compatibility with iOS, Android and Windows, and FM, AUX, USB and SD card connectivity. Deciwood also personalises a user’s speakers by engraving their names, personal logos or music motto on the grills.

The audio hardware brand currently offers seven products, including five Bluetooth speakers, a pair of wired earphones and wireless earbuds, all sold on its website and ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart and Nykaa. It is now looking to launch a soundbar and headphone range and generate INR 6 Cr in revenue in FY23. Deciwood also aims to grow its revenue by 15x to reach INR 100 Cr in another three years.

Fitspire

Why Fitspire Made It To The List

Protein is a critical nutrient, but its sources vary widely. Researches reveal that some plant proteins like soybeans, quinoa, spirulina and buckwheat are as good as animal proteins and contain the whole range of essential amino acids needed for our diet. But others lack one or more nutrients and require some careful mix-and-match (think of rice and beans, a perfect pair) and elaborate cooking to whip up a tasty and wholesome meal. However, today’s fast-paced lifestyle and ready-to-eat platters often put such nutritional discretion on the backburner, and people’s health tends to suffer. To fill this dietary gap, former Max Life executive Vipen Jain set up Fitspire, which helps people choose plant-based food alternatives for a healthy and green lifestyle.

Launched in 2020, the New Delhi-based startup has moved beyond traditional nutraceuticals and developed more than 50 FSSAI-approved vegan and vegetarian healthcare supplements. These include a wide range of multivitamin tablets, peanut butter, energy bars and healthy snacks.

Fitspire uses traditional Indian spices like turmeric, black pepper and cinnamon, and rich natural extracts like berberine, ginseng, ginkgo biloba and more. All products are made at the startup’s in-house plants at Paonta Sahib (Himachal Pradesh) and Greater Noida (Delhi-NCR).

The nutritional supplements startup claims to have served 50K+ users via its website, ecommerce marketplaces (Amazon, Flipkart) and retail chains (Apollo, GnC, WH Smith stores and others). It recently partnered with Delhi Metro and several domestic and international airports to offer healthy snacking products. 

Fitspire plans to reach 100K+ customers and targets a revenue of INR 10 Cr in FY23. But the long-term goal is to drive its revenue 50x (INR 500 Cr) by 2025 on the back of a fast-developing natural supplements market that will be worth $106 Bn in another five years.

Flexnest

Why Flexnest Made It To The List

Before the pandemic, the fitness industry thrived on brick-and-mortar gyms. But with Covid restrictions in place during multiple lockdowns, the segment eased into fitness apps and virtual sessions, home gym equipment and tech-powered fitness tools. In fact, home gyms ranked only second to wearables, according to a 2022 fitness survey.

To help the health-conscious and fitness enthusiasts get a smooth and effective ‘home gym’ experience, Raunaq Singh Anand and his wife Rhea launched Flexnest in 2021.

The Gurugram-based startup sells a wide range of connected and non-connected equipment and accessories, including smart cycles, rowers, cross trainers, treadmills, dumbbells, yoga mats, resistance bands, weighing scales and more. The products are designed in India but contract-manufactured and imported from Taiwan and China. Besides the hardware, the Flexnest app offers free trainer-guided classes and syncs with connected equipment for a seamless experience. 

The startup currently has 40 SKUs, sold pan-India via its website (70%) and third-party marketplaces (30%). Plus, it has set up an offline experience centre in Bengaluru, where users can try out the startup’s products and buy them online. The D2C brand clocked more than INR 37 Cr in FY22 and aims to increase its revenue by 2.5x to INR 100 Cr in the current financial year. In addition, it plans to set up experience centres in Indian metros and expand to GCC countries by 2024.

Floryo

Why Floryo Made It To The List

When it comes to daily nutritional needs, a standard food item does not serve all, according to FMCG veteran Manohar Kumar. Inspired by the age-old chakki (a milling technique) and the nutritional sufficiency of traditional foods, he tapped into custom flour mixes and launched the D2C brand Floryo in July 2022.

The Bengaluru-based startup makes different types of whole grain flours such as functional and customised multigrain flours, flour-and-veggie mixes and gluten-free items. It offers more than 40 varieties under five categories and does next-day, doorstep deliveries across the city. All its products are FSSAI-approved and freshly milled, processed and packaged in-house.

Floryo procures the grains – wheat, bajra (pearl millet), jowar (sorghum), ragi (finger millet) and more – from its partner farms across the country. It also offers online consultations from nutritionists and develops custom flours for individuals based on their health and dietary needs. 

The startup has a subscription model in place, sells products via its website and aims to clock INR 20 Cr in revenue for FY23 in spite of being operational for a couple of months.

Lauriko

Why Lauriko Made It To The List

Named after the chemical compound lauric acid, this D2C nutraceutical brand is the brainchild of second-time entrepreneur and nutritionist Lavanya Sunkari. When she learnt about the potential danger of consuming haircare and skincare supplements – these may increase the risk of liver failure – Sunkari deep-dived into veganism and came across lauric acid, a powerful substance extracted from many vegetable fats and known for its medicinal value.

After four food scientists worked on 24 lauric acid formulations and patented eight, Hyderabad-based Lauriko was launched in 2021.

Currently, the brand offers 10 products under four categories (haircare, skincare, multivitamins and snacks), and the entire range is made at a Bengaluru unit. The startup claims that each product contains 53% of lauric acid and enables 83% higher absorption of vitamins and minerals in the body.

Although Lauriko became commercially operational in April 2022, it claims to have served more than 30K users via its website and ecommerce channels. The brand eyes $1 Mn in revenue in FY23. Lauriko also plans to introduce malts, serums and liquids to its existing product lines by June next year and aims to reach 1.5 Mn users by 2025.

Lemme Be

Why Lemme Be Made It To The List

The menstrual hygiene market in India is a $900 Mn opportunity, growing at nearly 14% CAGR. The rising awareness regarding menstrual health, increasing disposable incomes of women workers, and the growth of easy-to-access, affordable D2C brands in a traditionally ‘taboo’ market are driving the positive change. However, Hyderabad-based Lemme Be went a step ahead and started planning an inclusive forum for women with ‘period’ issues.  

Set up in 2020, the startup offers more than 20 period care products, including sanitary pads, panty liners, menstrual cups and discs, tampons, GOTS-certified reusable period panties and more. Most of them are made in India, but the tampons are imported from Croatia. Lemme Be products are available on its website and various ecommerce platforms like Amazon, Nykaa, Myntra and BigBasket. The brand is also present in 500+ retail stores and pharmacies across the country. 

However, simply selling these products may not help all target women as they still struggle to cope with menstrual health issues like premenstrual syndrome (PMS), cramps, PCOD and PCOS, urinary tract infection (UTI) and HPV/HIV. So, Lemme Be is building a forum for open conversations around all relevant issues.

The startup has recently expanded its online operations to Dubai and Australia and has plans to launch in the US, the UK and Southeast Asian countries by 2025. It has an ARR of INR 30 Cr for FY23 (nearly 3x its revenue in the previous financial year) that it hopes to reach by expanding its presence across marketplaces, dark stores and affiliate outreach.

Paradyes

Why Paradyes Made It To The List

Like the somewhat controversial body tattoo or body piercing, bold hair colours are often considered a fun or nonconformist fashion statement. But done in the wrong way or repeatedly using chemical dyes can irretrievably harm one’s tresses and lead to serious health hazards.

Yushika Jolly was aware of the growing conflict between traditional standards and trendy looks as her family runs Prolife Industries, a hair dye manufacturing business. In a bid to provide hair dyes which are stylish, offbeat and safe, she launched Paradyes in 2020 within Prolife’s existing business unit. 

Instead of the mundane colour palettes featuring black, brown or burgundy, the Ahmedabad-based startup currently offers natural, chemical-free and semi-permanent hair dyes in nine vibrant colours, including red, purple, yellow, pink and more. Each packet contains a colour cream glass jar, a conditioner sachet and a bamboo fibre brush alongside an instruction manual. These colours last up to 8-10 washes and can be mixed and matched to create a new hue.

As these dyes do not contain ammonia, paraben and para-phenylenediamine (PPD), the D2C brand assures damage-free colouring and claims to soften previously bleached hair. 

Hair bleaches are still not available on the platform. So, Paradyes has come up with blogs that suggest which brands can be safely used. 

The startup has not disclosed its top-line growth but claims it is creating a niche in India’s $477 Mn hair dye industry. It plans to launch a line of bleaches in the current financial year and build a community of experts to educate users about the bleaching procedure, the aftercare and how to colour one’s hair safely.

Pawrulz

Why Pawrulz Made It To The List

The pet products market in India is estimated to clock around $500 Mn in revenue in 2022, growing at 13% annually. It also underlines a surge in new pet owners across the country and a rise in per-pet spending, favoured by increasing incomes and nuclear family structures. Pets became all the more important in the wake of the pandemic as people had to cut back on social mixing and turned to their winged and furry friends for love and comfort.

However, new pet parents also require a thorough knowledge of essential pet products and services to ensure the best possible creature comfort. Given the need for an information-driven ecosystem, three pet owners (and friends) launched Pawrulz in 2019. 

The Gurugram-based pet care marketplace has partnered with 100+ brands to offer more than 3K products across 15 categories. These include pet food and treats (for dogs and cats), health supplements, hygiene essentials (like dewormers), collars and leashes, toys, grooming and utility products, pet accessories and many more. It also enables online vet consultation as pet health is rapidly emerging as a critical sub-segment.  

So far, Pawrulz has catered to more than 19K pet parents. Around 80% of its sales come from the startup’s website, while third-party marketplaces and offline store sales clock 10% each. The current financial year will be pretty busy for the D2C brand as it plans to open a series of warehouses in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata to facilitate next-day delivery at the pan-India level and eyes INR 55 Lakh in revenue. It will also launch an in-house manufacturing unit in FY24 to introduce its private labels and drive growth.

Plow Foods

Why Plow Foods Made It To The List

Traditional vegan breakfasts are tasty, but do they have the essential nutrients to nourish our health? As 68% of Indians lack the protein they need and 71% have poor muscle health, it is high time to try a healthy take on the classic Indian breakfast, the day’s most important meal. So, Plow Foods was launched in 2021, offering protein-packed, vegan and ready-to-cook food items.

The Gurugram-based startup has introduced three products – a classic masala veglette (vegetarian omelette), a coriander masala veglette and chilli coriander masala oats. These FSSAI-approved items are made from whole wheat, oat, besan (chickpea flour), peanuts, moong (green gram) and other locally sourced ingredients to ensure adequate plant proteins. Each item has a shelf life of 30 days and contains 27g of protein per 100g (or 12g per serving), equivalent to eating two large eggs.

However, production is outsourced to New Delhi-based ‎Shree Zelco Foods and products are sold on Plow Foods’ website and through Amazon.

Qua

Why Qua Made It To The List

The online market for women’s western wear is likely to reach $8 Bn by 2023. Even then, there are challenges galore for digital-first brands. A limited collection of trendy outfits, the absence of a custom size chart best suited for Indian body types, and little use of fashion tech tools for virtual fitting and styling often result in disgruntled customers and purchase returns (the industry average is 30%).

Aware of what women want from online shopping trips, Qua was launched in 2019, offering a personalised range of trendy, functional and designer workwear for the hip and woke urban professionals.

Variety drives this New Delhi-based D2C fashion brand as its range of western formals are not limited to tops and skirts and women’s suits in classic blacks, browns or whites. Qua’s range of 200+ styles across 12 categories will catch the attention of any fashionista due to their offbeat hues (lime, crimson, lavender, hot pink, sorbet pastels and more), versatile product lines (blazers, pantsuits, overalls, co-ords and flared trousers) and adorable fabrics (Turkish cotton, viscose and wool blends). 

Unlike many of its peers, Qua claims a less than 10% return rate as it offers free web conferencing with Qua’s stylist to customise existing offerings, custom stitching, and free home trials and alterations. While an in-house stylist designs the outfits, the production is outsourced to small manufacturers in Delhi and Gurugram.

The startup has also added fashion jewellery and scarves to its portfolio and is currently working on increasing its SKUs. It claims to have an extensive online presence on ecommerce marketplaces like Myntra, Nykaa, HYPD and Stylenook, but its website drives most of the sales. Qua eyes INR 2 Cr in revenue in FY23 and plans to launch in North America and the EU by 2025 for a turnover of INR 100 Cr.

Raskik

Why Raskik Made It To The List

In a fast-paced world filled with long workdays, busy schedules and chronic stress, people always rush to get things done, and health becomes the first casualty. For instance, a healthy breakfast in the morning has become synonymous with a bottle of juice. But for an average Indian, it comes straight out of Tetra Pak cartons or bottles of drink concentrates in various flavours. 

Concerned about the lack of freshly squeezed juice in people’s diets, former Coca-Cola country heads Abhay Parnerkar, Vikas Chawla and Satyajit Ram set up a team of experts to mix and match fruits and flavours with coconut water, as the latter is full of nutritional benefits. In 2019, the trio launched the juice fusion brand Raskik to help remove toxins from one’s system and boost good health.

The Gurugram-based startup offers five fusions of fruit and coconut water, including coco-guava, coco-apple, coco-litchi, coco-mango and coco-mixed fruit. It has partnered with Jalgaon-based Jain Farm Fresh Foods to procure all ingredients and also received BRC, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, SGF, Halal and Kosher approvals.

Raskik juices do not contain added preservatives or artificial colours, and these are sold across Delhi-NCR through its website, local trade chains, kirana stores and third-party marketplaces like BigBasket and MilkBasket.

Snitch

Why Snitch Made It To The List

In a world hit by the pandemic, physical businesses came to a standstill, and most companies explored digital options to survive and grow. While agile and digital-first D2C businesses coped better with the new normal, Snitch, a Bengaluru-based B2B business specialising in men’s wear, took a leap of faith and embraced the online D2C route to clear its excess inventory. Although Snitch was incorporated in 2018, its D2C business only started in late 2020 to survive and thrive through Covid-19.

The pivot went well as its positioning as a leading B2B brand amply supported its B2C play. Inspired by global trends, the startup leverages a 1,900-strong and 13-category product catalogue featuring the latest in shirts, tees, trousers, jeans, shorts, co-ords and more for the 18-35 age group.

And to make trending men’s fashion more inclusive, the startup recently introduced Snitch Plus, offering nearly 100 products in sizes up to 5XL. All products are made at its manufacturing unit in Bengaluru.

Earlier, the startup told Inc42 that 98% of its sales happened online via its website as it retained a part of its B2B trade. Now Snitch claims to clock 15-20% revenue growth month on month, fulfilling 1,500+ orders a day. The men’s apparel brand recently launched its Android and iOS apps, and 35% of its overall sales come from those.

It targets around INR 90 Cr in revenue for FY23 and plans to launch six offline experience stores to try on the brand’s best-selling products and order them online.

Something’s Brewing

Why Something’s Brewing Made It To The List

India ranks seventh among the world’s coffee producers, but getting one’s choice brew is still a matter of luck and luxury here despite the growing consumption of the beverage. But when it hit a tipping point during the Covid-19 lockdowns (read limited choices and terrible coffees), Abhinav Mathur, former vice-president of the cooking appliance manufacturer Stovekraft, decided to take things into his own hands.

In came Something’s Brewing, a vertical marketplace for all things coffee, including a wide variety of brews, dry coffee (roasted beans, powder, brew bags and so on), coffee machines and all related gear for an amazing home-brewing experience.

Launched in 2020, the Bengaluru-based startup holds the distribution rights of 60+ global brands. It offers more than 500 coffee-making equipment and over 1,000 blends from 30+ coffee brands. The marketplace has also developed a D2C coffee brand called Budan with 20 SKUs. Additionally, its core team of coffee experts helps users learn how to brew coffee using the latest coffee machines and accessories and how to discover new varieties and blends. Plus, coffee lovers can share their recipes on this platform. 

Something’s Brewing claims to have processed more than 11K orders. Its website drives nearly 60% of total sales, while 30% of the business is done on ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon and CRED. The remaining 10% comes from its retail store in Bengaluru. 

It plans to introduce a subscription model for repeat customers, start a gifting module to meet the festive season demand and hold 20 or so workshops on coffee brewing to cater to coffee lovers. It is targeting $1.5 Mn in revenue for FY23 and aims to reach $10 Mn by CY25 on the back of offline retailing across top metro cities and an in-house coffee equipment brand to be launched soon.

Spice Story

Why Spice Story Made It To The List

Whether they say it out loud or not, all Indians are desi at heart. They may globe-trot and taste the most exotic cuisines, but the heart will be where the spices are. Of course, the $600 Mn Indian spice market (covers seasonings, spreads, dressings and sauces) is primarily fragmented, ruled by small players who sell their ware at kirana stores or supermarkets. But in 2019, former ADF Foods executive Soumyadeep Mukherjee decided to merge the convenience of D2C selling and India’s much-loved desi flavours. That’s how the Spice Story was born.

The Mumbai-based startup offers 14 FSSAI-approved chutneys in assorted flavours such as mint, schezwan, tamarind, mustard and more. They come in handy little packets, which are easy to pour and store. The startup claims that all sauces from Spice Story can double up as dips, spreads, marinades or main ingredients.  

Spice Story sources its ingredients locally, but its products are made in Indore, and it has an exclusive co-packing arrangement. The items are sold via its website and more than eight online channels like Amazon, CRED, MilkBasket and more, accounting for 30% of its total sales. It has partnered with 400+ supermarkets and 1,700+ kiranas to tap into offline growth.

So far, the startup has fulfilled more than 25K online orders and is growing at 167% quarter-on-quarter. It aims to hit INR 7 Cr revenue in FY23 and looks to introduce a new category of dips. Spice Story targets 25x growth by 2025 on its plans to introduce Indian spices and ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat foods in the UK, Australia and the UAE.

SVISH On The Go

Why SVISH Made It To The List

With the onset of the pandemic a couple of years ago, everyday hygiene products like soap, handwash and disinfectant turned out to be emergency items that no one could do without. Realising that there would be a growing demand for these products to contain Covid-19, Ishan Grover and Jaideep Mahajan decided to make them available round the clock on their ecommerce platform SVISH On-The-Go. 

Launched in 2020 in Gurugram, the startup offers 14 products under three categories – sanitisation and disinfection, hair hygiene and hygiene below the belt. Its skin-friendly and non-sticky sanitising products include gadget wipes, hand sanitisers, dermatologically tested hair removal sprays, anti-chafing roll-ons and personal hygiene kits. SVISH houses an R&D team that works closely with third-party manufacturers in Gurugram to develop its product lines. 

The startup claims to have served more than 1.5 Lakh users within 18 months of its launch and sells its products on its website and ecommerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, CRED and BigBasket. It is now focussing on building a solid offline presence by partnering with 800+ retail stores, including pharmacies, airport outlets and city shops. Its revenue run rate for FY23 stands at INR 22 Cr, and it plans to 4x its growth post a pre-Series A funding.

The Health Factory

Why The Health Factory Made It To The List

The bread market in India has reached $47 Bn in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 7.8%. In various zones, per capita bread consumption is around 1.5 kg, indicating that Indians consume 1.95 Lakh tonnes of bread every day. But instead of eating healthy, most people indulge in maida/refined flour (used for making delicious variants), which can result in visceral fat and other health issues. 

Aware of the massive consumption of bread without the must-have healthy ingredients like proteins and fibres, Symbiosis alumnus Vinay Maheswari decided to bring in wholesome options that could gradually replace regular wheat or maida products. Subsequently, The Health Factory was set up in 2020, offering four products – multi-protein bread (classic and protein-lite), whole wheat protein bread and zero-maida bread. The FSSAI-approved products are made from whole wheat and contain up to 48g of protein per loaf. 

The Mumbai-based D2C startup sells its products via its website and partner e-grocery platforms such as BigBasket and Amazon India. Besides, it has an offline presence across Big Bazaar, Foodhall (Mumbai) and more. It has also introduced a subscription model, wherein subscribers from Mumbai and Pune can get the products on their desired dates, between 6 and 9 in the morning.

To push its sales, The Health Factory plans to launch its operations in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi-NCR in the current financial year.

The June Shop

Why The June Shop Made It To The List

Pegged at $32 Bn in 2022, India’s home décor market is expected to reach nearly $40 Bn by 2027, clocking an annual growth of 5%. However, functional home décor has undergone a sea change, throwing open a bundle of opportunities for creators and entrepreneurs. For instance, millennials and Gen Z no longer require loads of free time, training or huge disposable incomes to deck up their living space.

A spate of impulse buying for fun, minimalistic and aesthetic components do well to bring out their style and preferences. And the likes of The June Shop are tapping into this fast-growing target market to combine craft and commerce.

Launched in 2019, the Kolkata startup began its journey as an online gift shop. But the site soon became a go-to brand for lifestyle products, kitchenware and fashion items, while home décor remains its mainstay. The startup offers more than 7.5K products across 20+ categories, including lamps and lighting, wall décor, organisers, fashion accessories and more. 

The June Shop’s one-of-its-kind items and humungous product range may remind one of Etsy, but it is not a marketplace. In fact, the startup claims to ideate and design all its products in-house. But production is done in partnership with third-party contractors across the country, with major plants in Mumbai, Kolkata and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. 

Besides setting up a pan-India business, The June Shop also shipped lifestyle products to Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, Germany and the UAE in the past six months. It clocked INR 1.04 Cr revenue in July 2022, eyes a total of INR 15 Cr for FY23 and plans to venture into the smart home category by 2025.

The Minimal Co

Why The Minimal Co Made It To The List

Pure mulberry silk tops the list of all sericultural wonders. It is odourless, has a buttery feel due to long, fine strands, and is hypoallergenic and antibacterial, which means people with sensitive skin can use them without worry. Plus, it contains a host of nutrients, including proteins and amino acids, offering skin and hair benefits when people use pillows, bedding and eye masks made from this ‘king of silks’. 

It was not surprising, therefore, that Gurugram-based The Minimal Co thrived on the first-mover advantage as it launched a niche range of mulberry silk products in 2020. The startup offers seven items – pillowcases, hair scrunchies, eye masks, gua sha and jade rollers (for face massage), exfoliating gloves and under mask sprays.

These will ensure skin and hair hydration, less hair damage/fall due to moisture retention, acne reduction and better sleep, as claimed by beauty experts worldwide. 

All products are made by Inanna Herbals, Minimal’s sister company, and sold pan-India through Minimal’s website and Amazon India.

Toqn

Why Toqn Made It To The List

In India, gold jewellery is an essential part of the culture, consumption and asset creation. Indians buy more than 1,000 tonnes of gold every year, accounting for one-third of the world’s annual supply. But the rising cost of gold and the need to own trendy ornaments to up one’s ensemble often compel people to mix and match metals and materials that will not cost a small fortune every time a new piece is required. That is where Toqn comes in, as the avant-garde brand has reimagined the use of gold ornaments in a sustainable way. 

Set up in 2019, the startup has crafted two unique products – a range of four sockets and a single-piece, multipurpose jewellery called ‘toqn’ that can be fitted into the sockets. These sockets are shaped as the bases for rings, bracelets, pendants and lapel pins. A user can fit the single-piece ‘toqn’ into any of the sockets to make four different pieces of jewellery. 

The startup also offers 100+ diamond-studded rose gold, white gold and yellow gold pieces based on ethnicity, minimalism and trending concepts. All products are made in partnership with Coimbatore-based Emerald Jewel Industry, which specialises in 18-karat gold designs and sends all finished products for quality testing and hallmarking to its in-house quality control team.

Toqn products are sold pan-India via its website and ecommerce marketplaces. The startup has tied up with GRT Jewellers and Bhima Jewellers to drive offline sales across Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Coimbatore. It also targets $1.5 Mn in revenue for FY23 by expanding in Gujarat, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. The jeweller’s long-term plan is to set up brick-and-mortar experience stores and airport kiosks across the country and venture into lab-grown diamonds.

uppercase

Why uppercase Made It To The List

India’s online travel accessory market is worth more than INR 6,000 Cr, growing at a 10% CAGR. However, only a handful of companies in this space have adopted sustainable manufacturing. Launched in March 2022, Mumbai-based uppercase is one such brand that sells trendy but eco-friendly backpacks and trolley bags in sync with the Global Recycle Standard (GRS).

This means the D2C brand leverages at least 50% recycled materials for all its products, does not use harmful chemicals, and ensures low carbon footprints, keeping in mind the environment-conscious new-age consumers. 

The startup makes 10+ backpack styles and two trolley bags in three sizes – cabin, medium and large. All products are developed at the in-house manufacturing unit of its parent company, Acefour Accessories, and come with a two-year warranty. According to uppercase, its bags are waterproof and stay wrinkle-free.

The travel luggage is sold through its website and third-party marketplaces like Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, Ajio and Udaan. These are also available in many general trade stores across the country.

Urvann

Why Urvann Made It To The List

As Covid lockdowns severely restricted business activities and physical movements, veteran and rookie gardeners heavily relied on ecommerce for a steady flow of garden supplies. This also meant a lot of live plants travelled intercity, were in transit for up to a week and arrived at their new homes either dead or withered.

Aware of this logistics challenge, avid gardeners and ISB alumni Sambhav Jain and Akanksha Gupta launched Urvann in 2021 to digitally connect offline nurseries and bring the convenience of online shopping to gardening enthusiasts without compromising product quality.

The Gurugram-based D2C startup partners with local nurseries across cities to offer a large variety of fresh plants and guarantee next-day delivery. Urvann’s solutions are a win-win for both buyers and sellers. As plants are procured locally and delivered nearby, shoppers get free delivery instead of paying for high-cost packaging and long-distance deployment for suboptimal plant quality.

Nurseries, too, can avoid all logistics hassles and costs and need not lose money due to RTOs. They can list their products and start selling online while Urvann handles logistics and after-sales support.

Gupta says customers can buy from 10K+ plants and gardening products across 100+ categories at 50-80% less pricing than other online players. The startup has also created a community of more than 35K plant parents who can connect, provide relevant content and participate in Urvann-hosted workshops and events.

The D2C brand is currently operational in Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. It claims to have 60% repeat customers and sells more than 1,000 plants a day. By FY23, Urvann aims to be present in all metros, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune, clocking INR 15 Cr and growing at 40% month-on-month. By 2025, it aims to partner with at least one nursery in every Indian city.

What’s Up Wellness

Why What’s Up Wellness Made It To The List

Junk food affects the body inside out, leading to liver problems and cardiovascular issues, hair loss and dull skin. Some people try to ward off the ill effects of unhealthy eating by swallowing handfuls of multivitamins and hair/skin supplements. But this means sticking to an all-day-long regimen of pills, powders and potions that will soon tire them out. 

Former marketing consultants Vaibhav Makhija and Sayantani Mandal often wondered if a single alternative could taste good and fight all hair, skin and nail problems at one go. After more pondering and extensive research, the duo launched What’s Up Wellness in 2020 to offer a single product – a Juzt jelly-flavoured (fruit-flavoured) gummy bear made of scientifically tested natural extracts, including grape seed extract, almond, aloe vera and more.

The Kolkata-based D2C wellness brand claims that consuming one gummy bear a day helps reduce hair fall, keeps skin hydrated, prevents dark spots and makes nails stronger. However, production is outsourced to third-party vendors who follow the startup’s customised and well-researched formulas to make the FSSAI-approved gummy bears.

The startup’s website bags maximum sales, followed by ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart and Nykaa. It also hopes to hit INR 6 Cr in revenue in FY23. It aims to launch five new products (all gummy bears) to address sleep issues, eye health, joint pain, body stiffness and more and push its revenue to INR 100 Cr by 2025.

Wildermart

Why Wildermart Made It To The List

The popularity of vegan and vegetarian foods has been on the rise throughout the past decade, especially among the millennials and Gen Z, as consumers are increasingly looking for natural, nutritious and cruelty-free food items. According to a 2021 survey, nearly 9% of Indians were vegans, and the worldwide vegan food market stood at $15.8 Bn. However, the ‘zero-cruelty’ concept (staying away from animal ingredients whenever possible) is no longer limited to food and spreading rapidly across FMCG and lifestyle segments. 

However, finding a one-stop marketplace for a wide range of vegan and eco-friendly products (both food and non-food items) has always been challenging, as few mainstream companies cater to vegan consumers at scale. Struggling to find suitable product alternatives, former HSBC executive Shweta Thakur and serial entrepreneur Swaroop Mohan took a decisive step and set up Wildermart in 2019 to provide organic, vegan and plant-based products.

The Bengaluru firm started to operate commercially in 2021, shortly after Thakur organised a vegan product fair called Wilderfest. The startup focusses on the planet, people and profit and offers 1,500+ vegan products across eight categories such as daily essentials, gourmet foods and snacks, plant-based dairy products and meats, and baby care and feminine hygiene products. 

Unlike other marketplaces, the D2C band sources its products locally and sells in Bengaluru alone. It aims to start an offline store in FY23 to test the viability of an omnichannel model and eyes INR 60 Lakh in revenue.

Wildermart says it has minimised the use of plastic for packaging and adopted EV logistics solutions instead of intercity courier services to reduce its carbon footprints. It will also replicate its local-sourcing-and-supply model in all six metro cities and may set up offline retail stores in those locations by 2025.

[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: D2C Brands That Caught Our Eye In August 2022 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

We are finally in the month of August and celebrating a milestone at Inc42. The current list of 30 Startups To Watch marks the 30th edition of this series, bringing to the fore a unique journey with the focus on evolution and innovation embraced by the Indian startup ecosystem. 

Over the past 29 editions, we saw an overwhelming response from young companies, explored thousands of startups and featured more than 700 early-stage entities, many of which raised big funding or even got acquired. For the past 12 months, we have also taken this content off the paywall, and one can peruse the previous editions here for free.

As we sat down to shortlist the startups for July 2022 and did a scrupulous reality check, things got curiouser and curiouser. After a prolonged funding frenzy in the wake of the pandemic and the resultant unicorn boom, 2022 is witnessing strong headwinds. The uncertainty over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues. The investor dollar is no longer sloshing around. Bloated head counts are getting axed every day. And profit has become the new survival mantra. Still, there is an all-new frothy territory, a common theme emerging and quickly taking over the startup land. 

Just scratch the surface and see how success has become synonymous with new-age tech adoption and applications. How India’s digital-first narratives are creating bottomless opportunities for enterprise tech, be it the financial ecosystem, customer intelligence or Web3 and blockchain. Or how breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, IIoT, electric vehicles and UAVs are driving the deeptech space. 

In brief, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 is here to stay, and tech startups may soon reach a new peak of froth. The 30th edition of the ‘30 Startups’ column captures the new normal, the tweaks and pivots, and the seize-the-day philosophy of new-age Indian startups. 

30 Startups To Watch: July 2022

Throughout the ‘30 Startups’ series (including the July 2022 edition), Inc42 featured companies which became operational after 2018 even though they were registered earlier. These were either bootstrapped companies or in the early stages of equity funding.

It is worth noting that when we started the list amid the pandemic, startups providing remote solutions for various segments, including edtech, healthtech, entertainment and ecommerce, took centre stage. This trend has not changed, although life is slowly returning to normal. In other words, solutions that initiated the digital hustle are here to stay and evolve.

So, it is not surprising that we have featured 11 enterprise tech startups, followed by fintech (8), ecommerce (4), blockchain (2) and drone technology (2). We have also listed an environment tech startup curbing the carbon footprint and another building a wealth management platform to solve users’ healthcare and insurance-related issues.

Of the 11 startups in the enterprisetech segment, three companies specialise in assistive sales; one analyses customer behavioural data, and another helps companies manage their SaaS spending.

Although certain sectors (read edtech) are drawing flak from consumers, social media users and even the government, others, like some fintech sub-segments, are struggling to cope with the recent reforms that disrupt the status quo. For instance, the ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) model is still in the regulatory crosshairs, and the road ahead is unclear.

In contrast, various fintechs from the list are adding value by working on inclusive finance or improving the savings and investment habits of Indians instead of pushing people to ‘buy’ high-value products online. 

The 30th edition highlights 30 upcoming companies whose products and services have been developed to cope with the new normal. They are putting technology on the pedestal and accelerating their way into market disruption.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

Actyv.ai

Why Actyv.ai Made It To The List

While embedded finance is primarily associated with small loans, serial entrepreneurs Ramkumar Thirumurthi and Raghunath Subramanian found that small businesses across the supply chain ecosystem still lacked the finance to grow their businesses. To help ease the process, the duo started Actyv.ai in 2019. 

The Bengaluru-based lending tech startup has embedded B2B BNPL and insurance products to bring together all stakeholders, including enterprises, channel partners (distributors and retailers), banks and insurers.  

Actyv.ai offers four products. First, there is Actyv Go to automate SME onboarding and offboarding by digitising document collection, information extraction, data verification, fraud checks and digital document signing. Its second product, called Actyv Score, provides a financial health report for each distributor and retailer to help financial institutions underwrite loans. Next comes Actyv PayLater, a BNPL option for target distributors and retailers to raise loans based on their Actyv Score. Finally, there is Actyv Insurance, providing general insurance products (against fire, burglary and more) to secure the businesses of distributors and retailers and bite-sized credit insurance to reduce the BNPL credit risk. Actyv charges an annual platform usage fee.

The startup has partnered with B2B businesses from FMCG, energy and construction sectors and deployed loans by tying up with Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and Canara Bank. It is now building a sector-agnostic product bouquet with minor sector-specific changes. Actyv aims to partner with all Tier 1 banks and insurance companies by FY23 and looks to expand to the Southeast Asian and the MENA regions. It also plans to enter the EU market in another two years.

Arboreum

Why Arboreum Made It To The List

The credit approval rate for MSMEs in India is less than 50%, even though they contribute more than 29% to the GDP and SMEs alone account for two-fifths of the loan applications for trade finance. The outcome: Most debtors approach informal sectors or the grey market and end up paying high interest rates. To address this pain point, Arboreum refrained from launching a run-of-the-mill lending tech company and built a credit unions-as-a-service platform in 2019, allowing formal credit to piggyback on informal loans. 

This is how it works. The Mumbai-based startup allows MSMEs and allied players to form credit unions where they deposit some of their funds or future assets like accounts receivable. When a small business requires a loan, the union members concerned facilitate part of it from this and earn interest income. The rest of the amount comes from external lenders through a structured lending process where the credit risk is reduced through a well-diversified loan portfolio. The fintech company has developed a credit underwriting system based on behavioural patterns and helps its users build a good credit score for timely payments. 

Currently, the fintech startup offers BNPL loans or issues commercial paper (CP). It earns revenues from interest on credit and margins on invoice factoring. 

So far, Arboreum has only done a small pilot with the Andhra Pradesh government. It is now building efficiencies to market its products at scale in FY23.

Baaz

Why Baaz Made It To The List

The concept of selling products via videos dated back to the blaring Homeshop18 channel on TV and then made a foray into YouTube, with product links in description boxes. Next came social selling and live video commerce to help create customer trust and push sales. But the process is not fully automated yet. In most cases, customers place orders after videos are played instead of in-streaming shopping. 

To make the process quick, convenient and efficient for buyers and sellers, Baaz from Bengaluru launched a virtual store in 2020 where businesses can create live videos to hawk their products online and answer shoppers’ queries in real-time. For buyers, the SaaS platform features an online inventory to pick and choose products, add them to carts and pay within the same streaming window. 

Shipping systems are available on the platform to help companies sell globally. These solutions can also be integrated with Shopify stores and ecommerce websites for greater convenience. 

Baaz claims to have onboarded more than 1K merchants and witnessed an add-to-cart rate of 40% and a conversion rate of 11%.

Buildd

Why Buildd Made It To The List

Digital commerce is growing exponentially, and so is the need for micro-fintech services on every transactional platform. So, Buildd was launched in 2021 to help fintech and non-fintech companies provide financial products and services to their users. To begin with, the Pune-based startup has developed an API middleware for a credit line. Like conventional APIs, this layer sits between the client level and the backend core system of record, translating commands into execution. It also offers a service bouquet, including revenue-based financing, BNPL, fund transfer and card-as-a-service. 

The fintech startup providing embedded solutions is still in the early-access mode, but 19 brands have already integrated its offerings. Its flagship is Buildd OS, a credit-as-a-service stack that allows digital companies to offer products and services on credit. Additionally, Buildd OS provides an escrow API and a patent-pending treasury API for safe payments and zero mis-selling. The SaaS firm gets a commission on the transaction volume and charges a monthly API subscription fee.

Buildd aims to go live by FY23 with 50 partners on credit stack and 20 each on escrow and treasury API and eyes $225K in revenue. It plans to work with 200+ brands to offer vertical fintech SaaS solutions and targets an ARR of $20 Mn by 2025.

Castler

Why Castler Made It To The List

As India increasingly adopts a digital ecosystem, online commerce frauds and scams are growing in sync. But when a friend fell prey to a phishing attack, former MobiKwik CBO Vineet Singh decided to build a robust product that would keep people’s money secure during online transactions. After months of research, Singh and former Treebo sales head Dinesh Kumar launched Castler in 2020. The idea was to create an escrow service for every online transaction to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders.

Simply put, the New Delhi-based startup allows a buyer (operating in B2B/B2C space) to create an instant digital escrow facility where he can block the money for the said transaction. To start using Castler, both buyer and seller must get their eKYC done, agree to the service terms and specify the transaction value. The buyer will then deposit the payment in the escrow account created with Castler, and the seller will deliver the goods/services. If the buyer approves the same, Castler will release the payment to the seller, ensuring that no fraud happens on either side. 

The fintech SaaS startup currently offers custom solutions for sellers of physical goods, especially businesses leasing properties, property and vehicle resellers and a wide range of service providers. It has partnered with banks, law firms and trusteeship companies to provide API-based solutions, including digital escrow, agreement and contracts and trusteeship services. The company charges a fee/subscription from buyers/sellers (or both). 

The minimum transaction value has to be INR 1,000 to use Castler, but there is no upper ceiling. Since its launch, the company claims to have facilitated a total transaction value of INR 2,500 Cr for 1,500+ customers. It plans to make the most of its early-mover advantage and maintain monthly transactions worth INR 1,000 Cr in FY23.

Climes

Why Climes Made It To The List

Uncontrolled carbon emissions trigger global warming, leading to climate change and its catastrophic effects. As we use the internet, mine cryptos, burn fossil fuels and extend industrial ops without paying much attention to our carbon footprints, the environmental and health impacts could be irreparable. Of course, projects and NGOs are trying to reverse these impacts. But these are often poorly funded, and their activities are rarely publicised to power the environmental drive. On the other hand, Anirudh Gupta (ex-Airbus) and Siddhanth Jayaram (ex-Kalaari Capital) believe that financing these projects will be the biggest lever to solve climate issues, and Climes was born in 2021.

The New Delhi-based startup has initially targeted the consumer internet space to fulfil its mission. It has partnered with ecommerce companies and provides details to consumers to make them aware of the carbon footprints they generate during online shopping. Shoppers are then requested to contribute to the projects working on restoring biodiversity, reviving degraded forest lands, promoting regenerative land management, producing energy from waste material and increasing the green cover. 

Some prominent projects raising funds via this platform include Farmers For Forest, Say Trees, Hasten and Acacia. According to Climes, more than 37K individuals shopping on partner brands like Roamhome, Zingbus, MakeMyTrip and The Wedding Brigade have neutralised over 281,000 kg of CO2. Users can also contribute via the Climes website. 

For every rupee contributed to Climes’ projects, the startup rewards an in-app currency called Climes. These can be used to redeem rewards when people buy from sustainable brands like Neemans, Blue Tribe and Clan Earth. The company is now looking to design the right incentive for partner ecommerce brands.

Convin

Why Convin Made It To The List

As the world has turned digital and remote selling has become the norm in post-Covid reality, sales enablers play a critical role in driving conversions and amplifying customer experiences. Consequently, assisted selling has emerged as one of the most extensive use cases of the $18.4 Bn conversational intelligence tech market. Although these are pretty recent trends, Bengaluru-based Convin was a step ahead of the rest and launched a SaaS platform for sales intelligence solutions in 2019.

Convin records salespeople’s conversations with prospects to help managers review interactions and share feedback at scale. Also, to make salespeople more proactive in their approach, the platform features more than 30 tech features such as data analytics, transcription services, sales strategy indicators, revenue intelligence and sales automation. Its SaaS offering comes alongside a CRM, costs $50 per month for small teams (less than 30) and is customisable for large groups. This year, Convin will focus on product development and hire product and marketing teams for optimum utilisation of its $2.1 Mn funding.

DAOLens

Why DAOLens Made It To The List

As DAOs aim to achieve the ultimate blockchain vision of member-controlled or decentralised autonomous communities, every member faces a common issue. Most tech tools are not up to the mark for DAO development. So, IIT-Guwahati alumni Vikram Aditya and Apoorv Nandan launched DAOLens in January 2022 as the SaaS equivalent of Web3, less complicated and easy to operate.

DAOLens is building three main products for the ecosystem – a discovery portal where DAOs and contributors can connect, a contributor onboarding solution for scaling up the infrastructure and a host of community management tools for workplace management.

The Bengaluru-based startup is working with more than 70 DAOs and their contributors. It offers its SaaS products with some manual intervention during integration as all DAOs are different in size and operations. It is now building a self-service tool for DAOs and an assistance service for developing custom products for startups.

Elever

Why Elever Made It To The List

As people look for ways to improve their finances and realise critical goals, personalising financial services according to individual requirements becomes essential. But the lack of guidance, tools and platforms often leaves customers in the lurch. This has given rise to platforms like Elever that match granular data analytics with investment options. 

Set up in 2020, the Bengaluru-based platform identifies the volatility band suitable for an investor’s risk profile based on historical data. It then applies a proprietary modern portfolio theory to design portfolios for the corresponding risk profiles. The investment tech startup follows a passive investment model, focussing on 200+ data points for more than 5,000 listed companies. In doing so, it analyses 15 years of historical data to ensure top-level precision. 

Elever charges a monthly fee based on the portfolio value and offers investments in ETFs, BSE- and NSE-listed stocks, fixed-income securities, international equities and digital gold.

Explorex

Why Explorex Made It To The List

The restaurant industry was severely affected when India was reeling under the pandemic-induced lockdowns in 2020. Consequently, the takeaway/dine-in order processing platform Eatable had to shut shop. But the founders, IIT-Kharagpur alumni Pritam Khan and Mainak Sarkar, learnt a valuable lesson from the outcome. The duo understood that the digitalisation process was broken as far as eateries were concerned, and Explorex came up to bring techvantage to their operations.

Set up in 2020, the startup offers a full-stack SaaS solution to enable digital menus, automate order placements, implement mobile PoS, inventory, vendor and staff management systems, and collect customer data. It charges a transaction fee on each payment processed and claims that 50% of all payments happen via Explorex across its partner restaurants.

Explorex services are available majorly in Bengaluru, and the foodtech firm claims around 300 restaurant partners. However, it plans to expand to all Tier 1 cities and onboard 1K+ restaurants by FY23.

FastBeetle

Why FastBeetle Made It To The List

Even three years after the abrogation of Article 370, the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir struggles to cope with logistics and connectivity issues, which hinder the growth of small businesses. So, FastBeetle was launched in 2019 to build a better logistics ecosystem for businesses in the state. 

Headquartered in Srinagar, this logistics startup has in place a fleet of executives for quick commerce deliveries, including groceries, medicines and other healthcare items. It also provides logistics services for Instagram sellers, door-to-door courier service and B2B (wholesale) shipment service. The diverse range of sellers using its services includes online businesses from all over the country, contract orders from companies selling on Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and JioMart and delivering their goods in J&K and local users who want to send parcels. The company charges a parcel fee in each case. 

The Porter-style platform specifically caters to the population of J&K and plans to cover the entire UT, up from eight hubs in Kashmir province and one in Jammu. It will also enter the warehousing space by FY23 and eyes INR 3 Cr in revenue in the current financial year. By 2025, it plans to expand its reach to the entire Himalayan belt and provide shipments across the hilly terrains.

Feetwings

Why Feetwings Made It To The List

Over the years, fashion has witnessed many dramatic twists and turns. Now it is time to don smart clothes, which can double up as 24×7 health monitoring platforms. At least, the founders of Delhi-based Feetwings firmly believe in a health-tracking wardrobe. 

A brainchild of celebrity nutritionist Dr Siddhant Bhargava and biotech majors Hrithik Jaiswal and Animesh Kumar (both are NSUT alumni), Feetwings has been developing a pair of socks since 2019 that can help detect, diagnose and manage diabetes through real-time data and health alerts via a dedicated app. 

The socks will help users track and control diabetic complications early on by checking foot temperature, blood pressure and pulse rate, tracing blood glucose via non-invasive spectroscopy and raising emergency alerts in case of hypoglycemic shocks or heart strokes. 

The D2C brand makes these socks from a proprietary Smart Yarn that helps weave the 1 mm thick sensor layer but can still be worn as regular socks. All its products are manufactured in-house and have recently made it to research labs. Upon product refinement, Feetwings socks will be launched as an assistive device for diabetes care.

Fitmint

Why Fitmint Made It To The List

In the wake of the pandemic and the stringent lockdowns it mandated, there was an increased focus on long-time wellness goals, viewed through a much broader lens than mere fitness routines one used to follow earlier. But with life returning to normalcy and the Covid-19 waves gradually waning, fitness regained its popularity, albeit slowly, and its application changed quite a bit in sync with our tech-driven journey. Launched in January 2022, Fitmint is a case in point as it aims to bring gratification to workouts with Web3 and SocialFi (think of it as decentralised social media) elements. But there’s more. On the Fitmint app, one can earn rewards in crypto/NFTs for walking, running or exercising.

The Bengaluru-based fitness startup believes traditional fitness regimes require a tech makeover as the young generation moves towards Web3. Adding GameFi and SocialFi, NFT gaming and community effect, innovative rewards and incentives into the mix can help inculcate the habit of exercising among Gen Z and beyond. For instance, after coming on the Fitmint app, a user can mint an NFT and start working out to earn the in-game cryptocurrency/native token named FITT.

Using these earnings, users can engage in various in-app activities such as upgrading/repairing their NFTs, unlocking features and rewards, generating new NFTs or even cashing out the tokens (despite regulatory and legal hurdles). They can also choose to sell their NFTs on the in-app marketplace, while the number of NFTs will indicate their overall lifestyle performances based on power, durability, stamina and comfort. 

The startup has a community of 100K+ members on Twitter and Discord and is on track to generate $10-15 Mn in revenue in gas fees and commissions on NFT sales by FY23.

Hashstack Finance

Why Hashstack Finance Made It To The List

Decentralised finance (DeFi) is often over-collateralised, which is good for securing lenders but limits a borrower’s ability to improve their finances, believes Hashtack’s founder Vinay Kumar. Set up in 2021, the Bengaluru-based startup is creating ripples by under-collateralising loan undertakings as it taps into the DeFi lending space and issues 3x the loan on a borrower’s collateral.  

Hashstack claims to convert the US$ against the cryptocurrency Compound to enable paperless loans via its non-custodial money market protocol called Open. These loans help boost personal finances and meet the borrowers’ trading capital needs. 

This is how it works. Say, a borrower provides collateral worth INR 100 for a loan of INR 300. Going by the over-collateralisation norm in crypto trading, the startup provides 70% of the collateral equivalent (INR 70) into the borrower’s wallet. However, the person can use the loan balance of 230% (INR 230) as in-protocol trading capital to trade across Hashtack’s crypto network featuring Starknet, Polygon and BNBChain. 

The DeFi startup generates revenue through dApp fees, commissions on interest and profit-sharing during borrowers’ asset liquidation. Although it is still in the testnet stage, Hashtack claims to have done transactions worth $183 Mn. It will go for a mainnet launch by Q3 FY23, integrate 50+ dApps across Starknet and Polygon by the fourth quarter and target $700K+ in revenue for the current financial year.

Humantic

Why Humantic Made It To The List

Sales is an art and a science, according to Amarpreet Kalkat. However, most sales intelligence tools now focus on processes instead of looking at the buying side that mainly thrives on human connections, narratives and perceived improvements following the purchase of products/services. To leverage these critical factors that can help companies drive sales, Kalkat launched Humantic in 2021, providing buyer intelligence to sales teams and focussing on other business enhancement solutions.

The Bengaluru-based startup’s assistive AI platform equips salespeople with actionable insights by providing conversation materials (what to say and what to avoid) and tips on content personalisation and structuring while writing sales email. 

Currently, the SaaS platform offers three products based on behavioural and data science-driven approaches. These include an AI tool for revenue and sales, a buyer persona-based solution for use cases like fundraising, lending and wealth management and a tool for customising hiring operations. All three Humantic products are patent-pending in the US.

The company’s plug-and-play API fulfils the need for human-centric ‘smart’ solutions and makes work more productive. It claims 150+ clients and plans to use the recent funding to scale up its revenue-based AI tool in FY23.

Kosh

Why Kosh Made It To The List

Despite the ongoing financial inclusion initiatives, blue-collar workers still find it tough to raise even small loans due to income instability and lack of credit history. Launched in 2020 as a credit facilitator for this segment, Kosh, too, faced underwriting issues and bad loans. Initially, the company asked all potential borrowers to name a co-borrower/guarantor to reduce credit risks. Although it made things a bit easy for the lender, such measures did not guarantee quick and hassle-free loans for the underserved sector. That was when the idea of leveraging social collateral in underwriting came up. The Gurugram-based startup decided to bank on social capital (trust and network) and peer pressure as tangible collateral. 

The micro-credit startup currently underwrites loans for groups of three or four, offering an average of INR 20K to blue-collar workers and self-employed women in joint-liability loans via an android app. The company earns through interest margins from partner NBFCs and banks. Incidentally, Kosh only acts as a service provider for them, and its NPA is now less than 2%.

The lending tech startup claims to process INR 4 Cr worth of loans every month, growing at 25% month-on-month. In FY23, Kosh is targeting a top line of INR 10 Cr a month and will further add upskilling resources and build a job discovery feature. It is available in six North Indian states besides Delhi-NCR but plans to expand nationally by 2025. Kosh also aims to build a loan book of INR 1,000 Cr by that time.

Mekr

Why Mekr Made It To The List

Serial entrepreneurs Anand Yadav and Gaurang Kuchhal had earlier experienced manufacturing challenges first-hand. They also realised the difficulty of taking a project from proof-of-concept to commercial production at competitive pricing on a par with global manufacturing hubs like China. To make production cost-efficient in India and help companies outsource manufacturing without compromising on quality, the duo launched Mekr in November 2021.

The New Delhi-based on-demand manufacturing enabler specialises in white-label electronics and sources a wide range of materials, including printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), plastic moulding, product parts and semiconductors, for its clients. Currently, it manufactures three products – payment soundboxes, egg boilers and EV components – for Reliance, BharatPe, Fyllo and the like. It also supplies spare parts and components to manufacturers like Napino Digital Solutions and Aeris Communications. 

Businesses can connect with Mekr via its website and share their proprietary designs after signing NDAs with the startup. Post that, Mekr takes care of the entire manufacturing, from R&D and design to material and supplier selection, prototyping, quality checks and delivery.

The platform claims to work with mass projects (producing more than 500-1,000 units) and delivers globally. It is now looking to expand to telecom, IoT, agritech and the home appliance space.

MicroGO

Why MicroGO Made It To The List

The world is witnessing a series of unprecedented health scares due to novel pandemics, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant organisms or even inclement weather conditions triggered by climate change. Add to that the rise of global travel and tourism, and it will be hard to predict how and when the masses will fall victim to such outbreaks. A case in point is Covid-19, which is still raging worldwide. 

For ex-BARC microbiologist Rachna Dave, the quest for effective hygiene management started in 2016, when she left her job to start MicroGO. But her dream did not materialise until 2020, when the Chennai startup moved from the R&D stage and piloted a hygiene management solution for commercial kitchens and an infection control device for the healthcare industry.

MicroGO offers seven products across three patented categories in India. These include GOassure (Lite and Max), an IoT-powered hand hygiene station with in-built 250+ hand sanitiser pumps; GOpure (Plus, Lite100 and Lite200), which treats water without leaving chemical residues and works against diarrhoeal bacteria and other waterborne pathogens; and GOclean, a low-cost surface disinfectant. The SaaS-based, IoT-enabled devices provide compliance data back to the system for effective monitoring, maintain sanitisation consistency, save water and prevent plastic wastage.

The medtech startup earns revenue from hardware sales and subscriptions from monitoring devices. It currently operates in a host of cities, including Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Gujarat. MicroGO plans to launch its products at scale for B2B partners from the country’s food, hospitality and healthcare sectors. It will also launch a post-harvest management solution for perishable fruits and vegetables by 2025.

Multipl

Why Multipl Made It To The List

Today’s credit-driven consumption model has increased the likelihood of impulse buying and the possibility of wading into a debt trap. To offset this unsavoury impact, second- or even third-gen fintech startups have left the BNPL business model to explore the tried-and-tested path of ‘save now, buy later’. Among these startups is Bengaluru-based Multipl, which promotes healthy spending habits through the habit of saving and investments. 

Started in 2020, Multipl is a goal-based, personalised investment advisory, helping users invest in mutual fund-style baskets and linking the savings to relevant lifestyle spending. The baskets come under three categories – one-time spending (for buying a bike, car, furniture piece and more), recurring spending (school fees, insurance premiums or festival gifting) and long-term wealth and savings (retirement fund, tax-savers and more). 

The investment part of the business is implemented in partnerships with many legacy investment companies. For the ‘buy later’ part of the deal, it partners with brands like MakeMyTrip, Croma, Vedantu, Kalyan Jewellers and Aether to help create wishlists for future buying. 

Multipl gamifies and incentivises users on their saving and spending behaviour and claims to give 5x returns compared to shopping via credit cards and conventional BNPL offerings. It charges a platform usage fee, plans to scale the ‘save now, buy later’ concept and wants to tie up with more consumer-facing brands to onboard more consumers.

Paras Aerospace

Why Paras Aerospace Made It To The List

With the Make-in-India push gaining momentum, the nascent drone industry in India has witnessed favourable tweaks in policies and regulations for the growth of the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) sector and allied fields. Given its multisector applications, the industry is poised to reach a turnover of INR 12-15K Cr by 2026, according to an estimate by the civil aviation ministry. 

Understanding the huge scope of indigenous tech development in this segment, Navi Mumbai-based Paras Aerospace was launched in 2019 to offer a wide range of solutions involving the development, integration, manufacturing and certification of UAV systems. Besides working on military-grade drones, Paras has a portfolio of UAV products and subsystems, including multispectral and electro-optic cameras, ground and power control systems, payload development, autopilot and emergency recovery systems, spraying techniques and drone trackers, among others.

The drone startup integrates UAV hardware and software for use in defence, agriculture and industrial sectors and also specialises in regulatory compliance.

The company has partnerships with the Indian and Israeli governments and aims to bring the best drone technology to India.

PDRL

Why PDRL Made It To The List

Drones are ubiquitous nowadays, given their many use cases across critical sectors, whether agriculture or environment support, defence or emergency delivery. Launched in 2018, Nashik-based deeptech startup Passenger Drone Research Lab (PDRL) leveraged this opportunity and developed sophisticated tech tools to analyse drone data and turn it into actionable insights. Interestingly, PDRL was one of the pioneers in India to build an AAV air taxi prototype and worked with the DGCA in 2019. 

But PDRL pivoted as it realised the need to build an end-to-end tech stack in the commercial drone space. It has developed its flagship product AeroMegh to process the data gathered from aerial images and analyse the same for surveys and mapping, precision farming and agriculture analytics, fleet tracking, construction performance analysis and power inspection. To date, it has processed more than 19.5K images from 960 hours of drone flight data, according to the company.

AeroMegh has three sub-products – DroneNaksha, PicStork and AeroGCS – which do data processing and analysis through integration with the existing GIS software. The startup charges for data analysis and a monthly/annual fee for providing product-specific API kits to companies.

Revidd

Why Revidd Made It To The List

Lately, all sorts of video content, from YouTube videos to entertainment OTTs to shorts, has become the most popular form of content consumption. So, Revidd was set up in 2021 to provide a no-code SaaS platform to anyone who needs the video infrastructure for custom video streaming, live streaming, video conferencing, digital TV or CloudTV channels.

The Hyderabad-based B2B2C startup provides white-labelled templates for users to upload content, incorporate monetisation tools and ensure custom branding for their streaming channels or apps. Besides the entertainment industry, Revidd can cater to other professionals and businesses such as artists and craftspeople, educational institutions, fitness and sports brands, healthcare companies and more. The subscription-based video infrastructure operates through a centralised CMS and is compatible with various interfaces such as iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Fire TV.

The startup intends to set up shop in the US in the current financial year. It also aims to expand across the North American market with its no-code, end-to-end horizontal solution for multiple verticals so that anyone can launch a video platform to grow their business.

Rucept

Why Rucept Made It To The List

The gaming ecosystem is one of the largest sources of pop culture merchandise, only next to cult movies and TV shows. While the internet has made it easy for creators to publish and distribute gaming content, sales of game-related merchandise still face many bottlenecks like high production and logistics costs. 

To help games and metaverse creators showcase and monetise their custom merchandise, New Delhi-based Rucept set up a third-party marketplace in 2019. It manages its clients’ sales, inventories, warehousing and logistics and also offers state-of-the-art cataloguing services by turning a single image into 250+ unique product pictures. 

With Rucept in action, gaming companies can display and sell customised T-shirts, footwear, fashion accessories, stationary and home decor items on more than 30 global marketplaces like Paytm and Taobao. This is how it is done. A sample is created first via a 3D printer and shared with the client. Upon approval, factories closest to consumers handle production and fulfilment. The marketplace has a network of more than 40 factories and warehouses for efficient operations. 

The platform charges a designing fee, a product creation fee, a third-party marketplace listing fee and a 10% margin on the net profit from product sales. It has not disclosed top-line numbers but currently works with US-based studios Electronic Arts and Disney. In addition, it has recently expanded its merchandising to influencers and celebrities.

Spendflo

Why Spendflo Made It To The List

The pandemic and the subsequent shift to remote and hybrid working have expedited the adoption of SaaS, and startups worldwide now thrive on multiple SaaS tools for their business operations. But the lack of streamlined procurement and easy renewals hinders overall SaaS usage as businesses scale and significantly impacts their bottom line. Set up in 2021, Spendflo is a SaaS management tool that helps companies buy, manage, track and save on subscription costs. 

The Chennai-based startup guarantees up to 30% savings on SaaS spending and a minimum of 3x returns on investment as it identifies the most suitable SaaS tools required by companies, buys bundled subscriptions and negotiates with 100+ vendors to get the best deals. The Spendflo dashboard also features subscription details and usage analytics to help its clients.  

Its revenue comes through subscriptions, but it is currently in expansion mode and aims to enter the US market in the current financial year. The startup also plans to manage SaaS spending worth $100 Mn by 2025.

Styched

Why Styched Made It To The List

Fast fashion in India has several loopholes, including product quality, lack of customisation on-demand, high wastage of raw material and logistics issues. Launched in 2019, Bengaluru-based Styched aims to bridge the product-cost-quality gap by offering customisable fast fashion items such as graphic tees, activewear, T-shirt dresses and footwear.

The D2C brand is operating in India and the UAE and has set up its in-house manufacturing units in Bengaluru, Tiruppur, Chennai, Delhi, Dubai and Ajman. Styched partners with independent tailors, who design the final products, and the dyeing and printing are done by the production units. It follows a zero-inventory, zero-warehousing model and offers made-to-order products without minimum order requirements. This reduces fixed costs and wastage and helps keep the pricing competitive. As for RTOs, the fast fashion brand reuses the fabric by reverse-engineering patterns. 

Styched offers more than 7K products across 20+ categories. It also creates exclusive and original pop culture merchandise in partnership with PETA, sports clubs, musicians and bands.

The startup plans to launch in Indonesia in FY23 and expand its catalogue to 100K styles, powered by more than 1.5K tailors. By 2025, it will set foot in more than 10 countries and begin a ‘House of Styched’ initiative to help fashion designers launch their styles under the Styched banner.

The Woman’s Company

Why The Woman’s Company Made It To The List

Only 40% of women in India use menstrual products (locally or commercially produced), while the rest cannot afford them. But even this meagre usage can harm the environment as most disposable branded products contain huge amounts of plastic. It was a double whammy for Mamma Mia founder Anika Parashar as she wanted her daughter to use a safe, hygienic, sustainable product. In doing so, she also realised that more and more women should be a part of this product ecosystem that can ensure good menstrual hygiene and an environment-friendly approach. So, The Woman’s Company (TWC) was launched in 2020. 

The New Delhi-based feminine hygiene brand currently offers eight products under three categories (period, shaving and daily essentials). From sanitary napkins to hot pads and bamboo razors, all TWC products are manufactured in-house, safe to use and easily disposable so that environmental impact is kept to a minimum. The D2C brand has adopted an omnichannel strategy for maximum leverage and sells its products both online (via website and ecommerce marketplaces) and offline across India and the US. At home, it runs a growing distribution network with Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Siliguri as its main hubs.

The startup claims a 30% month-on-month increase in customer base and plans to serve rural consumers soon. It will also educate women on menstrual product usage and good personal hygiene practices.

Tortoise

Why Tortoise Made It To The List

Gullak-style goal-based savings happen to be a time-honoured practice that Gurugram-based Tortoise has taken to the digital level. Launched in 2020, the micro-savings startup runs on the ‘save now, buy later’ concept, allowing users to plan and save for future purchases. 

Moving away from the world of loans, credit and EMIs, Tortoise offers an escrow account in partnership with Razorpay for every item a user plans to buy. The procedure is quite simple. One has to visit its Android/iOS app, select the item category (electronics, fashion and so on), select the site for buying it, choose the timeline and monthly deposit amount and start saving for the purchase. So far, users can create a savings plan for any of their future purchases from Apple’s Indian reseller Imagine, MakeMyTrip and Croma. Tortoise charges a take-rate fee from the merchants based on the amount.

The fintech startup went live in April 2022 and onboarded 10K+ customers. By FY23, it plans to onboard more brands and merchants across multiple categories and expand its product, engineering and sales team.

Trufedu

Why Trufedu Made It To List

Financial planning for a secure future is fast gaining traction among middle-class Indians. But most services on offer are fragmented, expensive and lack personalisation. So, Trufedu was launched in 2019 to educate people on healthcare, insurance and wealth management. 

The Bengaluru-based financial management startup operates via an Android app, where users can sign up by submitting personal details, financial requirements and investment budget. Based on this data, Trufedu features relevant baskets to compare and choose from. 

While users pay all premiums and third-party costs, Trufedu also charges a monthly subscription based on the services. The packs start from as low as INR 99, and services are offered in partnerships with Healthians, mFine, Bajaj Finserv, PropTiger and MediBuddy, among others. Its service bouquet includes financial planning (robo advisory), tax planning and tax filing; teleconsultations and online medicine ordering; insurance claim settlement (life, health and vehicle); lending support and real estate planning.

It is currently building an ecosystem of in-house trained seller-partners to sell Trufedu subscriptions and earn commissions.

Turno

Why Turno Made It To The List

Turno was set up in April 2022 to electrify commercial vehicles, which account for 80-90% of the fossil fuel used today. Former Zoomcar executives Hemanth Aluru and Sudhindra Reddy were behind the fintech initiative, and the duo decided to cater to the fast-growing EV segment to make sustainable mobility a popular narrative in India. 

The Bengaluru-based startup enables SMEs and individuals to select and buy the right EV three-wheelers as per their requirements. The company has partnered with banks and NBFCs to finance the buyers via its credit app. Post-purchase, Turno tracks battery performance and other metrics to keep tabs on vehicle health and offers its customers a resale guarantee.  

The fintech firm has twofold income, earning from EV partners like Mahindra & Mahindra, Piaggio, Omega Seiki Mobility and Etrio (margin sharing) and finance partners (a cut from profit margins). Its key customers include Amazon, BigBasket, Blowhorn and the like. Turno aims to hold a consolidated position within the $152.2 Bn EV ecosystem and move into EV insurance and reselling.

Zipteams

Why Zipteams Made It To The List

Zipteams is the brainchild of former LEAD School executives Siddhartha Srivastava and Akash Chatterjee, who observed that desk sales teams were growing 15x faster than field groups due to diminishing geographic boundaries. The duo further noticed that there were CRMs and sales technology for B2B and B2C sales, but these segments heavily relied on manual data entry.

Founded in 2021, the Mumbai-based SaaS startup specialises in conversational intelligence. It automates the workload of salespeople and assists teams with its flagship product – an intelligent digital sales room. Simply put, its solutions capture customer conversations, put them in one place and analyse the data to provide revenue, growth and productivity insights to sales and customer success teams.

The sales room also enables ‘intelligent’ meeting rooms for engaging and fruitful customer conversations. It identifies the next steps for sales follow-ups and provides self-guided nudges to help sales teams onboard and train faster on the job. Plus, there is a complete repository of customer meetings to keep all contexts and references together. This is a sector-agnostic product with prices starting at $29 per user per month.

Zipteams is planning to enter the US market in Q4 CY22 and finalise its partnerships with three or more big clients by FY23. In the long term, it plans to build a Zoom-style marketplace for third-party developers to leverage the conversational intelligence layer and build custom use cases to enhance existing products.

[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: The Startups That Caught Our Eye In July 2022 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Businesses are bound to experience a mix of good and bad phases, and the current scenario proves it again. The fintech ecosystem in India is firmly in the regulatory crosshairs, and there is no immediate respite in sight if one considers the latest RBI mandate. But that does not deter fintech enthusiasts or overthrow the fact that the ecosystem is estimated to reach a market size of $1.3 Tn by 2025. 

It also calls for a systematic conversation among stakeholders keen to explore the future. Inc42’s Fintech Summit 2022 will do just that, bringing the industry together for a deep dive into the opportunities and challenges and analysing the insights that will emerge from this meaningful meeting of minds. 

The premier fintech conference, to be held on July 1 and 2, will bring in disruptive financial products and their makers under one virtual roof for a dialogue on how fintech and blockchain will shape India’s new economy.

With the advent of a financial internet that digitises all traditional assets, products and services, the ecosystem is rapidly changing and catering to the evolving needs of tech-savvy consumers. Therefore, at the Fintech Summit, Inc42 will take a close look at how to build a scalable business from the product lens. 

Through a mix of fireside chats and panel discussions, the summit will help decode high-growth financial products, understand new business models like BNPL and fintech SaaS and examine the infrastructural innovations like DeFi and DAOs, powering these business models.

The stage is set, and we want to contribute to the cause as much as possible. Naturally, when we sat down to shortlist the startups for the June edition, we were keen to highlight how the internet impacted people’s finances in India and opened things up for new business models.

30 Startups To Watch: June 2022

This month’s list includes only 25 fintech startups, unlike our usual 30 companies solving unique challenges and developing innovative products across sectors. In the 29th edition of the series, we have listed companies working on long-standing challenges within the fintech sub-sectors – from insurtech and new-age lending to warehouse financing, cap table management, fintech infra and more.

This list gets more interesting every month, but this time, we have a single focus, bringing forth the fintech startups that are growing well despite market pullback and regulatory uncertainties.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

BridgeUp

Why BridgeUp Made It To The List

The funding winter has set in as equity financing continues to drop quarter on quarter. Even when the world did not face a downturn, raising funds from venture capital and private equity companies, one of the most popular methods among startups for capital raising, took time and effort, along with stake dilution. But there is a way out.

Now that most new-age companies are eyeing a recurring revenue model via subscription, startup funding is changing. Set up in 2021, Mumbai-based BridgeUp was launched as a subscription revenue-focussed financing platform that would revolutionise equity and debt funding.

In simple terms, BridgeUp is a sector-agnostic marketplace that connects startups (earning monthly/quarterly recurring revenues) with investors who bid to purchase the revenue contracts for their annual value. The fundraising process is not complicated, though. To begin with, a startup needs to sign up and sync its payment system with BridgeUp. After that, a trade limit [maximum funding amount] is assigned to the company, and a tradable anonymous contract is drawn up depending on the revenue data. Based on this contract, potential investors can place their bids, and the money is raised from the most suitable investor. BridgeUp’s clients, mainly from SaaS, OTT and D2C sectors, directly forward their subscription amounts to investors as repayments according to their agreed timelines.

BridgeUp charges a service fee of 1-2% from the startups on all transactions, while the platform is free for investors, primarily NBFCs and banks, at this point. The investment tech startup aims to onboard international lenders by FY23 and disburse more than INR 500 Cr to 200+ companies.

Credlix

Why Credlix Made It To The List

In the wake of the global pandemic, businesses badly needed a resilient supply chain that could withstand major disruptions like the Corona crisis. Therefore, the launch of Credlix, a supply chain financing platform, turned out to be a welcome initiative. Launched in 2021 as part of the offering from SaaS unicorn Moglix, Credlix is operational in India and Southeast Asia. 

The Noida-based B2B finance facilitator provides five working capital solutions for enterprises/suppliers and exporters, including early-payment programmes, vendor financing, supply chain financing, invoice discounting and purchase order financing. 

Here’s how the process works. Enterprises/suppliers can integrate their invoicing process or manually upload invoices on the Credlix web platform so that its analytics engine can recommend financing solutions from NBFCs, banks and companies willing to finance them. It also functions as a lending platform for exporters after its recent acquisition of NuPhi, an EXIM financing startup. The company provides up to $3 Mn in credit or 90% of the consignment value (whichever is lower) and charges annual interest of 7-11% or monthly interest of 0.6-0.9%.

The startup has disbursed loans worth $100 Mn+ in FY22 to finance more than 2,500 MSMEs. It aims to increase its credit disbursal by 3x by 2025.

Credochain

Why Credochain Made It To The List

Although MSMEs in India roughly account for 30% of the GDP, they still belong to the unorganised sector, affected by limited operations, unstructured business processes and few-to-none financial footprints. So, these companies find it difficult to raise loans from banks and traditional FIs. Aware of how this widening credit gap is crippling growth, Credochain launched its operations in 2021 to build an alternative credit assessment approach to help MSMEs join the formal credit economy. The startup also provides a line of credit to these businesses.

New Delhi-based Credochain offers a cluster-based profiling service, post which lenders can come up with geography-specific loans. Based on the MSMEs’ business transactions (sales, purchase of goods, cash flows and more) and a host of other parameters, the startup assesses their loan eligibility and offers solutions for working capital management. It is now building a credit line for MSMEs and has dubbed the feature Pemant. This will work like a bank, providing payments directly to suppliers and repaying existing creditors via e-mandates.

While Credochain functions as a loan assessment platform, Pemant will act as a credit provider in compliance with all regulatory guidelines. In 2021, the fintech SaaS firm onboarded 600+ MSMEs for loan assessment and disbursed small-ticket loans (INR 25K-2 Lakh) through partner banks and other financial institutions, earning commissions on interests. It aims to reach out to 28K+ MSMEs and disburse loans worth INR 50 Cr by 2022.

Deciml

Why Deciml Made It To The List

Micro-savings and micro-investments are all the buzz now as the desi gullak (piggy bank) gets a digital makeover. Although Indians are thrifty by nature and would rather save money for the future, smart investments to grow their wealth are often avoided due to a risk-averse mindset. The outcome: Investment penetration, especially in mutual funds, remains abysmally low at 17% compared to the world average of 75%. To help people become more disciplined investors with a twist of nostalgia, second-time entrepreneur Satyajeet Kunjeer launched Deciml in 2020.

The Pune-based investment tech firm allows people to auto-invest loose change from every online transaction into MF or fixed-return funds. For example, if a registered user buys a T-shirt worth INR 492, Deciml’s Android app will read the transaction SMS on the user’s phone, round it off to INR 500, and the balance – a very tiny portion of the total spend – will be secured for investment. Users can also put in a lump sum amount or make a fixed payment at a regular interval. 

Deciml gets a commission on the total AUM from financial institutions where funds are invested. To date, 50K+users have come on board and invested INR 35 Lakh via this platform. The startup aims to introduce micro-investments in cryptocurrencies, build a consumer base of 2 Mn and earn $1 Mn in revenue by FY23.

Drona Pay

Why Drona Pay Made It To The List

Fintech in India is a $1.3 Tn opportunity, with digital payments and online lending accounting for $800 Bn. But here is the glitch. Frauds and scams have also grown with the rapid spread of digital services. Between April and September 2021, Indians lost more than $5 Bn to financial frauds, and this fast-growing pain point is bound to affect fintech and banking CX. Therefore, Drona Pay was launched in 2021 to help reduce delinquency, bust-offs, scams and merchant frauds across the UPI, BNPL, payment processing and debit and credit card space.

The Mumbai-based fintech SaaS startup provides three solutions: Transactional fraud tracking via an ML-based dashboard to find common compromise points and system vulnerabilities; a behavioural biometrics solution, basically an SDK, to ensure user biometrics are updated while institutions monitor cognitive behavioural patterns, and credit decision-making, where a dashboard helps fintech companies make lending decisions and manage onboarding risk. 

Drona Pay offers subscription-based customisable API integrations based on the size of the organisation. The startup plans to go deeper into the fintech ecosystem by building an extensive team in 2022.

Entitled

Why Entitled Made It To The List

Fintech’s potential reach in India is limited to the top 53% who own a bank account and may have a credit history. This means a huge opportunity around financial inclusion of the middle- and lower-income segments. Mumbai-based Entitled decided to leverage this and launched operations in 2020 to cater to low-income workers. 

The B2B2C lending tech firm builds financial profiles of low-income workers (income under INR 2 Lakh per annum) using alternate behavioural data points (expense history, social circles, intent for repayments and more) and provides small-ticket fintech products like loans, insurance and savings schemes. 

To enter its target market, Entitled has partnered with companies like Swiggy, Quess, LetsTransport and NIYO and provides their gig workers with useful financial products and services. These include salary advances, personal, medical and consumer loans, digital gold schemes and primary health insurance in tune with their lifestyle and requirements. The startup also helps blue-collar workers reap the benefits of government schemes like PF, Employees’ State Insurance (ESIS), Ayushman Bharat and Atal Pension Yojana by assisting them to check eligibility criteria and enrol for the same.

The platform does not charge employers who provide these services as part of their employee benefits programme. However, it earns a commission on the financial transactions carried out by partner institutions and charges a fixed fee on non-financial services. Entitled claims a 26% MoM revenue growth and eyes an ARR of INR 7.8 Cr in FY23 by catering to 2 Mn+ gig workers. By 2025, it plans to go beyond blue-collar workers to other LMI segments.

HealthySure

Why HealthySure Made It To The List

Corporate health insurance policies significantly boost the insurance sector in India, although the overall penetration of the industry (life and non-life) is relatively low. On top of it, corporate healthcare is not adequate for individuals for a couple of reasons.

First, the sum assured may not be enough in many cases. Second, an employer-provided policy may not get converted into an individual policy in case of a job switch/loss. Of course, IRDAI has a provision for the same, but it depends on the insurer. As a result, most employees are compelled to buy additional health insurance or pay out of pocket. Mumbai-based HealthySure intends to bridge this gap with its flagship product, Unified Health Insurance.

Launched in 2021, HealthySure has come out with corporate health insurance programmes ranging between INR 50 and INR 3,000 and offers additional services, including teleconsultation, physical and mental wellness checkups and discounted pharmacy purchases and lab tests. But here is the USP. The insurtech startup allows employees to upgrade their corporate health plans and add INR 30 Lakh of extra coverage for an additional INR 1,000. It further enables them to save up to 90% on an independent policy and get the added advantage of continuing the policy in his/her personal capacity after leaving the company.

HealthySure earns commissions on corporate policies and additional insurance coverage taken by employees. The startup claims to have more than 30K employees across 150+ companies and has done business worth $1 Mn in FY22. It aims to increase its sales to $4 Mn by serving more than 1.5 Lakh customers in FY23.

Hylobiz

Why Hylobiz Made It To The List

Although we have entered the digital-first era, legacy systems and traditional tools continue to hold back small and medium businesses from achieving their true potential through optimum digitalisation. Generic solutions do not help companies, either. For instance, many dukaan tech companies that digitalise mom-and-pop stores are now available in the market, but there is not much differentiation. In contrast, Bengaluru-based Hylobiz is building a specific solution for SME supply chain players.

Set up in 2019, Hylobiz specialises in working capital management, automated payment reminders, auto-reconciliation and integration with major ERPs. Simply put, it digitalises the value chain by helping businesses with various tasks such as invoicing, collections, payouts, inventory and working capital solutions, including business loans, SME credit cards and invoice discounting. The startup earns through a mix of monthly SaaS subscriptions and transactional fees. It plans to onboard 20K+ SMEs in India and the UAE and eyes an ARR of $3 Mn by FY23.

Hypto

Why Hypto Made It To The List

Chennai-based Hypto was launched in 2018 to help ecommerce players connect to open-source fintech solutions. However, the finance platform pivoted in early 2022 to serve crypto exchanges as ease of payments has become a coveted feature in the blockchain domain. Hypto enables fiat currency (INR) deposits and withdrawals across crypto exchanges and NFT marketplaces. It also ensures custody, safety and security of fiat money rails through solutions built for exchanges operating at scale.

Suppose a crypto exchange wants to add a payment feature (IMPS, NEFT, RTGS or UPI) to its product. In that case, Hypto leverages its connections with multiple banks and NBFCs to provide a low-code, simple API that can be easily integrated. Crypto exchanges are also allowed to create individual accounts for their customers. Hypto charges a variable fee on each transaction made through its APIs and tools.

Jify

Why Jify Made It To The List

Around 80% of the Indian workforce, especially the blue- and grey-collar employees, live from one pay cheque to another. Most of them lack adequate savings, so any contingency or unforeseen expenses compel them to opt for high-cost predatory credit, impacting their financial well-being. Mumbai-based Jify aims to build an inclusive financial ecosystem for this underserved segment.

Since its launch in 2021, the startup has operated as an earned wage access platform, addressing the short-term liquidity issue. Jify has also developed a ‘Smart Spend’ feature, prepaid cards and digital payment options. In addition, it offers a financial advisory tool to help employees save money and meet their financial goals. An employee has to log in to Jify’s android/iOS app with the company name and employee code to access the earned salary, courtesy of Jify’s partnerships with NBFCs. However, the amount must be returned on payday.

The ‘earned wage’ feature is free for employees, and Jify earns via transaction processing fees. Companies need not pay anything, but their attendance and payroll systems must be integrated with the platform. The startup uses this data to provide real-time earned-salary access to employees. As a young company, Jify wants to reach out to its target audience more aggressively and plans to launch educational videos to nudge its users into savings.

Lentra

Why Lentra Made It To The List

For a long time, India’s financial ecosystem was synonymous with legacy institutions like banks and FIs, with little scope for mass inclusivity or large-scale access to essential financial tools like lending, insurance or investments. But with the rise of new-age tech across financial services, the focus is now on greater inclusion and access. In sync with the fast-changing landscape, former Softcell Technologies executives D. Venkatesh and Ankur Handa envisioned replacing the traditional lending system (read on-the-ground and paper assessments) with cloud-native backend solutions. So, Pune-based Lentra was launched in 2019.

The lending tech SaaS platform offers various solutions across BNPL, open credit enablement networks, account aggregation, anchor financing, credit card, small-ticket loan and other co-lending solutions. For banks and NBFCs, it provides a low-code, API-driven architecture to launch B2B lending products such as agri loans, vehicle financing, supply chain financing and loan against property. In the B2C category, the startup covers home, personal, auto and education loans. Lentra hosts eight lending products on its platform and offers auxiliary services such as loan processing, credit bureau access, communication and video KYC tools (for bankers), a loan management dashboard and a loan application evaluation tool, among others.

So far, the startup has serviced 50+ FIs and processed more than 13 Bn transactions. Its end goal is to help banks digitise their systems using Lentra’s embedded tech, offer tailored lending experiences, increase customer efficiency and bring down NPAs.

MoneyyApp

Why MoneyyApp Made It To The List

The creator economy in India is worth $10 Bn. But creators, or most solopreneurs for that matter, still manage their finances using pen-and-paper or traditional spreadsheets, although the latter could be too complex for new users. Launched in 2021, MoneyyApp’s B2B platform acts as an end-to-end finance management tool for creators, keeping things both simple and effective.

The Bengaluru-based startup helps them track and manage previous and upcoming earnings on a single dashboard and allows them to create invoices and send payment reminders on time. It also enables expense tracking and filing tax returns through the startup’s Android and iOS apps and gets business loan approval from partner banks. 

MoneyyApp charges a commission on every transaction and provides the analytics dashboard for an annual subscription fee. The company claims to have 8K+ creators on board but plans to take the number to 50K and eyes $3 Mn in revenue by FY23.

OmniCard

Why OmniCard Made It To The List

Despite the widespread usage of digital payments in India post-demonetisation, less than 30 Cr people, or 21%, use online payment methods as easy-to-access, easy-to-use and reliable systems are not always available. Also, many users have trust issues and prefer to pay offline. Keeping these pain points in mind, Noida-based OmniCard is building a comprehensive payment ecosystem wherein users can use online and offline features such as the UPI, tap-to-pay and ATM withdrawal. 

Launched in 2018, OmniCard claims to be a debit card challenger. One can download the android/iOS app, get the KYC done (it takes less than one minute) and get a RuPay card for online and offline payments, including ATM withdrawals. Users can also transfer the money from their bank accounts to OmniCard wallets for merchant payments. 

One can generate cards for family members (each will have his/her wallet) and manage the entire family’s expenses from one place. The idea of OmniCard is to create a security line between users and their bank accounts, protecting them from increasing card-based scams. 

The fintech startup charges a processing fee on every transaction and claims to have a user base of 500K. It aims to expand to 3 Mn users by FY23 and 50 Mn+ by 2025 as a go-to solution for spending, payment and money management needs. It will also introduce a keychain payment feature (a tap-to-pay feature) on OmniCard-created physical keychains.

Online PSB Loans

Why Online PSB Loans Made It To The List

Thanks to the boom in the Indian credit economy, especially in the quick credit space, startups like Ahmedabad-based Online PSB Loans are gaining prominence. Launched in 2018, this one is a credit marketplace that helps B2B and B2C borrowers meet their financial aspirations. The startup works with more than 20 FIs to provide business and retail loans to MSMEs and individuals in the form of mudra, personal loans, home loans and auto loans. Better still, these loans can be processed in under one hour.

This is how it works. A user needs to sign up and build a profile on the company’s web platform. Next, a dashboard will showcase loan products from various banks and financial institutions in sync with the user’s requirements. Individuals can use their PAN numbers to check their loan eligibility, while businesses use TAN for raising loans.

The startup charges a convenience fee from borrowers and lenders and has helped disburse more than INR 70,000 Cr in loans.

Paycorp

Why Paycorp Made It To The List

The peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) payment segments in India flourished in the past five years due to record UPI transactions. But the same did not happen in the recurring payment space where auto-debit is mandated on credit and debit cards enabled between merchants and customers. This can be both paper and digital mandates, but irrespective of the format, 35 out of 100 auto-debits fail, according to Bengaluru-based Paycorp. Every failed mandate costs INR 150, and these losses can quickly accumulate, eating into a company’s revenue.

Paycorp was launched in 2020 to offer a SaaS-based recurring payment and e-mandate platform that would do away with operational glitches. Currently, most businesses use manual means to process collection requests on due dates, which are settled after two working days. In contrast, the fintech startup digitises all recurring payment requests on behalf of its clients and partners with banks to procure the money on the same day, thus saving float on receivables. It also provides a predictive analytics dashboard to help businesses identify potential defaults.

Paycorp also has an API for banks, enabling them to onboard corporate clients and their payment businesses.

The company currently collaborates with eight banks for its B2B clients and has a pay-as-you-go pricing model. It plans to launch a recurring rental payment platform in July, aims to work with 25 banks and start its operations in the Middle East by the end of this year.

PayKun

Why PayKun Made It To The List

Consumer internet is estimated to emerge as a $1.6 Tn opportunity by 2025. But this can only be possible if business platforms are built with robust payment features. Aware of this imminent requirement, PayKun was launched in 2018 to develop payment gateway solutions for digital businesses like ecommerce, gaming, IT, SaaS and OTTs.

Based in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, PayKun offers a plugin and SDKs so that digital businesses can provide their customers with 120+ payment options, including net banking, card payments, UPI, mobile wallets, QR codes and others. It has also come up with payment buttons and links to help improve consumer conversion on the web and through apps. Additionally, PayKun provides an analytical dashboard to help businesses track sales data and develop business strategies. The startup does not charge any setup or integration fee apart from a trade discount rate (TDR) of 1.75% on every transaction a merchant does.

Pocketly

Why Pocketly Made It To The List

Although microlending solutions are on the rise, users still require credit scores to qualify for loans. The problem gets tougher for first-time borrowers without any credit history. So, Pocketly was launched in 2019 to tap into this market. The Bengaluru-based startup targets college students, helps them take small-ticket loans for the first time and thus builds their credit scores.

Pocketly offers loans for 60 days and earns via interest commissions on loans extended through its credit line. Users need to register with its Android/iOS app to raise a collateral-free loan of up to INR 10K. The startup has partnered with Fairassets (a P2P lending marketplace), LiquiLoans (a loan facilitator) and Speel Finance (an NBFC) to finance these loans. It has already disbursed loans worth INR 1,000 Cr+ and plans to expand its product range by including BNPL services.

SALT.pe

Why SALT.pe Made It To The List

Cross-border payments are often a hassle due to lengthy processing time, high cost and inadequate digital support. SALT was set up in 2020 to address this pain point as founders Udita Pal and Ankit Parasher earlier struggled with overseas remittances. Eventually, the duo returned home and launched the startup that simplifies global payments and documentation, digitises the process and speeds up foreign remittance, forex conversion, contract and invoicing management and credit facilitation.

The Bengaluru-based startup currently offers two products. Its flagship Inward Remittance enables small businesses to remit money by creating virtual accounts across the UK and the US. The second product, Table by SALT, is still in beta. It is a tool for early stage startup founders raising funds from foreign investors, helping automate fundraising, banking and compliance work.

The SaaS startup allows businesses to set up virtual foreign currency accounts by partnering with banks and financial services across 50 countries and six currencies. Companies are charged a percentage on each transaction. With 300+ clients on board, SALT claims to have completed $10 Mn+ transactions between March and May 2022. 

The fintech firm will expand its use cases to other cross-border banking solutions and compliance workflow automation, planning to make remittance as easy as using the UPI by 2025.

Samudai

Why Samudai Made It To The List

Think Web3, and one is bound to wonder how blockchain, DAOs, decentralised operations and eventually, a tokenised economy will become an integral part of that journey. In other words, Web3 tech will soon rule the fintech landscape, and it is crucial to look at the next level of development that will redefine the ecosystem. So, VIT alumni Kushagra Agarwal and Navin took the plunge and launched Samudai in January 2022 to help communities build seamlessly within the Web3 space without worrying about operational issues.

The New Delhi- and Singapore-based startup is working on a suite of tools that will allow Web3 professionals to build communities and facilitate collaboration via a Web3 native project management framework. Plus, there will be community management tools such as team graphs, an analytics dashboard and a roster-style platform. It is also developing a proprietary and verifiable reputation metric called Bushido to identify authentic contributors.

The platform will be launched in private alpha in July for a small group of users and in public beta in Q4 CY22.

Toppeq

Why Toppeq Made It To The List

As venture capital investments pour into the Indian startup ecosystem, the need for digitising equity ownership records also rises to ensure transparency and business clarity. With that notion, Mumbai-based Toppeq was launched in 2019 to help investors make informed decisions while funding private companies while founders can maintain comparatively clean cap tables.

The web-based platform has a subscription model and offers service bouquets for investors and founders. For investors, these include a portfolio management service that digitises equity and working capital data of portfolio companies, the Q-Insight to review shareholder agreements and other relevant rights and obligations and LP Reporting that allows fund managers to monitor and compare business performances.

For founders, these services include cap table management, working capital management (tool to be integrated with accounting software for tracking funds), ESOP management to generate reports regarding grants, schemes and vesting of stock options, and a WhatsApp-based digital ledger called Q-Bot. Investors and their portfolio companies only need to upload their existing PDFs and excel sheets. Toppeq will cut through data chaos and native systems to create a clean visual dashboard on the web.

The company aims to capture at least 5% business of the Indian startup ecosystem and expand in the US and the EU by 2025.

Tradetron

Why Tradetron Made It To The List

Most stock market traders/brokers have an operational strategy in place. But building and automating these for online stock trading can be a tough task that requires time and money. Enter Tradetron, the brainchild of Umesh Ranglani, a former fund manager and software developer.

Launched in 2020 in Mumbai, the no-code platform helps traders to build algo trading strategies using a virtual simulation, which can be applied to stocks and positions. Simply put, on Tradetron, traders can set the conditions and strategies for their trades, input multiple strategies over time or replicate others’ strategies. One can create a web/mobile interface that can be directly connected to their broking accounts, including Demat, SIP or gamma scalping accounts, to get actionable insights via WhatsApp, SMS or email messages.

The startup specialising in trading algo automation has applied for a U.S. patent for the algorithm-maker that connects with eight exchanges and covers stocks, options, commodities, currencies and cryptocurrencies.

Tradetron has a subscription-based revenue model and claims 30K+ algorithm deployments for 8 Mn+ trades every month as 70+ brokers in the US and India use the solution. It recently tied up with Paytm Money and 5Paisa to provide a white label solution wherein the Tradetron engine operates at the backend to help traders automate their activities. The fintech SaaS startup is now building a backtesting engine (a platform that will run the trading simulation) to speed up the application of the patent-pending algorithm.

weTrade

Why weTrade Made It To The List

Crypto investments in India can be split into two broad categories. On the one hand, crypto exchanges offer various currencies, but profits, in such cases, solely depend on market movements. Then there are blockchain-powered startups that help generate steady returns on crypto-assets by investing them against stablecoins like USDT and USDC. Bengaluru-based weTrade has been building an investment platform for crypto users since January 2022 to help them reap the dual benefits of price appreciation and multiplying rewards for every validated block.

The platform works at the intersection of smart deposits and stablecoins. Users can download the Android/iOS app where weTrade offers 10+ cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and more. Just five months into the launch, weTrade has onboarded 10K+ users who can buy and sell cryptocurrencies and trade their crypto assets against USDT and USDC. This ensures steady returns irrespective of market fluctuations. For further growth, the startup banks on its hassle-free user experience, including a less-than-one-minute KYC, built-in investment and tax advisory and insurance coverage for wallets.

The Bengaluru firm currently charges a transaction fee on both buying and selling. The platform is still in the works and plans to add a ‘smart deposit’ feature to the app besides growing its user base to 1 Mn by the end of this year. By 2025, it aims to create an educational layer for crypto investors with the help of community channels and interactive videos from experts.

Whrrl

Why Whrrl Made It To The List

Warehouse receipt financing is all about using stored commodities as collateral for securing loans. For example, a small or medium business or even a farmer keeping their inventory at a certified, independent facility can raise a loan against the goods stored there. But there is a glitch. The process is mainly manual, and lenders often have to deal with scams and fraud, while credible borrowers are left in the lurch.

Mumbai-based Whrrl was launched in 2019 not only to digitise the entire process and make it more efficient and convenient but also to bring blockchain into the equation to ensure credibility. The startup’s flagship product is a service suite for banks that creates blockchain-powered document profiles of warehouses, collateral managers and borrowers. With blockchain in use, risks of generating fake/duplicate warehouse receipts, ghost collateral lending and multiple lending are largely eliminated, further reducing underwriting costs.

Whrrl also acts as a marketplace, connecting lenders and borrowers and enabling an end-to-end digital lending process. It charges a platform usage fee of 0.25-0.35% per annum from all users, an annual customer acquisition fee of 2-5% of the loan amount from banks and a licence fee from warehouses for using the Whrrl infrastructure. The platform is now free for borrowers (farmers/traders), but it plans to charge a commission on each loan.

Winvesta

Why Winvesta Made It To The List

Forex cards have limited utility in India, but the same cannot be said for countries like the US and the UK, where users can make cross-border investments and savings. Founded in 2019 by former Deutsche Bank executives Swastik Nigam and Prateek Jain, Winvesta is building a cross-border fintech platform for everyone – whether you are an individual looking to invest overseas or an exporter getting paid by foreign buyers.

The Mumbai-based startup offers two cross-border neobanking solutions – an international investment account set up via its Android/iOS app and a business account that accepts payments in more than 30 currencies. Winvesta accounts can be used to fund overseas savings (for education) and investments and receive overseas payments. Or an account can be opened here before going abroad. It charges transaction fees on foreign exchange value and investments.

Currently operational in India, the UK and the US, Winvesta plans to expand its footprint to 30+ countries by 2025.

Zyro

Why Zyro Made It To The List

Corporate cards are all the rage nowadays as they help companies streamline employee expenses without depending on paper bills and ensure instant payments. Therefore, Noida-based Zyro, an expense management startup for businesses, has come up with many solutions, including pay-out services through virtual and physical cards, in-built expense management modules and pay-in services such as PoS, link- and QR-based payment collection and invoice generation.

Launched in 2019, Zyro has a co-branding agreement with NSDL Payments Bank and tie-ups with the ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank to allow companies (especially startups and SMEs) to manage employee expenses. Corporate clients need to sign up and link/open their savings and current bank accounts with Zyro. After that, they can offer their employees expense cards, travel cards, fuel and meal cards, gift cards and payroll cards. With 100+ businesses as its clients, the startup is eyeing a subscription-based revenue of INR 20 Cr in FY23.

In the future, Zyro intends to obtain a PPI licence in FY23 and bring every financial aspect of a business under its ambit, including cross-border payment, tax filing, subscription buying and utility bill payments.

[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eye In June 2022 – Fintech Edition appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Are we witnessing darkness at noon? A startup funding winter right after a peak season and the emergence of the 100th unicorn in India? The funding boom of 2021 drastically changed ‘normal’ funding activities. Now that the VC euphoria and FOMO are getting tested against profitability and cash flow, the funding deluge has turned into a trickle. Will the startup ecosystem again face a downturn as it did in 2016?

Marquee investors, including Y Combinator, Sequoia, have called it a funding winter. Winter is probably here, and it will be the survival of the fittest from now on. But serious founders and value creators are rarely daunted by these periodic slowdowns. Amid layoffs and shutdowns, amid pessimistic sentiment, volatile markets and a liquidity crunch (high inflation and interest hikes add to the woes), they will continue to build.

Our monthly column 30 Startups to Watch also adds to this value-creation exercise. In a country where 80 startups get registered every day, recognition is hard to come by. Therefore, the Inc42 team selects a handful of early-stage startups that are set to make waves in their respective sectors. This month’s list features the startups creating value-added products for the ecosystem and solving niche and sectoral problems that may lift them to profitability.

30 Startups To Watch: May 2022

This month’s list includes 30 unique startups solving critical problems with unconventional tech and innovative processes across fintech, enterprise tech and ecommerce. In the 28th edition of the series, we have listed companies resolving long-standing problems of space travel, retail investments, biofuel supply chain, data policing and more.

This time, the enterprisetech segment features eight startups specialising in DesignOps, DevOps, product visualisation and a few more niche use cases. Then there are eight more from the fintech and the ecommerce segments. We have also listed four unique healthtech startups. One is helping people live a better life by understanding their genetics. The second deals in livestock nutrition. The third is anonymising mental health conversations. And the fourth is making generic drugs affordable.

The list gets more interesting every month, with remarkable startups making it to the top 30. But this month, most of the startups listed below have raised even less than $1 Mn. They are setting a precedent that funding is only a tiny part of the larger startup game, and a product of value will top valuation and eventually lead to profitability.

Check out the 28th edition of Inc42’s 30 Startups To Watch list.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

Abyom

Why Abyom Made It To The List

Companies like SpaceX have made space travel more affordable as they leverage reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) to put satellites into orbit. As a result, there is a growing demand for reusable rockets as the global satellite market is poised to reach $15 Bn in 2028.

Set up in 2020, Abyom from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, aims to bridge this demand-supply gap by building reusable rockets for satellite launches and RLVs. The startup is developing a control and monitoring system for reusable rockets and a rocket booster with a portable rocket engine testing system to launch satellites into low Earth orbit.

The bootstrapped company intends to finalise its revenue model, raise capital to set up a manufacturing unit and pilot a reusable rocket by 2022. It targets one that can be used 15-70 times, thus reducing the cost of the launch by 30%. The startup plans to manufacture its reusable rockets by 2025 and become a part of the global community for space enthusiasts.

Airavana

Why Airavana Made It To The List

As enterprises increasingly switch from physical to digital and on-premises operations to cloud in the wake of the pandemic, data breaches have jumped multifold. In the first two months of 2022, 2.12 Lakh cybersecurity incidents were reported in India, and it is likely to spike, as cybercriminals now target more diverse datasets for multiple uses. To counter this growing threat, Pune- and Palo Alto-based Airavana is building a cloud platform for personal data discovery across cloud applications to reduce data privacy risks, improve data security and enable enterprises to manage and protect customers’ personal data.

Set up in 2021, the SaaS startup offers an integration service so that enterprises can track their customers’ (personal) data footprints across their applications and quickly detect potential breaches and violations in case of any unauthorised data movement. Apart from this data policing, Airavana helps enterprises align with the privacy regulation of the land where they operate (CCPA, GDPR, SOC2, HIPAA, PCI and more) and enables infosec and privacy teams to enforce relevant policies to monitor and remediate privacy and data security violations.

Akudo

Why Akudo Made It To The List

The need to learn the nitty-gritty of personal finances at a young age has fuelled the demand for startups like Akudo, which aim to build an ecosystem for teens and help kids make financial decisions in a safe and controlled environment.

Set up in 2020, Bengaluru-based Akudo has already registered 800K+ teens and parents via its iOS and Android apps. One can start the financial journey using Akudo’s prepaid Visa debit card, backed by RBL Bank. The fintech startup enables family-friendly controls and oversight on the app alongside many features such as financial goal setting, savings and a gamified rewards system encouraging teens to use their pocket money responsibly. It also offers bite-sized informative content to help the kids learn how to manage their finances. Akudo aims to reach 2 Mn Indian users (teens and their parents) by the end of this year.

Assurekit

Why Assurekit Made It To The List

With less than 5% insurance penetration in India and 99% of it still happening offline, the insuretech ecosystem needs a technology push for optimum growth. Furthermore, building an insurance product that ensures ease of operations and data security is challenging. Aware of the current scenario, Mumbai-based Assurekit was launched in 2019 to offer cloud-based solutions to any enterprise willing to enter insurance distribution to boost the industry.

Now in its early-access mode, the SaaS startup offers an API integration tool called AssureCore to digitise product design (the way brands offer insurance policies, either as a standalone product or bundled with their core offerings) and claims processing. Assurekit works with legacy companies and helps them sell their products on third-party websites.

The startup currently deals in car, bike and commercial vehicle insurance but plans to enter the health insurance space by FY23.

Boltzmann Labs

Why Boltzmann Labs Made It To The List

Preclinical drug discovery is an arduous task that requires a long time and millions of dollars in investment. As India has a deficient research ecosystem compared to many major economies, there is an urgent need to optimise this process. Founded in 2019, Boltzmann Labs is looking to deal with these hurdles with a bouquet of solutions to help improve Indian researchers’ pace of work and connect them with institutions willing to fund their work.

Boltzmann offers four pay-as-you-go research tools that allow researchers to design and test new drugs before taking them to trials. These include BoltChem, a SaaS-based molecule design studio; ReBolt, a synthesis planning tool; BoltBio, a target/biomarker identification tool, and BoltPro, a protein engineering suite. The startup claims its solutions will increase research efficiency by 66%.

It further offers joint venture opportunities between researchers and contract research organisations (CROs) such as Sarsuag Discovery, CSIR and more. Consequently, it plans to work on asset outlicensing when such partnerships result in preclinical candidates that can be licensed out to big pharma companies.

Boltzmann Labs plans to set up 10 JVs with CROs by 2022 and take five molecules to the investigational new drug phase by 2025.

BuyOFuel

Why BuyOFuel Made It To The List

With fossil fuel prices going through the roof and no reprieve in sight, it is time to boost low-carbon and cost-effective import substitutes. Of course, EV and hydrogen fuel cell-based transportation may become mainstream in future. But in the short term, biofuels can be widely used as an alternative if India can develop an efficient supply chain. Launched in 2020, BuyOfuel is a B2B marketplace that hopes to address this issue through seamless procurement and sales. 

The Coimbatore-based startup signs up biofuel suppliers, aggregators and consumers so that sellers and buyers can easily connect and transact via its ecommerce platform. Waste generators can also sign up and sell the waste used for biofuel production. The startup earns a commission on each transaction and charges a fee for value-add services such as a data analysis dashboard and invoice management.

Big Indian corporate houses such as ITC and the Aditya Birla Group are among Buyofuel’s clientele. The company wants to replace 1-2% of India’s total fossil fuel consumption with biofuels by 2025, which means it will look to transact around 13-26 Mn metric tonnes of biofuel via its platform. The startup also eyes an ARR of INR 63 Cr in FY23 and a monthly GMV of INR 75 Cr.

Cubyts

Why Cubyts Made It To The List

DesignOps is one of the most critical components of a product company, and both design and product managers play a significant role in a business success story. But to achieve well-rounded growth, design functions need to be scaled up in sync with product requirements.

Launched in 2021, Bengaluru-based Cubyts has developed a B2B SaaS platform to make efficient scaling possible through improved inter-team communications in terms of design requirements, impact measurement and repository creation. It operates as a standalone collaboration tool as well as a TPA-integrated platform and comes with freemium offerings, including design templates, customisation-as-you-go and ease of use.

The startup is currently in the early-access stage and has onboarded 50 teams. It targets to onboard 500+ companies and eyes an ARR of $1 Mn by the end of this year.

Dispatch

Why Dispatch Made It To The List

In spite of the recent unfortunate incidents with on-road EVs, the demand for electric two-wheelers is still on the rise in India, and the likes of Ola Electric, Okinawa, PURE EV and Ather Energy are going all out to capture a significant chunk of the market. However, there is a massive gap in this ecosystem. The e-scooters in circulation operate as personal vehicles, but they are not optimised for commercial use cases.

In contrast, EV startup Dispatch Vehicles is working on a purpose-built, commercial-use e-scooter and targeting a launch by March 2023.

Set up in 2020, Mumbai-based Dispatch aims to increase EV proliferation in the fleets of aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy. Although some consumer internet and ecommerce companies have already started electrifying their fleets, Dispatch wants to disrupt the segment with an e-scooter specifically designed for commercial applications.

The startup claims that its e-scooter, patented in 32 countries, including India, will provide customisable parts to meet the requirements of ride-sharing, food delivery, bulk courier services and delivery of emergency items that need to be refrigerated. It can also be used as a normal e-scooter after working hours, and the accessories can be swapped between the front and the rear.

Apart from targeting gig workers, the company aims to explore B2B options such as fleet-as-a-service (to help ecommerce companies reduce capex) and energy-as-a-service (to sell EV batteries). It has also tied up with a contract manufacturer with an installed capacity of 6 Mn scooters annually and plans to start production by 2022.

Dybo

Why Dybo Made It To The List

As social commerce rises globally, one of its branches gaining prominence is visual commerce. It is all about leveraging compelling visual content, including augmented reality, to enhance customer experience. That is how Bengaluru-based Dybo intends to differentiate ecommerce brands. It is unlocking the full potential of visual commerce by offering custom try-on with its AR tech stack.

Launched in 2019 by BITS Pilani alumni Dhawal Jain and Aman Kumar, Dybo has developed two virtual display solutions for furniture brands. With Dybo360, brands can provide a 360-degree view of their products. With DyboAR in use, end consumers can virtually place catalogue products inside their homes and play around with a product’s colours and materials to match their preferences. To obtain the desired output, brands need to upload product images, and Dybo’s GI and gaming tech experts convert the photos and videos into interactive media.

The startup has a subscription-based business model, has worked with 200+ furniture brands and now plans to refine its products for other categories like apparel, accessories and electronics.

Edubuk

Why Edubuk Made It To The List

In India, mainstream learning often follows the beaten path and rarely encourages students to discover their passion and learn relevant skills. At times, even young professionals need to find their calling and master the skill set required to rise and shine. Unsurprisingly, such an ecosystem mostly churns out an unhappy, clueless and skill-deficient workforce. Aware of these issues, three-year-old Edubuk helps people identify their passion and be in charge of their careers.

On the B2C front, the Hyderabad-based startup offers a multiple intelligence, interests and talent (MIIT) test to help applicants discover what field will suit them best, given their education, passion and skills. Next, it suggests a career path and relevant upskilling courses available online on its platform or offline via its partner institutes. The company also provides job assistance and resume help. Interestingly, resumes are developed using blockchain to decentralise the process for users and make it easily accessible and verifiable for employers.

On the B2B front, the startup partners with educational institutions to provide ERP and LMS solutions for the courses on offer. Its revenue channels include fees for the MIIT screening test and online courses, charges for creating blockchain-based resumes and commissions earned from offline partners.

Edubuk has onboarded 25K+ students from 10+ institutions and targets quadrupling the user base by 2022. It aims to reach 10 Mn users and partner with 100+ institutions in three years.

Efeed

Why Efeed Made It To The List

Livestock farming in India commands a market worth INR 93,000 Cr. But very few farmers/breeders use industry-standard animal feed to secure the health and nutrition of their farm animals despite the rising demand for dairy and poultry products. To raise awareness regarding animal nutrition and disrupt the $25 Bn global animal feed industry, friends and serial entrepreneurs Kumar Ranjan and Ravi Chauhan (both from agricultural backgrounds) launched Efeed in 2021.

Pune-based Efeed is a Healthify-style platform for farm animals, helping livestock farmers choose and integrate the right kind of nutrition on its app to customise the animal feed as per their requirements. After farmers are made aware of how animal produce can impact end-users, the next step is to determine the nutrition targets for their livestock based on age, weight and expected yield.

Efeed’s android app advisory then provides relevant suggestions and fodder recipes based on the animal health analysis and the farm’s location. A small fee is charged for this service post which farmers can source raw materials to prepare the feed at home, buy it from local shops or go for the startup’s ready-to-serve products.

The app is currently available in Hindi and English and has served 1.2 Lakh+ farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. Efeed plans to foray into the northeast, starting with Assam and aims to offer more language support as it expands. It is also looking to set up an offline franchise store chain, of which two stores are already operating in Uttar Pradesh.

EV Plugs

Why EV Plugs Made It To The List

To boost the usage of electric vehicles in India, EV users must have hassle-free access to charging stations and service infrastructure similar to what is available for fossil fuel-run vehicles. So, New Delhi-based EV Plugs is building an aggregation platform for EV users to locate and book charging and maintenance services.

Set up in 2021, the startup allows users to sign up and choose their vehicle types via Android and iOS apps. Based on the location and the vehicle’s requirements, the apps come up with a list of suitable stations and their details.

Much like the EV sector in India, the company is still in a nascent stage with no revenue model in place. But it plans to add ‘slot booking’ for charging and servicing EVs, thus reducing the wait time for users. It will also partner with companies setting up EV infrastructure for location accuracy. By 2023, the company plans to expand its network coverage to more than 50K charging stations across 200+ cities from the current 1K+ listings in 50+ cities.

Fello Finance

Why Fello Finance Made It To The List

Talk investments, and people put it off for another time, citing low returns and other excuses. Mention something as hot and happening as fantasy gaming, and they rush to spend real money on it despite low winning chances. Only 6% of Indians regularly invest to grow their assets compared to 39% who love the regular adrenalin kick from fantasy gaming. To make good of this quirky mindset, Fello was set up in 2021, allowing people to go for gaming if they invest first.

To begin with, the Bengaluru-based startup offers attractive investment solutions, including mutual funds, digital gold and more. But aware of the average Joe’s habitual reluctance to follow a ‘personal finance’ regime, Fello has come up with an invest-to-play model to inculcate saving and investment habits.

The fintech startup awards game tokens to users after investing via its platform. These can be used to play in-house games like tambola and cricket championships on its android app. However, Fello users cannot use real money to play games, only the tokens they win by investing. Their rewards points from games can be used for further investments or to redeem shopping coupons.

Fello is working with banks and asset managers to provide savings and investment solutions. It earns commissions from these financial partners, but the platform is free for retail investors. The company claims to have 400K users. It aims to reach a user base of 1 Mn by FY23 and an AUM of $50 Mn as it plans to launch a neobanking platform.

Foxtale

Why Foxtale Made It To The List

Top-quality, personalised skincare products are often considered a luxury in India, and very few people can access or afford them. Then there are pocket-friendly mass-market products, but these are not always suitable for all skin types. Understanding how the lack of innovation in this space hurt consumers, two-year-old Foxtale spent more than a year on research, development, tests and trials before launching the first collection of skincare products in December 2021. The USP: These four products would suit every type of Indian skin.

Aiming to reduce the essential skincare regime from 10 minutes to two, Mumbai-based Foxtale offers a cleanser, a serum, a moisturiser and a sunscreen. Used together, they can take care of many skincare issues like fixing flakes and grease for dry and oily skins and helping with spot reduction. These can also be used as a makeup base. All products are developed in-house, and the company procures as many as 76 ingredients from all over the globe.

The D2C brand sells its products pan-India via its website and ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon and 1mg. It will also partner with more ecommerce channels in 2022 to enhance its online presence and ensure better reach across the country.

FunctionUp

Why FunctionUp Made It To The List

Students need to learn industry-specific skills to become job-ready in a knowledge-driven economy. But the Indian education system is built on a traditional model focussing on higher education (read engineering/medical studies) and grades instead of mastering job-worthy skills. Worse still, students from Tier 2 cities and beyond suffer the most. Many of them cannot afford elitist higher education and lack employability even after a college degree due to our skill-deficient education system. So, FunctionUp was launched in 2021 to help them upskill without spending a fortune on technical education.

The Bengaluru-based edtech startup offers a four-month-long and stream-agnostic virtual boot camp in backend engineering, focussing on basic to specific skills like coding, software development, data science, data analytics and product management. It also helps students build ‘skill’ portfolios by allowing them to work on real projects and places them across its partner companies. Students in the final year of college or those who have recently graduated can apply for this programme. The startup has an income-sharing model, and a student thus placed has to pay FunctionUp 17% of the salary for three years if the annual remuneration is more than INR 5 Lakh.

FunctionUp says it has onboarded 1K+ students, and its revenue is growing 46% month-on-month. It aims to build a 1 Mn+ user base by 2025. It targets an ARR of $2 Mn for FY23 and intends to launch gamified cohorts, specifically for data analytics, product management, UI-UX and frontend engineering this year.

Generic Aadhaar

Why Generic Aadhaar Made It To The List

Generic medicines (as opposed to branded ones) account for 70% of the Indian pharmaceutical market. But the steady rise in medicine prices due to cost escalation of raw materials can put too big a dent in one’s wallet. Enter Generic Aadhaar, a Mumbai-based startup that offers generic medicines at a price that is nearly 80% less than the brand ones.

Launched in 2018, the startup sells generic medicines through its franchise-owned retail chain and passes on the price benefits as generic drugs incur no research cost, and no intermediaries are involved here. Store owners also get up to 40% margin on 700+ generic medicines. The pharma startup further provides billing and inventory management software to franchise owners for a fee.

Generic Aadhaar has an in-house manufacturing and warehousing unit in Mumbai and supplies its medicines to more than 1.5K franchise stores across 150+ cities. It plans to add another 1K franchise stores to its network in the current financial year.

Hatica

Why Hatica Made It To The List

The world of work has gone upside down after the onset of the pandemic. Businesses continue to follow safety protocols, and many teams still operate remotely. However, working in silos may lead to a lack of transparency and redundancies, affecting a team’s productivity and overall goals. So, two-year-old Hatica, a DevOps platform specialising in engineering operations, allows teams to get insights into workflow and productivity in real time.

The Gurugram and San Francisco-based startup provides productivity insights through touchpoints that feature collaborations, team tasks, individual assignments and further measures to improve workflow management. As a result, managers better understand their teams’ targets and workloads and how to align them with business goals while ensuring no team gets overburdened.

The subscription-based SaaS platform is still in beta and plans to launch later this year. It aims to become the go-to platform for software team management by 2025.

Haus & Kinder

Why Haus & Kinder Made It To The List

Gone are the days when locally produced luxury materials and seasonal colours ruled the look and feel of home furnishings and home décor. Today’s generation is increasingly embracing the global style of all things chic, soothing and minimal. Founded in 2018, D2C startup Haus & Kinder intends to disrupt the traditional home essentials industry with its design-led products.

The Mumbai-based startup offers a wide selection of home furnishing and décor items, including cotton bed sheets, zero-twist towels, embroidered cushions and more, in sync with the latest trends and colour palettes. It has recently launched baby care products such as baby beddings, playmats, swaddles and sleeping bags. Haus & Kinder houses 250+ SKUs across 12+ categories, all manufactured in-house.

Its products are sold pan-India via the Haus & Kinder website and ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart and FirstCry. It has recently entered the UAE market and plans to launch in the US by partnering with Amazon Global in the current financial year. The brand eyes an ARR of INR 60 Cr in FY23 and aims to become an INR 500 Cr company in another two years.

Indika AI

Why Indika AI Made It To The List

Industry 4.0 primarily focusses on optimising AI/ML to replicate human intelligence for task automation. While artificial intelligence provides the solutions here, data is the feed that nourishes AI. In brief, the quality and performance of AI solutions depend heavily on the relevance of annotated datasets. Indika AI was launched in 2020 to develop data training solutions to help deeptech companies with data collection for algo training, data de-identification and anonymisation, and transcription and annotation services for siloed data.

The Mumbai-based startup initially operated as an on-demand service provider for many industry sectors, including the BFSI, medical AI, autonomous vehicles, media and entertainment and more, while working out the right product-market fit. Based on that exercise, it has developed a bouquet of solutions for image, audio-video and text annotation, search relevance and content moderation. The data-as-a-service startup has adopted a subscription model and currently provides annotation services to more than 20 companies.

Indika is also working on a workflow management system for collecting training data and data labelling for AI applications across sectors. The startup will use vernacular languages to provide localised, high-quality datasets and aims to train more than 10K data analysts from finance, medical and legal domains by the end of 2022.

Jumping Minds

Why Jumping Minds Made It To The List

Mental health issues are still taboo in India, given the widespread social stigma, and seeking professional help is not easy. The country has 0.75 therapists per 100K people, and few can afford long and expensive treatment. Therefore, those suffering from such disorders often feel more comfortable discussing their problems with friends or reliable but unrelated, non-judgemental listeners. Noticing this trend, Jumping Minds was launched in 2021 to provide a community-based platform for afflicted people keen to have an anonymous conversation before they approach a therapist.

Here is how the Gurugram-based startup works. Users can sign up to connect with mWarriors (anonymous contributors with empathy and listening skills) and talk about their problems without revealing their identities. Jumping Minds also has a social media-style wall, where users can post their feeds to inspire one other or interact with other users. One can use this platform for free, but the android app also includes the mCorner with premium features such as meditation tools and yoga lessons to improve the user’s mood.

The startup claims to have 200K+ community members and plans to build an AI-enabled and chatbot-style platform to make mental health solutions accessible to all. It also aims to onboard 1 Mn+ users and launch globally by 2022.

Koshex

Why Koshex Made It To The List

Personalising ‘personal finance’ can be pretty challenging, and wealth managers often end up providing general investment schemes that may not yield the desired outcome. But with data insights from 2 Mn+ data points from a single user, Bengaluru-based Koshex remains a step ahead when it comes to helping retail investors manage their money.

Set up in 2021, the fintech startup offers customised investment solutions across fixed-income and market-related products like mutual funds, smart deposits, and digital gold based on an investor’s budget, savings and expenses. While it partners with SEBI- and the RBI-approved asset management platforms to offer investment deals, Koshex has joined hands with another wealth tech startup, SafeGold, for digital gold investments. Currently, the web-based platform does not charge anything for its services. Users can log in with their mobile numbers and PAN cards to create and track their financial plans.

Koshex aims to automate the personal finance journey by 2023 to make all investment-related activities hassle-free for a big chunk of the 100 Mn+ millennial investor segment.

Pillow

Why Pillow Made It To The List

Investing in cryptocurrencies is often considered a lucrative option, given their potential profitability. But there is a big downside. The crypto market is highly volatile compared to other asset classes and requires extensive investor education. More importantly, crypto investors’ money lies idle on the blockchain, and the earnings happen only when there is a market jump.

Enter Pillow, which offers the crypto equivalent of mutual funds called Pillow Cases. It allows crypto investors to benefit from highly lucrative cryptocurrencies and earn additional interest income from stablecoins like the USDT and USDC as well as other cryptos such as BTC and ETH.

Set up in 2021, Singapore-headquartered Pillow allows retail investors to deposit their crypto assets to the startup’s app. The startup invests the quantum in 500+ collateralised DeFi protocols across 10 chains and insures it to reduce risks and maximise returns. It pays up to 14% interest per annum on stablecoins and up to 6% on BTC and ETH, and there is no lock-in period for retail investors.

Pillow uses BitGo as the custodian which insures digital assets worth more than $100 Mn for assets under custody. The startup keeps a part of the interest return made above the maximum guaranteed 14%. It plans to scale to 100K users by 2022 and expand beyond BTC, ETH and USDC/USDT into MATIC and SOL.

Poshn

Why Poshn Made It To The List

More than 58% of Indians depend on agriculture and allied sectors for their livelihoods. But inefficiencies at the grassroots continue to plague the sector, and bulk buyers of agricultural produce struggle to cope with crop quality, logistics and financial issues. Moreover, due to their sole dependency on government-appointed traders, these transactions are seldom hassle-free. To ensure a smooth business flow for all stakeholders, agritech startup Poshn has built a platform to help organise the bulk buying market, distribute processed commodities and facilitate agritech financing.

Set up in 2020, New Delhi-based Poshn has developed a four-party ecommerce platform for wholesale buyers, bulk sellers, agri finance providers and logistic startups. It enables commodity price discovery and manages the distribution for bulk buyers like JioMart, DealShare and CityMall.

For agri suppliers registered as sellers on the platform, Poshn provides bigger market access, insights into market trends, working capital and a platform for auctioning commodities. It has also integrated third-party logistic companies to offer transportation services, while financial institutions on Poshn provide loans to buyers and sellers.

The startup is operational in India, the Middle East and the SEA markets and primarily deals in staples. It has multiple revenue streams, including commissions from distribution and logistics channels and credit disbursements and onboarding fees from buyers and sellers of agri commodities.

Poshn claims to have onboarded 200+ agri buyers and sellers and earned INR 240 Cr in revenue in FY22. It plans to expand into five primary agri commodities and reach an ARR of INR 1,500 Cr in the current financial year.

QPe

Why QPe Made It To The List

The consumer internet market in India is expected to reach $1.6 Tn by 2025, with ecommerce and consumer services such as mobility and home utility taking the lead. This is a huge opportunity, but few SMBs from Tier 3 locations and beyond can leverage it as they mostly operate offline. So, QPe was set up in 2021 to bring them online and move them to a new growth trajectory as the number of internet users rises steadily.

The New Delhi-based startup provides offline sellers access to its full-stack solution through its android app. Its offerings include setting up an online store, managing orders, stock and catalogue, providing multiple payment gateways for a smooth checkout, chatbot integration and a dedicated business manager to help the company grow to its full potential. It also provides an analytics dashboard for sellers to monitor and analyse customer data and user behaviour. In addition, QPe helps improve the physical in-store experience by allowing brands to create QR code-based catalogues.

To set up an online shop, a seller only needs to add the store name and the brand, select a business category available under the 20+ category list and create a catalogue.

To help small businesses further, the startup has integrated hyperlocal delivery options from Shadowfax and Dunzo and provides access to intercity, interstate and global delivery partners such as Shiprocket, Blue Dart and FedEx.

QPe runs on a freemium, subscription-based model wherein store creation is free, but other services are billed depending on the features. It has so far onboarded 1K+ merchants, and the app on the Google Play store has clocked 10K+ downloads.

Secure Blink

Why Secure Blink Made It To The List

Thanks to the rising digitalisation, mobile apps today are ubiquitous, available across networks and in the cloud. Hence, building foolproof app security has become essential to prevent data and code thefts by cybercriminals. That is why Tapendra Dev, a former security consultant to the government and law enforcement agencies, set up Secure Blink in 2020 to help companies proactively address the vulnerabilities associated with critical applications.

The Noida-based startup has developed a product called Threatspy that helps developers automate the detection, prioritisation and remediation process while predicting future-prone threats in an application. The integration crawls through the back end of tech stacks, locates hidden subdomains, web pages and lost app traces, and detects misconfiguration issues. It then analyses the issues over the common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS), predicts future threats, differentiates false positives and creates a plan to prioritise and mitigate the risks.

Secure Blink has opted for a subscription-based revenue model and has already worked with 12 or more enterprises. It is now bringing more features such as behaviour analytics and CISO strategies to the Threatspy platform and wants to roll it out for 100+ enterprises by 2022. It plans to onboard 300+ customers, reach $1 Mn ARR, work with companies from the Middle East and the EU and build more security solutions for mobile apps and the IoT space in another two years.

Shopflo

Why Shopflo Made It To The List

Lately, ecommerce in India has witnessed hypergrowth as people shopped online in the wake of the pandemic for safety and convenience. But on average, around 80% of shoppers drop off at the checkout stage without completing their transactions. Given this daunting data, Bengaluru-based ShopFlo saw an opportunity to help brands create a smoother checkout experience and thus reduce cart abandonment.

Incorporated in 2021, the startup became operational in May this year and provides a SaaS tool called Shopflo Checkout that can be integrated with online shopping sites to enable a 1-click checkout system with minimum cognitive load experience for consumers. If a buyer still abandons the shopping cart, the Shopflo Recover tool, a WhatsApp Business integration service, allows customers to complete the purchase directly on the messenger app. This feature is currently available for Shopify stores only, but Shopflo intends to roll it out for Woocommerce and Magento stores.

It charges a certain percentage of a brand’s monthly GMV earned via Shopflo checkout and may look to offer the service on a subscription. A month into launch, the SaaS startup has onboarded 15+ merchants and aims to refine its product further.

Traya Health

Why Traya Health Made It To The List

Body positivity is the ‘in’ thing globally, and most of us try to cope with how we look. However, certain issues can still affect our self-confidence and emotional well-being. One such condition is alopecia or hair loss which can lead to baldness. In India, alopecia, especially among men, is often considered a common occurrence, and very few brands work on reversing hair loss. But Traya Health is one such brand that has gone all out to fight genetic hair loss.

Hailing from Valsad, Gujarat and based out of Mumbai, the haircare startup was launched by the husband-wife duo of Altaf Saiyed and Saloni Anand in 2019 after Altaf suffered from hair loss and opted for a healthy mix of nutrition and medicines.

Traya follows a three-pronged approach – a combination of dermatology, ayurveda and nutrition – to manage hair loss and attain hair goals. A user has to take a hair test to determine scalp health and lifestyle issues post which they get connected to a hair expert. The expert offers a free consultation to select the ideal hair care package. The startup has a money-back policy if its solutions (a mix of lifestyle changes, nutrition and diet plans and use of ayurvedic products) fail to deliver results within five months.

While Traya mostly banks on its website to convert users taking the free hair test to customers, it also sells its ayurvedic products on ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart and 1mg. As of now, it offers more than 20 SKUs under four categories. The company claims it has served 100K consumers, with an 80% repeat rate, and plans to increase its user base to 1 Mn by this year.

Uravu Labs

Why Uravu Labs Made It To The List

The amount of potable freshwater on planet earth has remained reasonably constant over the ages. But a clean water crisis now looms large due to global warming and population explosion. According to UNICEF, nearly half of the global population could live in water scarcity areas by 2025. That is why startups like Uravu Labs are working on the ‘renewable water’ concept that may help resolve water scarcity to some extent.

Set up in 2019, the Bengaluru-based deeptech startup is developing hardware to convert atmospheric water into liquid. (Think of the natural condensation process, and you would get the basic concept.) Uravu has not disclosed the specifics but states that the technology turns air into water by using solar heat, industrial waste heat and even heat from biomass waste. It will soon file for a global patent for this proprietary technology.

According to the startup, air contains 6x more water than the world’s rivers combined, and it is replenished naturally every 8-10 days. Since this water (vapour) is already in its unadulterated form, there is no waste during the conversion.

Potential use cases for this air-to-water technology can be beverage and HoReCa companies, as the average cost of water conversion will be an affordable INR 3-7 per litre compared to packaged drinking water that costs INR 5-20 a litre. Corporations can buy the system directly from Uravu, or retail users can purchase water from the startup’s plants, to be built as part of its water-as-a-service model. Currently, Uravu is targeting both B2B and B2C markets, but it is also looking at B2G as a potential opportunity.

The startup has tested its system with AB InBev, a brewery company, and onboarded five clients. It plans to turn EBITDA positive by 2025 and manufacture units with a production capacity of more than 10,000 litres per day.

Vieroots

Why Vieroots Made It To The List

The Covid crisis has dynamically changed how individuals used to perceive personal healthcare. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, the ‘woke’ Indians have been proactively working out, following better diets and taking care of their physical and mental health. To reinforce this transformation, wellness evangelist Dr Sanjeev Nair started Vieroots, an epigenetic lifestyle modification company, in 2020. In simple terms, the startup helps people make informed choices about health and wellness based on their individual genetic and metabolic profiles.

Bengaluru-based Vieroots uses its proprietary geno-metabolic screening EPLIMO to offer personalised recommendations for ideal diet and exercise. Each test costs INR 35.4K, and a user needs to book a date either on the startup’s website or through a partner centre. Next, a sampling kit is home-delivered so that one can collect the swab samples and send these back to the company. The EPLIMO procedure conducts 200+ tests to assess the samples and predict the risk of several medical conditions, including lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, obesity, high BP, cardiovascular disorders, cancer and more. Based on the analysis, the startup recommends lifestyle modifications spanning diet and supplements, exercise, yoga and meditation alongside consultations with genetics doctors.

Vieroots offers two more medtech tools – a nutrition profile test called Nutrigenome and an FDA-approved EKG device called KardiaMobile to check heart health. In addition, it has an in-house team of researchers and wellness coaches building solutions at the juncture of ancient and modern medicine.

The startup plans to expand its user base in 2022 by launching 20+ Vieroots experiential centres across the country for people to experience its products and services.

Zymrat

Why Zymrat Made It To The List

Fitness enthusiasts worldwide are always looking for standout activewear to improve their performance and define their style. From comfortable to multifunctional, fashionable to star-endorsed, the choices are many, and the global market is poised to reach $423 Bn by 2024. Bengaluru-based D2C brand Zymrat also joined the activewear bandwagon in 2018 and, a year later, launched a pocket-friendly collection for Indian consumers.

The men’s apparel brand has launched 60+ SKUs across nine categories and uses two cutting-edge production techniques. One is SuperVent, a fabric-knitting process for optimum breathability, and the other is SuperSilva, which infuses silver ions into any fabric to kill odour-producing bacteria.

Zymrat produces its activewear line in-house and sells it via its website. The startup claims 35K+ customers and a 30% month-on-month revenue growth in FY22. It targets an ARR of INR 35 Cr in FY23 and aims to launch an athleisure collection for women.

Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal

The post 30 Startups To Watch: The Startups That Caught Our Eye In May 2022 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

It had been a wild, wild party last year, and the momentum continues in 2022. We are just four months into the new year (well, technically five), and the startup ecosystem has already reached a new peak. As many as 14 startups have joined the coveted billion-dollar club since January, lifting India’s unicorn tally to a fabulous 100!

Of course, some call it a new kind of froth and warn the ecosystem of valuation dips, massive layoffs and a long funding winter ahead. But as the saying goes, the secret of getting ahead is getting started.

Today, India is a thriving hub of small and medium digital businesses and home to more than 61K startups, of which 14K+ were recognised in FY22 alone. The stage is now set for the next wave as the country’s early stage startups try and revolutionise the internet space beyond the tried and tested products. 

Like the true stalwart it has always been, Inc42 continues to champion the startups’ cause and has organised flagship events to bring together visionary companies and their founders who did not hesitate to reveal their product strategies that would drive the next level of growth. 

After running the ‘30 Startups to Watch’ list for 26 months and showcasing more than 700 potential disruptors, Inc42 brings you the 27th edition shortly after concluding The Makers’ Summit 2.0.

As we sat down to shortlist the startups this time, we were keen to highlight scalable products that made an impact on consumer preferences (B2C) and/or propelled new business models (B2B). 

In this era of new-age companies, many startups feel compelled to put their energy and efforts into niche segments like deeptech, automation and gamification. When the ecosystem proliferates, more and more disruptors will make it to the forefront, changing the world order and leading the enthusiasts to the promised land of 1,000 unicorns, as predicted by the government.

30 Startups To Watch: April 2022

With our focus on companies which are automating enterprise operations and easing the processes for consumers, Inc42 deep-dived into multiple sectors and handpicked quite a few unique business models. 

For instance, we have listed seven startups each from the fintech and the enterprise tech segments. We have also found two exciting blockchain companies, one that marries the nostalgia of the Pokémon with complex blockchain jargon and the other tokenising real-life assets on-chain. Then there are three agritech startups working to boost India’s declining agri economy. 

From changing the edtech scenario to communicating on social media, from disrupting traditional industry segments with conversational AI to bringing new asset classes to the investment core — some of the startups listed here are literally transforming the internet technology and its many uses.

As the need for tech grows – even simple use cases like loan advisory now require new-age convenience – these startups are attracting a vast user base as they build products to solve fundamental pain points hurting many sectors.

Check out the 27th edition of Inc42 Plus’ 30 Startups To Watch list.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

Aerchain

Why Aerchain Makes It To The List

Source-to-pay (S2P) is a critical procurement operation for any company. But it requires multiple steps and user interfaces, from locating a supplier to negotiations, contract signing and final payment for the goods delivered. Legacy S2P systems are primarily workflow-based, need human interventions and often tend to be opaque and error-prone. Set up in 2019 in Bengaluru, SaaS startup Aerchain wanted to address the S2P conundrum with four new-age solutions, enabling companies to automate the S2P cycle.

These solutions include strategic sourcing (to streamline all sourcing needs with RFx and maximise cost savings); tail spend automation (to predict requirements and source goods from the right supplier at the right price); AP automation (invoice/accounts payable processing), and P2P automation (for approval of end-to-end payments). 

The procurement tech startup offers subscription-based solutions and claims revenue of $500K in FY22. It aims to hit an ARR of $1 Mn by acquiring 50 clients in FY23. Aerchain plans to expand more into the North American and Indian markets by 2025 and hit an ARR of $25 Mn.

Agrizy

Why Agrizy Made It To The List

India’s addressable agritech market is estimated to hit $24.1 Bn by 2025. But even now, the sector is plagued by pricing inefficiencies and a broken supply chain due to the lack of credit flow, resulting in low productivity and steadily falling revenues. To drive transactions at scale and sustainable pricing, Bengaluru-headquartered Agrizy was set up in 2021 as an agricultural e-marketplace to help wholesalers procure non-perishable farm products and cash crops like cereal, pulses, oilseed and jute directly from producers.

The platform provides networking, logistics and warehousing services besides automating payment cycles (for sellers) to facilitate trade. It further helps buyers and sellers with working capital, gets a commission on every transaction and earns interest on the capital. 

The agritech firm started its operations in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and other eastern states and currently services northern and central India. It claims to have onboarded 100+ B2B clients, aims to operate a pan-India marketplace this year and plans to grow at a 25% MoM rate.

Anastrat

Why Anastrat Made It To The List

Despite the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020 and the subsequent economic slowdown, the Indian stock market added more than 2 Cr retail investors in 2020-2021. There is no shortage of DIY online investment tools either, but very few platforms help investors measure their performances, identify mistakes and improvise for the best outcomes. But a suitable solution came into sight when Bengaluru-based Anastrat was launched in 2021. The AI-powered post-trade analytics platform uses a proprietary system to evaluate and enhance the capability and performance of a professional investor while providing learning and upskilling resources to stock market newcomers.

The startup has developed the Anastrat scoring system to determine an investor’s trading excellence in sync with the market movement. The score is based on every trade computed and considers more than 100 parameters, including daily output, Sharpe ratio (ROI against risk), a weighted average of daily, weekly and monthly trades, consistency, duration, calculated response, risk management, aggression, panic selling and more. The subscription-based SaaS platform also features a daily trading journal that tags prime strategies and indicators for future references.   

Anastrat allows the integration of major trading platforms such as Zerodha, FYERS, SAMCO, IIFL and Dhan on its dashboard for operational ease. It also claims that more than 1 Lakh traders operating on the NSE and the MCX use the platform. This year, the company plans to offer post-trade analytics for crypto traders and new investors in the blockchain space to push its revenue and market reach.

AntWalk

Why AntWalk Made It To The List

In a world thriving on sustainable business strategy and cutting-edge tech, the need for corporate L&D (learning and development) is constantly on the rise. Until recently, these learning models were primarily MOOC-style or workshop-oriented and featured routine study materials, resulting in low engagement and high drop-out rates. Given the siloed process and the lack of learner motivation, former McKinsey consultants Joybroto Ganguly, Basav Nagur and Sriramkumar Sundararaman launched AntWalk in 2020, adopting a ‘by the professional, for the professional’ approach.

Bengaluru-based AntWalk offers paid and free content across 15-plus domains from more than 3K global professionals. The format here is experiential micro-videos, and the approach is refreshing, helping new hires to get acclimatised to the corporate environment and role objectives.

The startup offers self-paced content across business functions like sales, general management and product & design and the latest technology functions like data engineering and cybersecurity. It also provides one-to-one coaching and live group sessions. By connecting industry experts with industry newbies, the platform has thrown open enterprise L&D solutions for better outcomes and leadership development.

AntWork’s enterprise clients pay for these courses, and their employees have full access to the AntWalk LMS (learning management system), personalised curricula and class quizzes. They have to submit assignments and projects, and their progress/growth is monitored during and after lessons.

The startup claims to have delivered 1K+ hours of live interactions across 20+ startups and enterprises and plans to increase the number of companies to 200+ by 2022.

BurnCal

Why BurnCal Made It To The List

After the acquisition of Drone Nation by EnerComp in 2020, cofounder Chetan Reddy set out on a personal fitness journey. He lost 40 kg, a massive physical transformation, and realised that fitness remained a tangible factor even in a digital-first world. The fitness industry largely depends on brick-and-mortar gyms, and personal coaching has an average 80% retention rate compared to self-service fitness apps and virtual training with a retention rate of 20% or so. In brief, there was a lack of synergy between personalised training by experts in the physical world and the booming virtual workout space. So, Reddy decided to become a certified fitness coach and started BurnCal.

The Hyderabad-based remote-first fitness facility started as a B2C platform, connecting enthusiasts to fitness coaches and nutrition specialists. It later evolved into a B2B2C web-based SaaS tool called BurnCoach, enabling fitness and wellness professionals to create programmes, track progress, communicate and collect payments from their members. Fitness professionals pay a subscription fee of INR 2,300 ($30) per month for this service.

The BurnCal app works at the B2C level and ensures that people keen to pursue workout routines are advised by professional coaches. Each B2C user pays a monthly fee of INR 2,950 for guided one-to-one workout sessions, personalised nutrition charts and progress tracking by connecting their fitness bands to the app, among other services. The startup has helped more than 1,500 users and recently partnered with a US-based marketplace with 137K coaches to roll out the product at scale.

BurnCal is working on the launch of its BurnCoach app and aims to clock $1 Mn in revenue by FY23. In the long term, it plans to create a Shopify-style platform where coaches can be content creators and launch their products.

Chargeup

Why Chargeup Made It To The List

Despite the recent unfortunate incidents, the demand for electric vehicles has not plateaued in India. However, companies and industry experts need to deep dive into critical issues such as battery safety, range anxiety and capping battery costs without compromising the quality of components and materials. Among many Indian startups in the EV space, the three-year-old Chargeup offers battery-as-a-service (BaaS) and claims battery swapping to be a safe and quick solution. 

The B2B2C EV startup enables battery swapping at 150+ swap stations across Delhi-NCR. The batteries on offer are interoperable, which means these can be used for both two-wheelers and three-wheelers. The New Delhi-based startup has an asset-light operational model. It procures the batteries on lease from manufacturers and provides them as a service through dealer locations. It further uses a predictive model based on real-time data collected from battery usage and provides journey analytics to EV drivers to ensure smooth operations. The New Delhi-based startup operates on a subscription model, where drivers pay for the number of swaps per week/month. EV drivers also pay the battery cost to dealers, and the latter pays the franchise cost to Chargeup.

Currently, Chargeup is only operating in Delhi-NCR, but it will expand to 10 cities by 2022. The startup will cater to 1 Lakh+ EVs by 2025, create an open data platform for connected solutions to optimise vehicle efficiency and provide EV financing.

Farm Prosperity

Why Farm Prosperity Made It To The List

Agriculture in India is rarely considered a lucrative livelihood option. According to 2011 census data, around 2,000 farmers leave farming every day. And over the years, the dependency of rural households on agriculture had steadily declined to 50%, as per the 2018-19 Periodic Labour Force Survey. However, Rajesh Patidar, Sourabh Rai and Ritesh Patidar, cofounders of Noida-based Farm Prosperity Solutions, think more farmers will stick to agriculture if their farms yield better incomes. As the trio belongs to farming families, they feel strongly about India’s agrarian challenges.

Farm Prosperity was launched in 2020 to focus on cotton and chilli, two major cash crops of India. The startup has built a network of farmers and connected them to an ecommerce platform to ensure good quality agri-inputs such as seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, micronutrients, animal feed and more. It also provides advisory and agri-output services, including crop management, procurement, price realisation and food provenance, helping farmers raise their net incomes and generate rural employment. It operates in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh but will soon expand to Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.

FPS claims to have onboarded 150K farmers from four districts and 500 villages and earns through commissions on agri-inputs. It aims to clock more than INR 15 Cr in revenue in 2022 and reach 500K+ farmers across the country, with the continued focus on cotton and chilli produce. Its target is to reach 5 Mn farmers by 2025, hit a turnover of INR 300 Cr and leverage blockchain technology for remote sensing, crop advisory, crop quality assessment and food traceability.

FlipIt Money

Why FlipItMoney Made It To The List

Lately, investing in stock and crypto markets has emerged as one of the most lucrative options. But many small and retail investors stay away from these assets due to their lack of market knowledge and the extreme volatility on the ground. To address this knowledge gap, former LocoNav executives Dipankar Biswas and Bharat Bhushan and serial entrepreneur Diptanil Das launched FlipItMoney (previously FlipItNews) in 2020.

The Gurugram-based startup is a financial literacy-first company offering a bunch of gamified services. These include FlipIt Circle (financial aficionados teaching others and learning from their peers); FlipIt News (bite-sized news about stock and crypto markets); FlipIt Advice (broking firms suggest whether to buy, sell or hold a stock); FlipIt Games (learning through predictive investments and gamified quizzes); FlipIt Research (provides 1-10 years of data on stocks) and FlipIt Invest (to track existing portfolios from smallcase, Zerodha and the like and invest in stocks and crypto).

More than 125K users have already installed the FlipItMoney app, and the company plans to grow the number to 1 Mn by 2022.

Frigate

Why Frigate Made It To The List

Cloud manufacturing (CMfg) is a new concept in India’s advanced manufacturing space, but the segment is slated to hit the $1 Tn mark by 2025. It is all about leveraging manufacturing resources and capabilities offered by companies connected in the cloud so that their ‘distributed’ expertise can bring forth best-quality products and optimise their revenues. Chennai-based Frigate was launched in 2021 with the same objective to marry manufacturing prowess with cloud connectivity to create a robust, digitalised value chain.

Frigate started as a prototyping firm, making medical equipment and automotive parts until a year ago. But it pivoted to CMfg in late 2021 after one of its customers asked the company to manufacture the device it was prototyping. Now, the startup works as a cloud manufacturing platform for sectors like EV, defence and aerospace. Powered by the industrial internet of things (IIOT), it identifies the topology of every design and uses fabrication, 3D printing, CNC machining and other services to ‘build’ products.

The B2B platform caters to OEMs, SMEs and startups and claims to have onboarded 28 clients. It plans to take the number to 50 by this year and aims to become a $100 Mn company by 2025.

GetWork

Why GetWork Made It To The List

When it comes to campus placements, the average pay difference between Tier 1 institutions and the rest tends to distress Indian students as 90% of them graduate from Tier 2-3 colleges. But the wide pay gap is just one part of the problem. It may also lead to disparity in representation and impact job satisfaction in the long run.

To address these pain points, MNNIT (Prayagraj) alumni Rahul Veerwal and Sumit Gupta came out with a holistic solution that would usher in more parity and launched GetWork in 2019. The Gurugram-based startup provides a two-way marketplace for both students and universities. While students can hugely benefit from the training/upskilling marketplace, the institutions on board can easily access companies and startups looking for talented freshers.

GetWork hosts a LinkedIn-like platform called OneApp for students keen on upskilling on the go and getting on-campus and off-campus opportunities. The startup charges students for the courses and mentorship sessions. However, it provides free auxiliary services such as resume and portfolio creation, a GetWork drive to store and manage official documents and a campus-connected chat to keep students updated about peers and job openings.

Additionally, the pay-per-student platform is managed by college placement committees that build corporate relationships, track job applications and shortlisted candidates and create targeted feeds for job discovery.

Employers/corporate houses use a credit/wallet recharge system to post jobs on the startup’s web platform (sales, data science, engineering and HR are some of the major categories), connect with students and conduct on-campus recruitment drives.

GetWork plans to onboard more than 1K paid colleges and place 100K+ students in 10K+ companies by the end of this year. In the long term, it aims to focus on democratising campus placement experience across Tier 2 cities and beyond and mint talented freshers by providing upskilling opportunities.

HuddleUp

Why HuddleUp Made It To The List

Traditional employee engagement and performance tracking methods have gone for a toss in the wake of the pandemic that has triggered a dynamic and hybrid work culture worldwide. The legacy systems in use must be replaced by continuous intelligence (CI), smart tools and processes integrating real-time analytics with operations to study outcomes and recommend actions. The rise of augmented analytics to promote employee support amplifies job satisfaction, reduces burnout and brings down. Bengaluru-based HuddleUp has been built on this principle to help companies and employees.

Launched in 2021, the startup has developed an AI-powered plug-and-play system that creates a continuous communication and feedback loop between managers and their teams. This is done through real-time people analytics, one-on-one discussions, suggested learning, review features, kudos for excellence and more. The HuddleUp plugin sparks spontaneous watercooler chats within teams and generates a reward-based leaderboard on the successful completion of tasks. More interestingly, an AI-powered culture bot undertakes health surveys with empathetic conversations to understand how every team member is feeling mentally and emotionally. 

HuddleUp can be used on multiple teamwork/collaboration platforms such as Slack, Teams, Office 365 and Google Workspace. It offers a personalised dashboard for every manager to check in with their teams, take steps to boost employee morale and undergo bite-sized management lessons, if necessary. All these can help reduce attrition by 70%, the startup says.

The SaaS platform bills organisations on a per-employee per-month basis and claims to have clocked 18x revenue growth in the past eight months. It plans to grow its team and onboard more businesses by this year.

IntelleWings

Why IntelleWings Made It To The List

It is estimated that 2-5% of the global GDP comes from money laundering, and corruption is not likely to let up soon. However, former Infosys executive Pramod Sharma believes that tech is the way to lower the corruption level and make the world safer and better regulated. Founded by Sharma in 2019, IntelleWings is a regtech startup, making anti-money laundering (AML) and combating financing of terrorism (CFT) compliances easier with its suite of SaaS products called EYE.

Panchkula-based IntelleWing provides a host of services, including sanctions check, transaction monitoring, case management, integrated media check for PEP (politically exposed persons) and auto-generation of all regulatory reports. The Haryana startup has an Indian private sector bank and 10 DNFBPs (Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions) from the Middle East among its customers. It will also expand to the US, Africa and South Asia.

Kandola Network

Why Kandola Network Made It To The List

The connected device market has reached $525 Bn globally, but all is not hunky-dory yet, given the system lag, data breach risks and skyrocketing prices. As for developers, finding a full-stack IoT platform that is secure, scalable and accessible-to-all is nothing short of a dream. So, Kandola Network from Bengaluru was set up in 2022, focussing on building Layer 1 and Web3-based decentralised, chip-to-cloud solutions for IoT applications, complete with device security, data privacy and other compliance standards required for this field.

The privacy-first, platform-as-a-service (PaaS) startup operates worldwide, except in countries that explicitly disallow Web3 projects. It is now solving two critical problems that hinder the Web3 infrastructure today – speed and transaction cost – to help Web3 scale beyond NFTs and DeFi and master other areas like real-time messaging, data storage and digital identity verification. The Kandola platform will provide firmware on the hardware, enable device identity management using decentralised identifiers (DIDs), ensure two-way optimistic verifications and use zero-knowledge protocol for data exchange between businesses.

The startup is still in beta but plans to go for a formal launch by March next year, allowing developers and companies to build their products on Kandola. It will also provide use-cases beyond IoT and explore areas like Web3 chat applications, decentralised social finance apps, the metaverse at large and Web3 gaming. 

It further intends to operate as an IoT solutions marketplace and aims to incentivise developers with digital tokens on the Kandola protocol. Apart from the fees paid by the developers using the platform, the startup will charge a fixed amount for running the firmware and a commission for device and solution discovery on the Kandola Open Marketplace.

Kisanserv

Why Kisanserv Made It To The List

Price discovery for fruit and vegetable (F&V) procurement has always been challenging in India due to random price negotiations happening across unorganised markets. It also puts agribusinesses at risk when it comes to scalability and profit. To address this pain point, Niranjan Sharma, Arun Kumar and Praveen Tiwari set up Kisanserv. This tech-enabled platform does away with pricing adjustments and only lists market-regulated prices of fruits and vegetables to avoid margin leakage. Set up in 2020, the Pune-based startup also eliminates intermediaries from the transaction process, does quality checks and bulk buying and ensures end-to-end delivery for F&V farmers, suppliers and corporate buyers.

The company has adopted an arbitrage model, simultaneously buying and selling in different markets to take advantage of the price difference. It operates in Maharashtra and Gujarat and expects to clock INR 100 Cr in revenue by FY23. Kisanserv plans to enter 15 more cities in the west, central and southern India, targeting INR 1,900 Cr in revenue by FY26.

Leaf Round

Why Leaf Round Made It To The List

If you mention rent or leasing, one is bound to think of earnings from real estate at the first go. But is it possible to build new wealth products that can be monetised similarly? This is easier said than done as most people tend to pursue a fixed path when it comes to asset monetisation or return on investments. However, IIM-Ahmedabad alumni Nishchay Nath and Soumya Kushwaha and former UiPath executive Avinash Verma decided to do it and rock the assets market.  

Set up in February this year, the Bengaluru-based startup enables people to buy, own and rent out various assets such as furniture, IT equipment and vehicles to earn high returns as monthly rentals for up to 24 months. It has a marketplace model in place that helps retail investors find CAPEX-needy companies keen to sell their assets, purchase the same and sign a contract with those who want to pay monthly rents to use those assets. Leaf Round also ensures that the assets on rent will reach users in impeccable condition and on time. It uses a custom OS for documentation and payment collections, charging a fee for every transaction on the platform.

Currently, potential investors can reserve spots to invest via Leaf Round, but the startup is gearing up for a public launch in the first half of 2022. It has already done a beta launch between February and April to see the number of users grow 60% MoM.

Maatri

Why Maatri Made It To The List

Childcare is no easy task, especially for new parents, as it can be challenging to keep track of medicines and vaccination schedules and cater to a newborn’s health and wellness needs. Founded in 2019, Maatri accompanies parents in their thrilling but critical journey stage by stage, from infancy through to adolescence. 

With multiple products in place, including child development trackers, paediatrician teleconsultation services and vital signs tracking for toddlers, the Gurugram-based startup helps parents monitor how their children are growing up. There is a digital card to cover all vaccinations and an option to capture and store evergreen memories like an infant’s first birthday or the first teeth erupting. 

Recently, the subscription-based child health startup further added a digital record-keeping and teleconsultation feature for the entire family, including the pets, on its Android and iOS apps, allowing parents to keep the whole family’s medical history in one place.

Mentza

Why Mentza Made It To The List

The art of storytelling has evolved over the years, with social media and OTT platforms ushering in a variety of entertainment and interaction formats. Earlier, the text had given in to the video, but that, too, is undergoing a metamorphosis. This time around, podcasts and voice-first social conversations are rapidly taking over, and people are all ears for bite-sized content available on the go.

But there are few all-in-one homegrown audio platforms that allow users to listen, create and share stories à la Spotify. Bridging this gap is Mumbai-based Mentza, a live audio platform where the community can create, engage, transfer, share and exchange stories in 20-minute conversations.

Set up in 2020 and launched in August 2021, the community-oriented platform pushes micro conversations rather than narratives. In fact, this startup follows three distinct narrative styles.

First, users can create group chat-style Circles on Mentza’s Android/iOS apps. Here, like-minded people can talk about any topic, and they will get 40-second long AI-made teasers and highlights of these conversations displayed under the relevant category type. The Circles are collated into 12 learning communities such as personal finance, parenting, campus connect and recruitment, travel and food. Incidentally, these Circles are monitored by a select few (invite-only people) called the community architects.

The second format allows users to create, host and manage private channels where a 20-minute conversation is turned into a podcast episode. However, Mentza keeps a tab on the podcast quality.

The audio platform also provides a Studio feature that allows creators to turn 20-minutes conversations into shareable podcasts published on major platforms like Spotify, AudioPortfolio or Audvisor.

Mentza is still working on the revenue model, but it plans to adopt a subscription module for private communities. The startup will also monetise the Mentza Studio and allow brand partnerships to operate across Circles to earn ad revenues.

So far, the startup claims to have 120K+ members and 200K+ minutes of content. It also features more than 300 weekly series (member-run content), and the number is set to hit 1K+ per week in 2022.

Newrl

Why Newrl Made It To The List

Mention blockchain and many people will immediately jump to more widespread use cases like NFTs and cryptocurrencies. But few would like to explore critical use cases like DeFi or decentralised finance, a fast-emerging fintech practice that can loosen the hold of legacy players and securely democratise all things finance. 

According to the latest data, the amount of money currently locked in DeFi stands at $96 Bn, up from $10.3 Bn in 2020. Given this scenario, it is not surprising that DeFi startups like Newrl are coming up with lucrative financial solutions for segments like lending, borrowing, broker-dealer and custodianship, intending to create an ‘ownership economy’ as opposed to Web2’s customer-vendor economy.

Set up in 2019, Newrl is a  Mumbai-based blockchain-as-a-service platform that helps companies create a protocol layer of template-driven transactions, smart contracts and DAOs. It also provides a decentralised exchange for asset trading and tokenises real-world assets and contracts. Lately, it has launched a service to tokenise startup equity.

Newrl is currently building an application layer for D2C brands, warehouse management companies, fractional property investment platforms and alternative asset managers to tokenise asset types such as properties, brand value, warehouse receipts and carbon credits. This will build trustworthiness and create the proof of ownership.

The Newrl network charges a fixed transaction fee that can be paid with stablecoins or Newrl tokens. The startup currently boasts an AUM of $100 Mn and plans to onboard 100 Mn users from India and the US by 2022, taking its assets under management to $1 Bn.

One World Nation

Why One World Nation Made It To The List

Even in this digital-first age, most crypto conversations around native concepts such as DeFi, off-chain, APY and even crypto-mining sound like complex industry jargon to new users. So, Bengaluru-based One World Nation (OWN) was set up in 2022 to help people understand these terms through the gamification of blockchain technology and crypto products. 

Inspired by the Pokémon anime, OWN has created a virtual planet called Crypton, where every cryptocurrency is called a Cryptonite (for example, Bitcoin Cryptonite). Enthusiasts can build a portfolio of Cryptonites, collect NFTs, play fantasy, leadership and prediction games linked to crypto markets using the Cryptonites and earn rewards while learning about the industry.

OWN earns its revenue from transaction fees for NFT ownership and commissions charged on the games featured on its web platform. The startup will soon launch it on mobile to provide easy access to its user community as it aims to reach a DAU of 2 Mn by 2025. It will further build partnerships with NFT launchpads and introduce $OWNED tokens in April-June 2022.

PaisaGrowth

Why PaisaGrowth Made It To The List

Although end-users have access to several financial services platforms nowadays, only a few on-demand financial infra platforms exist for intermediaries operating in the informal lending segment. 

Founded in 2020, PaisaGrowth is a SaaS-based fin infra-on-demand platform that provides digital solutions to loan advisors, loan agents and direct selling agents (DSAs) to help them set up and grow independent businesses.

The Gurugram-based startup provides an Android app that integrates all well-known digital lenders like Lendingkart, Indifi and LoanTap and recommends the best-fit companies for borrowers based on higher chances of loan approval via its matchmaking platform. It also provides a dashboard for agents to create leads and send those to lenders. Plus, there are screening and decision automation software programmes for smooth operations. 

The platform charges a transaction fee from lenders and pays a commission to agents upon successful transactions every month.

Paycorp.io

Why Paycorp.io Made It To The List

The B2C payments segment has undergone rapid digitalisation, thanks to the ubiquitous UPI and other P2P options. But the same cannot be said about the B2B space, as e-mandates, subscription systems, or recurring payments have not thrived due to sluggish technology upgrades. That’s why Paycorp.io was launched in 2020 to set up an ecosystem for B2B payments collection and processing recurring payments in the B2B2B and B2B2C segments.

The Bengaluru startup offers a cloud-native tech stack to small businesses for payment processing. SMEs can choose a bank, convert or transfer their ACH mandates to Paycorp’s digital dashboard, and track, create and receive payments to their bank accounts. For digital lenders and large corporations, the startup provides an API-based payment processing platform where legacy payment data from Excel sheets can be uploaded onto the dashboard, helping them manage all inbound and outbound recurring payments. It extends its API integration for banks, allowing the latter’s corporate customers to reap the benefits of Paycorp features.

The startup charges a fixed transaction fee and claims to have earned revenue of INR 4.5 Cr in FY22. It partnered with eight banks in Q1 2022 and subsequently acquired more than 25 customers across India, the UAE and the Sultanate of Oman. It plans to partner with 25 banks this year and enter the market across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. 

PaySprint

Why PaySprint Made It To The List

Building a cutting-edge fintech solution is always a challenge, keeping in mind critical issues like ease of use, data security and a host of other things. With the Indian fintech market estimated to hit $1.3 Tn by 2025, developing robust solutions is the need of the hour as the demand for overarching and inclusive fintech solutions is rising.

Founded in 2020, New Delhi-based PaySprint provides APIs that help develop a number of payment solutions such as payment gateways, insurance backends, neobanks and lending, investment and trading platforms for different sectors. The startup works with legacy banks (the State Bank of India, Axis Bank) and fintech behemoths like Razorpay, Fino and Paytm, among others, to help build an end-to-end fintech ecosystem. 

It also provides APIs for PAN card creation and verification, Digilocker solutions, KYC and bank account verification, education and travel solutions and more.

Rupyo

Why Rupyo Made It To The List

Earned wage access (EWA) is an advance payment solution that helps people get a part of their earned salary before payday. This concept of ‘on-demand’ payment is finally catching up in India, especially in the wake of the pandemic, when ready cash is in great demand to meet emergency expenditures. Leading the charge in this space are startups like New Delhi-based Rupyo, as more and more employees welcome the idea of payment flexibility.

Set up in 2020 by serial entrepreneur Shivin Khanna and CA and financial auditor Pragun Jindal, Rupyo can ensure employees’ financial well-being by providing access to accrued wages before the month’s end. The rest of the salary is paid at the end of the pay period. Most importantly, unlike salary-based lending or payday loans, EWA does not involve any borrowing on the part of the employee and costs very little.

Rupyo’s EWA platform charges a 2.5% transaction fee from employees, but the service is free for companies. It further provides Rupyo Plus, an additional service featuring credit products for employees, including personal loans, emergency medical loans and more. The startup is also working on a freemium SaaS tool for attendance and leave, payroll and employee benefits management. It claims to have catered to 20K+ employees by March 2022, with MoM growth of 116%.

Rupyo aims to serve 500K+ employees by FY23, disbursing earned wages of INR 12 Cr. It is further building an internal credit rating metric to offer need-based loans to employees to expand its lending portfolio.

SocialBoat

Why SocialBoat Made It To The List

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 brought most physical businesses to a grinding halt, but the online industry continued to boom. Given the series of lockdowns and travel bans, Swapnil Vats and Rahul Jain, cofounders of the travel tech startup Holidaying, had time on their hands. The duo and many of their friends spent the time on fitness apps and virtual fitness classes, trying to grow their immunity. But what bothered them most was the delayed gratification (one doesn’t get the perfect body shape in a day) and hence, the sustainability of the online fitness industry. SocialBoat was born out of a play-to-earn concept where users are rewarded for burning calories.

Launched in 2021, Gurugram-based SocialBoat is a real-life fitness game that combines the competitiveness of sports and the fun of video games. In the end, players collect points if they finish their daily tasks like running for a kilometre, doing 20 push-ups or accomplishing something similar.

The team-based, influencer-led gaming module further allows fitness influencers and fitness centres to create games, build teams and make workouts fun for fitness enthusiasts. These influencers authenticate the fitness journey of each team member when they upload their daily achievements (screenshots of fitness band data) or connect their fitness bands to their profiles, post which the winners get monetary rewards.

For instance, the Decathlon Atria Mall in South Bombay created a task on their mobile web for a marathon and saw more than 30 participants. Cycling clubs such as the Faridabad Cycling Club and Pacing Panthers also compete with each other for motivation.

As of now, SocialBoat is free for all. But the startup is working to build a subscription-based revenue module where users can access special features, including group and guided workouts from trained instructors and a digital fitness metaverse with avatars emulating people’s fitness status. The platform hosts 145 teams with 2K+ users and plans to reach more than 50K by 2022. It will also launch a digital FitVerse and reach a global audience of 100 Mn in another three years.

Solv

Why Solv Made It To The List

Globally, India is the second-largest MSME hub after China, but the sector accounts for just 30% of the country’s GDP. So, Standard Chartered-backed Solv started surveying the critical challenges faced by the MSME sector in India in 2019. According to the study, a lack of networking beyond Tier 3 markets, the absence of timely and adequate credit at critical junctures and the slow pace of technology adoption hindered MSME growth. Subsequently, the Bengaluru-based startup set up a full-stack B2B marketplace in 2020 to drive trade and revamp the cash and credit flow needed for rapid scaling.

Solv is an e-marketplace for suppliers and buyers transacting at competitive prices, and the platform charges a commission on every transaction. As most MSMEs in India are still unorganised and lack access to formal credit, the Solv platform provides a full bouquet of financial solutions for business expansion, supply chain financing and merchant BNPL to support small businesses. The startup has also developed a Solv scoring system, an alternative credit rating that analyses the MSMEs’ digital footprints to assess their ability and willingness to pay.

The startup currently operates in six categories – the FMCG, the FMCD and the HoReCa segments, as well as home furnishings, apparel, footwear and accessories. The startup claimed a $500 Mn GMV run-rate by CY22. As of now, it has 200K+ MSMEs on its platform and plans to add another 100K+ by the end of 2022.

Struct Finance

Why Struct Finance Made It To The List

The significant growth of crypto derivatives and the DeFi ecosystem have triggered the need for structured products or market-linked investments. But existing derivative instruments are laden with static parameters, predominantly set by protocol developers, leaving the investors very few choices. 

Set up in 2021, Chennai- and Singapore-based Struct Finance is addressing this pain point and building a suitable DeFi protocol by expanding the spectrum of on-chain structured products. It will offer a way to customise interest rates on instruments and leverage the options available in the ecosystem to construct a superior financial product called Factory. The platform, thus, intends to increase the number of investment choices available, enabling varying protection levels, abstracting risks and taking complex pricing away from its users while providing highly competitive yields on various digital assets. 

The startup will launch on Avalanche by Q3 2022 but intends to scale across other EVM-compatible chains shortly.

Toplyne

Why Toplyne Made It To The List

Products are the core component of any company, triggering revenue growth, building brand recognition and lifting it to the next level. Therefore, a business thriving on product-led growth always ensures frictionless sign-ups and a smooth product experience, optimising its earnings. Such product-led expansion also marks the success of the best SaaS companies, and Toplyne was set up in 2021 to make that happen seamlessly.

Bengaluru- and US-based Toplyne is a plug-and-play SaaS startup that enables freemium software companies to identify the non-paying customers who have the potential to turn into premium users. Now used by more than 15 enterprises such as designing giant Canva and testing platform BrowserStack, Toplyne’s Sales Assist product helps these companies stitch consumer information from product analytics, invoices and CRM behaviour across its platform. The startup then ranks the collected data by suitable indicators such as financial, behavioural and demographic touchpoints, creating a consumer engagement strategy.

Toplyne provides a usage-based freemium subscription model to earn revenues from enterprise customers when the latter could monetise their clients. It plans to launch a Self Serve product by H1 2022 and aims to become the go-to analytics provider for product-led companies.

Tridex Bazaar

Why Tridex Bazaar Makes It To The List

Setting up a robust distribution network is a tough challenge for any new-age FMCG business. Worse still, few traditional distributors adopt cutting-edge supply chain technologies to deliver competitive advantages in a crowded market. Consequently, small CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies tend to lose their market share to big brands as they fail to foray into new or niche markets not yet dominated by industry behemoths.

Vipul Singh, Arsh Gauttam and Kartikey Bhatt, who had started their confectionary brand Baked With Love in early 2019, faced the same issue. But not the ones to crib and suffer, the trio set up Tridex Bazaar that same year as an online marketplace to connect all three major stakeholders of the FMCG business – brands, distributors and retailers.

On the Tridex platform, brands can discover and onboard new distributors and reach out to more retailers. Again, distributors can pick brands with high fulfilment margins and increase their inventory turnover. As a result, retailers also get access to a large number of SKUs with high margins. The New Delhi-based startup focusses on a fulfilment model and provides solutions for inventory and order management, invoicing, bookkeeping and more.

Tridex charges a 20% trade margin from distributors and gets 5-15% sales commissions from brands. It is now working to monetise its business intelligence platform to minimise the brands’ warehousing needs and create a just-in-time supply chain module. So far, the retail tech startup has brought in six brands and 2K+ retailers. It plans to reach 50K+ retailers and hit a turnover of INR 100 Cr by 2023. It further aims to hit $1 Bn in annualised GMV in another two years.

Viral Pitch

Why Viral Pitch Made It To The List

One comes across many platforms that connect influencers with brands in these digital-first times. But serial entrepreneur Sumit Gupta wanted to create an entire ecosystem besides a creators’ marketplace. Viral Pitch was launched in 2020 as a platform that not only recommends synergies between brands and influencers but also creates and monitors data-driven ad campaigns across social media platforms.

The Gurugram-based startup features an influencer marketplace, allowing brands to choose from nano-influencers to mega-celebrities from more than 10 categories such as fashion, gaming, travel and more. They are most active on top social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn, with access to 600+ cities.

To make influencer search easy, the platform has several search options in place, including types of content produced by influencers, topics and keywords, location with radius search, interests and fees. The brand-first influencer marketing agency also provides effective tools to create social media strategy within one’s ad budget, an AI-driven campaign mapping and monitoring option and a campaign performance collation via a brand campaign dashboard.

Viral Pitch recently acquired Bengaluru-based influencer marketing agency Talkative for an undisclosed amount to focus on building a campaign automation system. It plans to create a global marketplace for creators by 2025, akin to what Spotify has done for the music people.

Voiceoc

Why Voiceoc Made It To The List

The pandemic has dramatically changed how we interact with digital businesses, especially via chatbots. But until now, the healthcare industry has not fully leveraged the benefits of conversational AI to deal with operational bottlenecks and enhance process co-ordination. But when everything went awry during a medical emergency (from booking appointments to receiving reports to getting medical support from hospitals), former classmates and colleagues Kush Aggarwal and Samarth Bhalwar decided to build a hybrid (text and voice) quick-communication solution on WhatsApp.

The New Delhi-based startup offers AI-powered voice and text assistance to help healthcare companies automate the entire patient journey. From service and centre discovery to checking discounts, from appointment booking to accessing medical documents and more, everything is available for patients in real time and on WhatsApp. They can also drop a text or give a voice command in the language of their choice via WhatsApp, and the Voiceoc-enabled WhatsApp chatbot will provide pre-recorded responses or connect users to company representatives.

Businesses can use the chatbot plugin on their websites or provide their WhatsApp numbers to users or promote the same as a call to action on their social media. 

The plug-and-play health information system has been customised, and the ‘algo’ has been vigorously trained to overcome the data silos of a healthcare organisation to ensure a seamless experience for patients. 

Voiceoc charges an annual subscription fee from its B2B clients based on the features and their usage. Some of its key customers include Clove Dental, Max Labs and Alfa Laboratory. 

Currently, the startup caters to the healthcare industry alone, but it is working on communication solutions for other segments such as D2C, education, consumer services, real estate and the automobile industry. It will expand beyond its current presence in India, the Middle East and Indonesia and plans to foray into the African markets by 2022.

[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eye In April 2022 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The 26th edition of the ‘30 Startups To Watch’ series comes right at the beginning of FY23. The year that concluded just now had been insanely good for the Indian startup ecosystem. It rained unicorns and soonicorns. Funding flowed in as never before. The public market saw a surge of startup IPOs. And brand new sectors like quick commerce made their presence felt with a bang.

We have also completed two years since the Covid-19 pandemic turned our world upside down. It stalled businesses and played havoc with the economy at large. But tech took over; almost everything went digital; every critical business operation was up in the cloud, and most startups did not fail to innovate in the face of a crisis.

It is good news that our war veterans are no longer struggling to pivot and stay afloat. Better still, new soldiers with novel ideas are taking over the internet (and blockchain). Our list of startups in the new financial year reflects the craze to charm consumers en masse by creating solutions to problems that we never knew existed.

As we shortlisted the startups for the March 2022 edition after our silver jubilee success, the idea was to look for disruptive concepts and one-of-its-kind tech companies. While some features of these startups may overlap with some big competitors, they are here to deep dive into the new-age technology whose surface we have merely scratched.

30 Startups To Watch: March 2022

This month’s list features 30 unique companies involved in offbeat use cases and innovative processes across blockchain, enterprise tech and ecommerce. Some of them are yet to find the product-market fit, which is essential for sustainable growth. And many of them are still in beta and looking for the right market. In this edition, we have listed the companies reimagining the working models of traditional sectors – the creator economy, extra-curricular edtech, assisted financing, artisanal ecommerce and more. Again, some companies have innovative business models within the existing sectors. Ever heard of subscription revenue as an asset class? Well, we have it this time.

As many as 10 enterprise tech startups took centre stage, followed by fintech, ecommerce, blockchain and healthtech startups. We also have one agri-fintech firm catering to first-time borrowers and an exciting blockchain startup that allows users to own crypto-backed cards to shop as they want.

Check out the 26th edition of Inc42 Plus’ 30 Startups To Watch list.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

AppX

Why AppX Made It To The List

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, India’s edtech sector has witnessed a boom in online classes, while a new set of industry jargon like YouTube teachers has become prevalent. The new normal has also given rise to the infotainment economy, disseminated mainly via social media and instant messaging platforms. New Delhi-based AppX was started in 2020 to empower the new-age edtech creators who can use its no-code SaaS platform to create their apps to sell digital products like study material, ebooks, newsletters, podcasts, sample tests and more.

Using the platform is quite simple. After registering, creators have to choose the UI for the app from three pre-designed options, select the products or features to be displayed, enter the product details and upload and link the content. Users can develop both Android and iOS apps that will be available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. There is no upfront fee for app development. But AppX charges a 10% commission on every sale made on the apps developed on the platform. It eyes an ARR of $2 Mn for FY22.

So far, the YCombinator-backed startup has onboarded more than 3K creators, and two of the apps created on the AppX platform have already seen more than 1 Mn installations each. The company now plans to extend the platform for gaming, fitness and fashion content creators. In addition, it will help them create custom websites as it has recently acquired the website building platform Superpage for an undisclosed amount. AppX is currently operational only in India, but it plans to expand to the US, the UAE and the Southeast Asian markets by 2025.

Benny’s Bowl

Why Benny’s Bowl Made It To The List

Although the pandemic has wreaked havoc worldwide, there is a silver lining in terms of increasing health awareness. Even pet parents today choose high-quality, healthy food for their pets to strengthen their immunity and ensure overall well-being. Akshay Gupta and Aashna Jain, who have served the pet care industry for eight years now and host Pet Fed, one of India’s largest pet carnivals, are also bombarded with questions about proper pet diet. So, the duo set up Benny’s Bowl in 2021, named in memory of their friend’s dog, Benny.

The New Delhi-based pet food firm offers three single-serve, ‘human-grade’ dog food varieties (food that meets human food safety standards), containing ingredients such as fresh meat and vegetables without additives and preservatives. The recipes are created in consultation with pet nutritionists, and foods are produced at the company’s in-house manufacturing unit. The products are packed using retort technology that uses heat and pressure to sterilise food and extend its shelf life up to two years.

Benny’s Bowl is an omnichannel brand. It also has a subscription service for customising food nutrients in sync with a pet’s age. It means that when a puppy grows, its feeding plan will be adjusted accordingly.

Although the startup currently serves about 500 customers, it claims an ARR of INR 60 Lakh for FY22. By the end of the current calendar year, it plans to reach out to more customers and increase the number of SKUs by introducing new recipes and treats for both cats and dogs.

Caleedo

Why Caleedo Made It To The List

The healthtech sector in India has witnessed a surge in technology innovation in the wake of the pandemic, helping both consumers and service providers deal with many critical challenges. But there is still an enormous chasm between theory and application, and companies often struggle to provide easy-to-access, smart-tech solutions that can add value to the ecosystem. Gurugram-based Caleedo was launched in 2019 to address this pain point.

Caleedo develops hyperautomated enterprise-grade applications so that service providers such as business support services and facilities management at workplaces and patient care services at hospitals can digitise business flow by syncing multiple technologies. It has patented two applications that can be used as an integrated enterprise solution or through standalone digital applications.

The first product is Hygieneo, a software alongside a Wi-Fi-enabled IoT meter, that monitors, measures and reports the indoor air quality and surface hygiene levels across commercial and public spaces like offices and hotels. Hygieneo offers a subscription-based model, and the cost of the hardware is amortised over the SaaS subscription in 36 months, allowing customers a convenient no-CAPEX procurement process. The other patented product is Vizit, a subscription-based video conferencing and visitor management app with a web interface that hospitals can use for contactless interactions.

As health and safety-led protocols are being rolled out at workplaces and hospitals, with the focus on low/zero contact, Caleedo plans to launch more industry-first digital applications this year but did not reveal the details. The company claims an annual revenue rate of INR 1 Cr, growing at 20% month on month, and says it will break even by January-March, 2023. It will also raise an institutional round of funding by that time for IPR protection and market expansion.

Camplus

Why Camplus Made It To The List

With edtech in India setting new standards, hybrid learning is taking centre stage. But this has led to piles of administrative work for the academic and the non-academic staff. Students, too, bear the brunt of using multiple apps like Google Classroom, Calendar and Drive, WhatsApp for class groups, Hostelworld, Eventbrite and more to keep track of every activity happening in their institution. That is why Mumbai-based Camplus aims to organise and digitalise a student’s college and hostel life via an application that unifies campus life management and the security measures followed there.

Although launched in 2021, the app is still in early access mode. But it will have a number of features, including a campus admin-managed notice board and attendance tracker, a hostel admin-managed list of canteen and housekeeping services, and a Google Classroom-style learning management system for assignment submission, club creation and visitor management, among others. Its revenue will come from annual, tier-based licensing fees chosen by campus administrators plus monthly subscription fees based on the number of users.

Post the product testing, Camplus will roll out the app in Southern India, especially in Karnataka, and raise funding. It also plans to build a convenience app for in-office and remote workers by 2023.

Cosmofeed

Why Cosmofeed Made It To The List

Content creators often face scalability issues, especially those providing resources on WhatsApp, Telegram or other messaging apps. For instance, they mostly rely on swathes of Excel sheets to maintain payment details, community contacts, content distribution and engagement information, which will reduce their overall efficiency. In addition, they can only create a limited number of member groups on these third-party apps, yet another barrier to scale. However, Gurugram-based Cosmofeed offers a suite of solutions to improve creators’ workflow so that they can easily monetise the entire content or a part of it while building deep engagement across communities.

Launched in 2021, this Telegram-like app allows creators to build automated subscription channels, collect payments on customisable schedules, develop gated content to monetise data, create and manage events and conduct live classes and cohort-based discussions. Although the app and its offerings are free to use, the company charges a 10% commission on every transaction made on the platform. As for content consumers, it aims to be a one-stop, personalised solution for a wide range of requirements, from movie recommendations to useful micro-courses to consulting with experts to discussions and participation in live events.

Cosmofeed claims to have reached 50K+ consumers in February 2022 and says that 20% of them are paid users. It plans to grow its user base to 50 Lakh by 2025.

Crejo.Fun

Why Crejo.Fun Made It To The List

Before the pandemic outbreak in 2020, no one thought it possible to teach extracurricular activities online, mainly due to poor tech infrastructure and the unavailability of good quality teachers. But Covid-19 has forced all stakeholders to adopt online learning ever since, and Crejo.Fun came into being. Launched in 2020, the Bengaluru-based platform hosts live online classes for kids aged 4-11 and offers 12-15 month courses on art and craft, dance, public speaking, chess and yoga, among others.

Unlike many edtech platforms that operate as marketplaces to connect teachers and students, Crejo has opted for contract hires. Teachers are further trained in content, pedagogy and technology as the startup offers in-house curricula to retain its high-quality standards. It also provides a proprietary Zoom alternative called Funroom for hosting interactive online sessions. Classes are held in batches of up to four kids per batch, allowing teachers to customise learning based on individual requirements. Besides getting certificates for individual courses, students opting for multiple topics can access the platform’s ‘Canvas’ feature to showcase their output and build their portfolios.

The company is currently operational in 45 countries, including India, Canada, the US and other nations across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It claims more than 50K paying users and a revenue of $500K in FY22. Crejo aims to increase its earnings to $1 Mn by Q1 FY23 and expects to earn a revenue of $100 Mn by FY25.

Ecowrap

Why Ecowrap Made It To The List

In India, around 63 Mn tonnes of waste are generated every year, of which 43 Mn tonnes are collected. Around 28% of the collected waste is treated while the rest is dumped as it is too difficult to segregate, thus creating a toxic environment in and around the colossal landfills. Set up in 2020, Jaipur-based Ecowrap intends to change how waste is collected from the HoReCa industry. The key to success is segregating it at the source and selling it to recyclers.

Here’s how waste segregation and disposal are done in a hassle-free manner. To begin with, the startup provides four IoT-enabled garbage bins (for plastic, paper, food and mixed garbage) and asks each company to have a person on the premises who will do the waste segregation. Second, it tracks the position and capacity of each bin and directs the companies via its Android app to dispose of the waste to the nearest Ecowrap collection centre. Finally, it creates a waste audit report and incentivises companies based on how much waste has been segregated and disposed of.

While the HoReCa company receives 60% of the incentive, Ecowrap pays the rest 40% to the waste segregator. The waste thus collected is sold to dedicated recycling companies. Currently, its services are only available in Jaipur, but it plans to expand to Delhi-NCR and Chandigarh by August this year.

The startup may soon convert the commission of 400+ HoReCa waste providers from cash to tokens that can be redeemed at FMCG marketplaces. It also plans to enlist 1.5K+ HoReCa partners and bring more than 30K tonnes of waste to the source segregation and treatment process by 2022.

Farm Infinity

Why Farm Infinity Made It To The List

In India, farmers can rarely access institutional credit despite numerous policies and budgetary allocations. Many of them have to wait for months before availing of small loans, while others, with immediate requirements, have to pay hefty interests to local money lenders. Aware of this credit crunch and how farmers struggle to cope with the lending bias of legacy companies, Guwahati-based Farm Infinity is developing an agri-fintech platform powered by a patent-pending solution that determines the creditworthiness of farmers on 80+ parameters, 600 datasets and more than 10 Mn data from the government database.

The lending tech firm has also tied up with banks, encouraging them to provide crop and livestock loans and insurances based on the credit scores calculated by its proprietary credit assessment system. There are multiple benefits as the system reduces the time required for manual background checks, speeds up the entire loan processing and helps reduce the risk of NPAs.

The Android app is still in the early-access mode, and select users can submit their financial requirements via the app. Otherwise, Farm Infinity’s agents can help farmers log in, submit documents and authenticate the information. As of now, an applicant can raise a collateral-free loan up to INR 3 Lakh in 24 hours. Loans are repaid directly to the banks, but Farm Infinity charges a ‘success fee’ from BFSI companies against their product sales and a subscription fee from the companies that use its loan assessment solution.

As of now, five NBFCs have disbursed loans to more than 2.5K farmers via Farm Infinity in the Northeast alone. The startup plans to onboard 2K+ farmers by the end of this year and 25K from all over the country by 2025.

Flint

Why Flint Made It To The List

Investing in cryptocurrencies is considered a lucrative opportunity nowadays. But just like other asset classes, this requires investor education. This is especially crucial, given the recent surge in crypto enthusiasts. Sensing the need to create a wealth management platform that focusses on passive income over active trading, Anshu Agrawal and Akshit Bordia, former product managers at CRED, launched Flint in 2021.

The Bengaluru-based startup offers a crypto equivalent of a savings-cum-mutual fund account, where retail investors can deposit their fiat money for safe investment and a steady income. After the money deposited is changed to stablecoins like USDT and USDC that are not prone to price fluctuations, the startup invests it in collateralised loans raised by institutional borrowers and DeFi assets to reduce risks and maximise returns and pays up to 13% interest per annum. Better still, there is no lock-in period for retail investors. Its earnings come from interest commissions from retail investors.

Flint eyes an ARR of $10 Mn for FY22, growing 20% month on month, although it is open to a limited number of users at this stage. The Android app has recorded 5K+ downloads and will soon open the platform in beta. Users can join the waitlist as the company plans to onboard 2.5 Lakh global customers by 2022.

iCardin

Why iCardin Made It To The List

India is home to around 1,800 neurosurgeons who serve a population of 1.3 Bn. Although many healthtech startups are constantly working on digitalising the ecosystem and ushering in innovation, there is an acute need for personalised, end-to-end care for patients suffering from neurological disorders. Set up in 2021, Pune-based iCardin is a healthcare discovery platform that offers comprehensive neuro care for patients, especially in areas like stroke and paralysis prevention.

The company partners with neurologists and neurosurgeons to enable on-call consultation. It has also tied up with small hospitals with underutilised capacity, converting them to iCardin centres, complete with all neurological devices, including CT scan, MRI, EMG, EEG and NCV machines and providing complex brain and spine surgeries. It also arranges post-op care and assistance for paralysed individuals.

iCardin primarily focusses on providing acute ischemic stroke treatment to patients within the first five hours to prevent paralysis and long-term brain damage. It also treats non-emergency neurological disorders like epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, cerebral palsy and more. It is currently running its brain stroke and neuro care units in three centres in Pune and plans to build a chain of stroke-ready treatment centres across the country by 2025.

Jobizo

Why Jobizo Made It To The List

Healthcare in India suffers from deep malaise, and one of the critical issues is understaffing. It hurts all three major stakeholders – medical facilities, staff members (doctors, nurses, technicians and other health workers) and, most importantly, patients. For recruitment mavericks, Avishek Agarwal and Naveen Trehan, freelancing in the healthcare space made perfect sense, as it would aggregate and make readily available an on-demand healthcare workforce. That was how Jobizo was born in 2021.

The Gurugram-based startup minimises the demand-supply gap between employers and healthcare professionals by providing flexible staffing opportunities via its Android app. Employers can tap into the talent of an interim workforce, while professionals can start working as per their requirements, qualification and choice in about 15 minutes. The platform combines gig and hyperlocal models, charges a convenience fee from employers and helps them get the best possible resources within the shortest possible time.

Although the app was launched in January 2022, the medical staffing startup claimed that more than 1K temporary workers got jobs from 50+ healthcare facilities in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Guwahati and Hyderabad. It plans to add 10K+ healthcare professionals and 300+ employers to service Northern India, Maharashtra and Karnataka by 2022. It will build a pan-India presence by 2025, enabling 400K+ healthcare professionals to find temporary jobs from 75K+ employers.

KaamPe

Why KaamPe Made It To The List

Even in this digital-first, work-smart era, most Indian SMEs essentially rely on manual payroll management, recording attendance on paper, calculating salary in Excel and paying employees in cash. Set up in 2021, Gurugram-based KaamPe aims to replace this chaotic paperwork with its mobile-first platform.

KaamPe offers two attendance systems – one is selfie-based and the other is QR-code driven. Other features include GPS-based employee tracking and a salary management module. The latter enables companies to manage salaries, advance payments and overtime dues based on attendance and calculate the same with the help of the auto calculator in the app. The startup also issues a LinkedIn-style work identification card for employees and a profile summary.

Currently, the app is free for all as KaamPe intends to be a one-stop solution provider to blue- and grey-collar workers. It will further cater to this labour market by helping people find jobs, launching courses for upskilling and empowering workers with best-practice workflow management solutions.

KappaX

Why KappaX Made It To The List

Video commerce/interactive shopping within the broad social commerce sector is the latest trend, and Pune-based KappaX intends to unlock the full potential of the video within the metaverse to amplify customer experience and hence, engagement.

Launched in 2021, this no-code platform enables brands to add more product-related action and information to videos, thus ensuring more value out of the product experience and more effective CTAs. Plus, it helps generate engaging FAQs and how-to guides so that customers can make informed decisions. For instance, one of its customers is Mercedes-Benz. Its customer teams use the KappaX platform to turn videos into interactive experiences, allowing potential buyers to choose the model, the colour, the features and the terrain experiences. As one can select all these features from a single interactive video without the hassles of a physical demo, it can quickly improve conversion rates.

KappaX offers a freemium design platform for these creatives. Teams within an organisation can collaborate to use the platform together. They can use the basic templates for free to create an interactive video that can be distributed among millions of their potential customers. However, a monthly fee will be charged when these creatives go live. The startup also features a dashboard for data pipelines to demonstrate user behaviour and actionable insights. It is eyeing an ARR of $200K for FY22 and plans to take it to $20 Mn by FY26.

Going ahead, KappaX intends to add voice commands to the video creation process, add more templates and integrate an AI-powered object recognition API for product-related content tagging. It will also launch a SaaS platform for SDKs.

Kazh

Why Kazh Made It To The List

Traditionally, corporate spending and employee expenses are managed on paper or Excel sheets, but this can be chaotic or time-consuming for finance teams. Worse still, few companies have real-time control over employee spending until it is too huge, too late. So, Chennai-based Kazh was launched in 2020 to help companies digitalise and orchestrate the entire process, be it analysing, reconciling or managing such expenses.

The SaaS startup has come out with a number of offerings for the employees of its corporate clients so that companies can monitor and manage all expenses incurred by their staff. These include company-issued debit and credit cards, expense reimbursements, invoice management, transaction sorting, automated accounting and more, which can be connected to a company’s main accounting software for monitoring, checking and spending approval. For instance, Kajh provides employees with physical debit cards for business travel expenses and in-store purchasing, while finance teams can keep a tab on the same via a dashboard and control the expenditure, if required.

The startup also generates spending reports and provides budget services (department-wise, team-wise and individual budgets) via a company’s dashboard.

Currently, these services are only available to merchants and corporate houses in India for annual subscriptions. But the company plans to extend its services globally and set up an office in the US.

Kointrack

Why Kointrack Made It To The List

Despite the legal implications, cryptocurrency is here to stay, at least as a digital asset, and change the world of fiat money. More and more people worldwide have started using crypto, with its decentralised nature and blockchain-based ecosystem guaranteeing a totally tamper-proof framework. But to make it more accessible and popular, crypto should shed its stock price-like volatility and have currency-like tradable value.

Keeping in mind the fast adoption of crypto, Bengaluru-based Kointrack was set up in 2021 to offer various blockchain-based solutions. These include a crypto exchange and a multi-chain wallet, an ecommerce platform that accepts crypto payments and a payment gateway for a crypto-backed debit card that can be used globally for shopping or withdrawing fiat money from any ATM.

Magicleaf

Why Magicleaf Made It To The List

As the demand for healthy foods and adequate nutrients has surged during the pandemic, plant-based natural nutrition has started trending. Understandably, many health-conscious consumers now stay away from chemically treated refined sugar. As a result, most Indian food brands and FMCG companies have started using stevia, a sugar substitute made from the leaves of the stevia plant, more popularly known as meethi tulsi.

Launched in 2019, New Delhi-based Magicleaf has gone one step ahead. It not only replaces sugar with stevia but also makes an assorted collection of cookies, cakes, mithai (sweets) mixes and milk mixes (turmeric and chocolate powders) using the ‘natural’ sugar. Then there are Vitamin C drink sachets and assorted apple cider vinegar, taking its SKUs to 19.

Interestingly, Swati Pandey and Manish Chauhan, cofounders of Magicleaf, have been ardent stevia users for the past 10 years or more and set up a contract manufacturing unit in Lucknow to make stevia products under the brand called Arboreal. This brand supplies the entire bulk of stevia to the company’s production unit located in the same city. Magicleaf’s products are sold pan-India via its dedicated website and ecommerce platforms like Flipkart and healthcare-focussed marketplaces like CORA and Wellversed. The startup plans to launch more products under the mithai mixes category alongside mithai recipes.

Microfinance.AI

Why Microfinance.AI Made It To The List

Fintech in India has evolved into a $60 Bn industry in FY22. Yet many people do not have access to easy credit due to language and technology barriers. For instance, there is a vast connectivity gap in the country’s micro-lending space. The sector has more than 100 Mn borrowers, but not even 5% are digitally connected. So, Microfinance.AI was launched in 2019 to make financial services available to the common people with limited tech outreach and little or no knowledge of languages other than their mother tongue.

The Gurugram-based fintech firm partners with microlenders to help them launch their lending products and other value-add offerings on a mobile-first platform to reach out to the masses. It further helps microlenders raise institutional debts from wholesale lenders. The mobile app has been voice-enabled, keeping in mind the not-so-tech-savvy end-users (borrowers), and the entire process can be completed via voice assistance in three vernacular languages (Marathi, Bengali and Tamil) besides Hindi and English.

The startup also offers a predictive psychometric system (to determine if a borrower intends to repay the loan) and an income assessment tool (to understand how long it will take to repay the loan). These simplify the credit assessment process for underwriters, especially when it comes to first-time borrowers or providing top-up loans to existing borrowers.

The company claims to have more than 1K borrowers and earns through transaction fees paid by microlenders on loan applications and repayments. It also gets a fee when a third-party product is sold on the platform and earns a commission on the interest income earned by bulk lenders of debt capital from their transactions with retail lenders.

Microfinance.AI is now working to grow its B2C user base to more than 1 Mn by FY24 and facilitate loans worth more than INR 1,000 Cr.

NE Origins

Why NE Origins Made It To The List

The Northeast has a rich heritage of cultural diversity and artisanal products that never fail to wow connoisseurs. This is why NE Origins, a marketplace for indigenous and sustainable products from the north-eastern states, came into being. Set up in 2019, the Gangtok-based startup features 840+ products across eight categories, including food and beverages, spices, fashion and pet supplies, among others.

The platform provides a pan-India presence to independent sellers across the North-eastern states, connecting them to wholesalers and retail customers as many of these products are not available on popular ecommerce platforms. In fact, these creators/merchants are not adequately presented most of the time as they fail to compete with mass-produced factory products in terms of price and volume. All NE Origins products are GI-tagged so that consumers are aware of the product origin and the entire journey. The startup earns its revenue from commissions, ranging from 20-50% for B2C transactions and 10-25% on B2B sales.

Although NE Origins started as a marketplace, it is now transitioning to the D2C model for better quality control and speedy order fulfilment. It also plans to introduce 100+ exclusive products under its aegis by the end of the current calendar year.

Oben Electric

Why Oben Electric Made It To The List

The urban population in India is rapidly moving towards the EV culture and a transition to green energy. Although electric bikes and scooters are becoming increasingly popular, one would find only a handful of homegrown manufacturers in this space, thanks to the plethora of issues, right from overdependence on imported components to the lack of charging infra. The latter is a major challenge that has deterred most ICE vehicle users from shifting to EVs. Keeping this in mind, Oben Electric is building a line of connected 2Ws that can simplify the entire recharging procedure.

Founded in 2020, Bengaluru-based Oben Electric has developed three prototypes but has only launched its flagship product called RORR, an EV motorcycle. It can be fully charged in two hours with a 15A domestic socket used at home or any public charging station. RORR has a range of 200 km, accelerates from 0 to 40 kmph in three seconds, has a top speed of 100 kmph and comes with a mobile app that displays the bike’s status. All RORR e-bikes have GPS trackers integrated with the battery for theft protection, and the EV dashboard features an audio-visual driver alert system. Buyers get a three-year warranty on the motor and the battery, and there will be free assistance for a run up to 60,000 km.

The RORR EV is still at a pre-booking stage, and its minimum sticker price will be INR 99,999. Test drives for the e-bike are slated to start in May this year. By FY23, Oben Electric plans to sell 30K units, with the initial rollout starting in Tier 1 cities. It will introduce four more products in the next two years and aims to sell 1 Mn bikes by 2025 through dealer networks in India, Africa and Latin America.

PrivaSapien

Why PrivaSapien Made It To The List

If data is the new oil, it is safe to assume that the internet and our digital experiences remain the oil fields. But here is the catch. One of the common and scary phenomena of the digital era is the lack of privacy, as technology traps are almost everywhere to capture data. So, Bengaluru-based PrivaSapien is building products to create a layer of data anonymisation with its path exploration tools (PET) for digital companies.

Set up in 2020, the startup has launched two patented products. One is Privacy X-Ray, a risk assessment service that aims to make digital products compliant with the local data protection laws where they are operating. The other product, called Event Horizon, is all about data anonymisation as a service that mitigates singling out, linkage and inference risks. In brief, it modifies personally identifiable data to rule out all individual associations, thus protecting user privacy, reducing data breach risks and enabling anonymous data exchanges.

The startup focusses on privacy as a service, has a subscription-based business model and targets Indian companies built in the pre-data protection era to make them compliant with the current norms. However, businesses operating in sync with existing rules can also use the service to be extra cautious about user data privacy. PrivaSapien is in the process of onboarding several MNCs and BFSI companies with pilots underway. It also plans to launch its services in the US and the EU by 2025.

Recur Club

Why Recur Club Made It To The List

For startups across the globe, equity financing is the most popular fundraising method. But it is also one of the most expensive and time-consuming ways of raising growth capital. Launched in 2021, New Delhi- and Singapore-based Recur Club has revolutionised the way startups can raise non-debt capital without diluting their equity. It has an AI-based underwriting tool in place and provides a trading platform called the Recur Xchange to startups with subscription-based revenue models. These assured earnings (subscriptions), a new asset class of sorts, can then be traded to get upfront cash for working capital requirements.

The process to raise funding is simple. A startup can create an account using its CIN, PAN and GSTIN. Next, a finance and subscription manager is assigned to the company to calculate the amount it can raise based on its revenue in the past 12 months and the growth percentage. A tradable contract is created based on a subscription, and a company can raise up to 90% of the subscription amount whenever funding is required. Given this model, it is not surprising that most Recur Club users are companies in the SaaS, D2C and edtech sectors. The startups repay investors via subscription amounts, which are directly forwarded to them. As of now, investors on Recur manage an AUM of more than $3 Bn, while Recur charges a brokerage fee from investors and fundraisers.

Recur claims an ARR of $120 Mn for FY22 and plans to onboard 2K+ companies. It also targets an ARR of $1 Bn+ by FY23.

Skillslash

Why Skillslash Made It To The List

In the recently published India Skills Report, 2022, only 46.2% of the Indian youth were found highly employable out of the 3 Lakh students taking part in the survey. This is a critical issue that continues to plague India Inc., as companies must train fresh recruits and spend a lot of time and resources in the process. Identifying the skills gap, especially in data science and allied areas, Skillslash was launched in 2021, offering job-grade technology courses and providing real-time exposure to company projects to hone one’s expertise.

The Bengaluru-based startup has introduced training programmes ranging between five and nine months. It offers a sound combination of theoretical courses and project training modules, sourcing the latter from relevant companies to enhance job-based skills and add value to resumes. If a student wants to skip project training, a course can be customised as per the learner’s time and requirements. The company has a ‘job guarantee or money back’ offer in place, thus providing a risk-free training opportunity. Young people just starting their career or those looking for a career change can also explore its personalised counselling.

Skillslash currently offers nine courses in six areas, including software development, blockchain, digital marketing and more. It plans to launch 500+ short-term and long-term courses by 2025 and place more than 1 Lakh students with its placement partners Flipkart, Zoho, HSBC, CRED and others.

StartDraft

Why StartDraft Made It To The List

In India, legal contract management is still a manual, paperwork-laden process that requires a digital overhaul. This also means drawing up a contract will become quick and error-free, adding a fillip to the legal services market worth more than $10 Bn. To meet the requirements of legal professionals and their clients, Sridhar A, the founder of EHR startup Famwork, set up StartDraft in February this year that would create standard legal templates, unified terms and repeatable and consistent legal conditions.

Still in stealth mode, the SaaS startup is developing a minimum viable product (MVP) for hassle-free contract lifecycle management. The web-based software programme can be used by startups, law firms, attorneys and others to automate their agreements, contracts and other compliances. The legal tech firm will be operational in India and the US, and a pilot has been scheduled for mid-2022. StartDraft will be rolled out as a free service, but fees will be charged later based on the legal services rendered.

Synth

Why Synth Made It To The List

The information that we consume every day is scattered across various platforms, and it is tough to retrieve the same, given the overwhelming data overload. As for knowledge workers who need to keep track of crucial audio-video content, there is no other way but to go through the time- and resource-consuming process of recording/downloading and transcribing.

To address this pain point, Bengaluru-based Synth is building an AI-powered app that captures and summarises all the information available in audio and video formats. It also transcribes and stores the conversations in one place, and one can easily retrieve them with a keyword search within the app.

Set up in 2021, the subscription-based service targets 30 Mn knowledge workers who will be charged $20 each per month, thus creating a $7 Bn opportunity. The app is currently in beta, and the company is working on scaling it up to accommodate more users. As of now, one has to join the waitlist to start using Synth.

Tribe.Money

Why Tribe.Money Made It To The List

Spending cryptocurrencies is difficult in the world of fiat money, while crypto exchanges charge hefty fees to transfer the money from their wallets to bank accounts. Launched in 2022, Bhubaneswar-based Tribe.Money is a first-of-its-kind crypto debit card provider that enables crypto owners to buy almost anything using their digital currencies without converting them. Users can also invest in crypto via Tribe, earn up to 10% interest on their idle digital assets and get cashbacks on transactions made with the crypto debit card. Of course, crypto is not recognised as legal tender in India, but the startup apparently uses it as part of a barter system.

Tribe will charge each customer a card issuance fee, an interchange fee for card usage, an exchange fee for buying or selling crypto and will further earn as an affiliate marketer after creating a CRED-like marketplace for brands.

The company claims to have 500+ users on its waitlist and intends to roll out a beta version of the app by May. It will work on acquiring 5 Lakh users by the end of this year and bagging transactions worth INR 50 Cr. It aims to onboard 5 Mn customers, clock transactions worth INR 200 Cr, introduce a Tribe Reward token and foray into the EU market in another three years.

Vital

Why Vital Made It To The List

Insurers across India might have had a golden run in the wake of the pandemic. But with just 5.3% penetration, of which health insurance accounts for less than 1% of the total market share, the sector’s growth remains abysmally low. Observing that the current health insurance space is more of a passive business outcome minus a targeted drive to onboard customers, Vital was set up in 2019 to offer personalised health insurance to individuals, families and corporate houses.

The New Delhi-based startup has partnered with 11-year-old Care Health Insurance (part of the Religare Group) to provide customised health insurance solutions. On the retail side, it offers plans based on an individual’s demographic data, health conditions and lifestyle habits. One has to pay as low as INR 299 per month for INR 50 Lakh annual coverage, including doctor consultations (via mFine), health checkups (via Thyrocare), discounts on medicines (through a partnership with 1MG), fitness classes (via Cult.fit, Fitterfly and others), diet counselling and mental health therapy. At the B2B level, the IRDAI-approved insurer has monthly subscription plans for SMEs and large corporate houses, based on their requirements and actual headcounts.

Vital earns its revenue from product and service margins offered on the platform. It plans to launch a wellness marketplace and expand its corporate health insurance business by selling more than 50K plans in FY23, up from 8.5K+ in the previous financial year.

Winlegally

Why Winlegally Made It To The List

A new company is bound to deal with too many legal compliances for running a business, from documentation and registration to managing operations, IPs, trade, and employees. However, most entrepreneurs have little knowledge about the legal aspects of a business and run into trouble. Consequently, legal tech startups like Winlegally have come into play so that founders can focus on more critical areas like innovation, finance and hiring to enable growth.

Set up in 2020, New Delhi-based Winlegally provides a host of corporate legal services, including legal document drafting, obtaining certifications and licences, tax filing, GST retention, IP protection, dispute resolution, corporate compliance-related filings and more. It has provided digital assistance to more than eight startups, registered and filed 16+ GST returns, listed four companies under the Companies Act and registered more than 15 trademarks.

WYLD

Why WYLD Made It To The List

This is the age of influencer-led social commerce, but passive consumption of celebrity content tends to lose its charm after a while. That is why Mumbai-based WYLD has decided to take customer engagement to the next level by bestowing celebrity status on shoppers. Set up in 2021, the company aims to make a brand influencer out of every customer with a social media following of 1,000 or more. In brief, it has introduced a ‘buy, post and earn’ model that helps shoppers turn into social media marketers, thus allowing organic collaborations to happen at scale instead of paying fees to influencers upfront.

The retail tech company had previously tried two product iterations with 30+ brands and 1,000 customers and eventually settled on the buyer-cum-influencer benchmark that requires at least 1,000 followers on Instagram. It will provide a WYLD card (similar to a regular Visa debit/credit card) to shop online or offline at partner brands like Zomato, Swiggy, Amazon India, Zara, H&M and others. If a buyer posts about the product/brand on Instagram, they can earn up to 100% cashback on the purchase value. The cashback amount is determined by the WYLD Score, the startup’s social scoring system that considers the number of followers, reach, engagement, post frequency and other parameters. As for brands, WYLD has developed a new sales channel driven by active customer engagement and word-of-mouth marketing.

The startup charges a percentage commission on every transaction done with the WYLD card. It is now working on a product-market fit, and there will be a soft launch for its waitlisted users in FY23.

Yodaa

Why Yodaa Made It To The List

Few Indian parents want their teenage kids to meddle with finances, be it a substantial amount or a paltry sum one gets as pocket money. However, a suite of services and technical support from neobanking startups like Yodaa can help teens take the first step towards financial literacy and independence.

Launched in 2021, Bengaluru-based Yodaa is an invite-only platform. It offers a virtual card similar to a standard debit/credit card and an account to help teen customers manage their expenses, set up recurring savings, split bills with friends and learn more about personal finance. It also provides networking and internship opportunities via its exclusive platform Yodaa Club. Although the basic services are free, the startup has a premium subscription service that includes a Visa-powered physical Yodaa Card for in-store purchases, setting up recurring savings, investing in gold and accessing Yodaa’s content on financial literacy. Parents can also keep track of their kids’ finances and contribute to their savings.

The Yodaa app, to be available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store, is being rolled out to more than 30K users who have joined the waitlist, the company says. It aims to reach 1 Mn+ teen customers by 2023 across India and other Southeast Asian markets.

ZegPe

Why ZegPe Made It To The List

Brick-and-mortar businesses often end up with a long supply chain, leading to rising product costs and delayed deliveries. On the other hand, new-age D2C brands lure away digitally savvy customers by connecting with them across online channels and amplifying engagement. Aware of these pain points, Bengaluru-based ZegPe was set up in 2022 as a commerce and payments platform that aims to change how offline businesses transition to ecommerce.

The web-based platform helps physical stores get an online presence by scanning a single QR code. The solution enables catalogue discovery, hassle-free ordering, digital payment and personalised interaction via WhatsApp. The startup has launched a pilot in Bengaluru and aims to scale its operations pan-India by FY23.

[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: The Startups That Caught Our Eye In March 2022 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

This month’s edition marks the silver jubilee of Inc42’s ‘30 Startups To Watch‘ list. It has been a long but exciting journey as every month, after a gruelling exercise of shortlisting 120-150 startups from all over the country, the Inc42 team curates them to select the top 30 startups with a unique value proposition and the potential to disrupt the sectors where they operate.

Understandably, our previous 24 lists have been a massive success. As we celebrate the silver jubilee edition of this series, we decided to sit back and do a status check of the startups that we have unearthed in the last 24 months.

As part of this series, we have featured over 650+ startups spread across different segments such as consumer services, enterprisetech, ecommerce et. al. Analysis of these startups’ current status showed that over $1.5 Bn has been poured into them (combined) after they were featured in this series. The combined valuation of these startups currently stands at $5.4 Bn, reflecting the success they have achieved.

In the past 24 editions, we have featured 650+ startups aged three or less at the time of their listing. As many as 172 startups started their operations in 2018. A total of 245 belonged to the 2019 batch. One hundred and eighty-three companies were launched in 2020, and 43 were set up in 2021. A couple of companies were also minted in 2022.

Enterprisetech and fintech were the top two sectors that recorded the maximum number of startups. In the 24 editions, we listed more than 142 enterprisetech startups across many sub-sectors such as HR tech, marketing, and sales. Other sectors with a large swathe of startups included fintech (109 startups), ecommerce (73), edtech (64), healthtech (49) and deeptech (46).

More than 60 of the featured startups raised Series A funding and beyond in the past two years. Eight of the 650+ startups also got acquired after their listing. All this is a testament to the list’s success as the unique business concepts rightfully claimed the limelight.

CRED founder Kunal Shah and Vaibhav Domkundwar’s Better Capital-backed 28 and 24 startups, respectively, out of the 650+ startups featured here. Y Combinator also backed 18 of the startups listed by Inc42.

We started the series when the pandemic was putting the startups and their ideas through a litmus test. But sailing and scaling for a few years, with robust, long-term plans in place, they have proved that there will be an opportunity for innovation in every crisis!

With this, let’s take a look at the startups that are part of this i.e. the Silver Jubilee edition of the series.

30 Startups To Watch: February 2022

This month’s list includes 30 unique startups involved in unique use cases across healthcare blockchain, enterprisetech and fintech. Better still, they seem to have found the right product-market fit, essential for business growth. In the 25th edition of the series, we have featured companies that reassessed their product playbooks after the pandemic and came up with innovative business models within the existing sectors.

This time, as many as 15 enterprisetech startups took centre stage, followed by fintech and blockchain startups. We have also found two exciting healthtech startups. One provides an intriguing combination of wellness solutions and wearable hardware to cope with brain conditions. The other digitises hospital operations for a seamless experience.

Check out the 25th edition of Inc42 Plus’ 30 Startups To Watch list.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

1SilverBullet

Why 1SilverBullet Made It To The List

Serial entrepreneur Milan Ganatra has worked with the fintech industry for about two decades. And throughout these years, he has noticed an alarming level of information asymmetry between businesses providing financial products and services and people keen to invest through them. That is why his latest venture, 1SilverBullet, is building a layered gateway for businesses across investment, insurance and lending segments.

Launched in 2021, the Mumbai-based startup provides a blockchain-based API that can be integrated with any tech-enabled platform for selling investments, insurances or lending products. But there are other benefits. For instance, a tech platform in the investment space can become a point of contact for investors and financial institutions, linking them at one place via the secure API customer acquisition and sales through investment channels such as AIFs, MFs, PMS and more. Apart from the ready-to-use backend, the company provides maintenance services for its B2B clients and claims that its API reduces a business’s time to market by 50%.

The fintech enabler charges a commission on every transaction done through its platform. Since its revenue generation started in January 2022, the ARR for FY22 stands at $120K and is estimated to reach $5.4 Mn in the next financial year.

1SilverBullet says it has already onboarded 40+ portfolio management services. Going ahead, it plans to introduce life insurance, health insurance and fixed deposit schemes by partnering with 25+ insurers and corporate FD providers. This will take its total number of portfolio management services to 80+ by March 2022.

Algomox

Why Algomox Made It To The List

The concept of algorithmic IT operations, or AIOps, is just five years old. Companies in this space enable IT transformation through ML-powered data processing that automatically reduces noise and identifies the probable root cause of incidents. The key focus is about detecting any abnormal behaviour from users, devices or applications.

Shortly after the concept became popular, Bengaluru-based Algomox kickstarted its journey in 2018 and automated IT operations by leveraging AI. It also offers a bouquet of solutions, including omnichannel engagement, anomaly detection in ops, incident recognition and predicting capacity management.

It processes data silos to find anomalies, error patterns, events and incidents; automates end-user support activities to resolve IT tickets and grievances and governs tracking and compliance of IT operations. The platform provides four services — AI consulting, app development, managed AIOps and managed MLOps. Algomox’s team of data scientists also offers a CMS to help companies build models and synthesise data.

Capitall

Why Capitall Made It To The List

More than 70 Mn Indians have put their money in the capital market, while 100 Mn+ people have reportedly invested in digital assets like cryptocurrencies. But retail investors’ interest in startups as a new asset class has piqued only recently. To cater to this upcoming market and ensure a win-win strategy for all stakeholders, long-time investors Sanskar Jayaswal and Pranav Nair set up Capitall in January 2022.

The Bengaluru-based fintech firm allows retail investors to lend to high-growth startups for fixed returns in the form of passive income, while young companies can raise non-dilutive capital from this marketplace. Retail investors (lenders) can also trade their investments through a secondary market for early exits. Prior to investing, people can review a company’s financials and use financial tools to analyse investment opportunities. Retail investors can use Capitall’s services for free, but startups need to pay a processing fee on the debt raised. The company is run on blockchain to ensure foolproof security for all.

Currently, it claims a 100+ investor base backing four startups, with a revenue run rate of INR 50 Lakh for FY22. It also aims to disburse INR 45 Cr worth of loans to 100+ Indian startups through 10,000+ retail investors by the end of this year. By 2025, it plans to bring 50K+ startups and 6.35 Cr+ MSMEs within its ambit.

Cardbyte

Well-designed business cards are essential marketing tools. But in India, most of them are made offline and stored/managed haphazardly, resulting in lost or out-of-date contacts.

Aiming to digitalise the contact management industry for greater convenience, New Delhi-based CardByte launched Android and iOS apps in January 2022. These apps help users create professional business cards and share these on their networks via QR codes or through third-party apps like WhatsApp. Plus, there are in-app features to enable data tagging, grouping and contact search. CardByte also scans paper cards to digitise the information and tracks and reports card updates within its network. Overall, the new tool makes it easier for users to access, organise and share business cards and professional contacts without the least hassle.

Currently, the startup has a freemium B2C business model, allowing users to store up to 50 cards for free. The company will launch its enterprise service suite by late 2022 and add a host of advanced features such as CRM integration, collaboration tools, augmented reality and voice assistance, advanced analytics and more.

Colexion

Why Colexion Made It To The List

The NFT mania has hit India hard and caught the attention of anyone remotely interested in (blockchain-powered) Web 3.0 and the digital assets, especially digital art, that can be bought and sold in this space. Celebrities from India and abroad are also drawn towards this all-new revenue channel and selling artworks on various NFT platforms.

Launched in 2021, New Delhi- and Dubai-based Colexion is a marketplace on the Polygon network where fans can purchase collectable/trading cards, autographed cards, video moments, and other tokens from their favourite celebrities hailing from the world of cricket and entertainment. The platform hosts 1,200+ NFTs from 100+ celebrities across 10 or more countries. Among them are cricketer Yuvraj Singh, actors Suniel Shetty and Krissann Barretto, daily soap actor Rameet Sandhu and music composer siblings Salim and Sulaiman Merchant.

Colexion earns commissions and gas fees on NFT transactions, similar to its peers. It has also introduced an in-house crypto token called $CLXN that can be traded privately and used for NFT transactions.

However, the startup aims to go beyond celebrity NFTs and foray into the metaverse. It plans to build its metaverse infrastructure to launch a state-of-the-art digital museum. Here, artists and collectors will connect not only to deal in collectables but also to engage over the life journeys of celebs, play immersive virtual games and shop for NFTs across art, lifestyle, sports and celebrity categories.

Deefy

Why Deefy Made It To The List

Currently, NFT marketplaces are considered a buzzing revenue channel for artists and celebrities, thanks to their enormous collections of digital assets. But New Delhi-based Deefy aims to disrupt this trend by helping collectors earn passive incomes via NFTs. In an all-new approach, Deefy is developing a fintech layer to add a personalised credit scoring system to fund NFT transactions. Better still, it will be a simple procedure, doing away with the cumbersome due diligence of Web 2.0 when it comes to lending.

As of now, a person must pay the total amount and the gas fee to buy an NFT as opposed to various loan options and the ease of repayment for other assets. However, Deefy users can buy NFTs from different blockchains on EMIs for a specific duration. Deefy also considers NFTs as collateral and offers loans against these digital assets. Apart from raising loans, users can mortgage or rent their NFTs to meet emergencies or generate extra earnings.

The startup determines a score for each NFT collection based on the floor price, 24-hour sales data, total sales, price change (drop or gain), popularity, the number of holders and the social score, among other factors. The interest rate in each case depends on the product score and the service fee charged by the company.

Deefy is still in alpha, but it is already in talks with major NFT marketplaces in a bid to tie up with them and provide this critical utility service. It plans to test its products on the Polygon network by March this year and roll out a beta version and a mobile app in the second quarter of CY22. The company also claims that it has loan requests worth $500K.

Falcon

Why Falcon Made It To The List

With digital commerce growing exponentially, embedded finance, or the seamless integration of financial components into non-financial platforms, has emerged as a significant trend. Today, companies want to overcome the challenges of bundling multiple banks/legacy financial systems with their offerings and aim to provide personalised solutions to increase customer lifetime value.

Set up in 2021, New Delhi-based Falcon provides a host of customisation tools through APIs so that fintech, ecommerce startups and BFSI companies can launch their financial products in a couple of days. The company helps develop payment and lending tools such as cards, UPI enablers and money transfer platforms using no-code/low-code SDKs. Its B2B clients can onboard customers and manage and deliver financial products while Falcon handles the backend, card processing, reconciliation and compliance, among other tasks.

The startup’s cofounder Prabhtej Singh launched a B2B payment embedding product called Kite in 2016, which has been merged with Falcon. The company came out of stealth mode in February 2022 after announcing its partnerships with Visa, NPCI, many global processors and several Indian banks. Through these partnerships, Falcon offers white-label services such as vendor payment, payroll, tax payment, crypto payment, loans on cards, corporate gifting, BNPL and virtual currency transactions for online gaming platforms. The fintech-as-a-service platform also eyes $30 Mn in revenue by FY23.

Goldsetu

Why Goldsetu Made It To The List

In India, jewellery is considered a highly coveted asset class and one of the most-favoured consumer goods. Although it is a traditional industry, retailers in this space required a digital makeover in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic for business continuity and growth. Set up in 2021, New Delhi-based Goldsetu has developed a mobile-first SaaS platform to help jewellers set up digital storefronts, automate workflow and offer online payment, along with digital passbooks for their customers. Additionally, the startup provides access to smart dashboards, product and customer analytics and CRM tools required for seamless customer onboarding, order tracking, collection and management.

Goldsetu is still in the pre-revenue stage but claims to have acquired 300+ jewellers just three weeks into the beta launch. It is also working on a suite of value-added services such as gold savings plans, jewellery insurance, digital gold and gold loans to empower jewellery retailers. The platform has adopted a freemium model where all commerce-related features, including storefront and marketing tools, are free. However, it will charge a usage-based transaction fee for its value-add features to be launched this year.

Goodmeetings.AI

Why Goodmeetings.AI Made It To The List

According to the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule, 80% of your sales come from 20% of the salespeople, while 80% of the salespeople bring only 20% of the sales. Although companies today are gaining in operational efficiency and moving towards an era of remote sales, powered by online demos, analytics platforms and virtual meetings for deal-clinching, the outcome of the sales remains chaotic for many businesses. So, Bengaluru-based Goodmeetings was set up in 2021 to help professionals sell better via remote channels. The company has developed an AI-powered video platform that automates the workflow and provides nudges and checklists to enhance sales performance. It also offers post-video call analytics to enable sales managers and coaches to gather valuable insights and make data-driven decisions.

Goodmeetings currently offers a video sales platform with five major functionalities. To begin with, a meeting can be started on any browser with an ID, and the video can be integrated with analytical CRM. There is an option to flip the camera for a live feed and pre-load standardised presentations and demo environments. It further offers multi-app and widget support to automate sales workflows, take notes, schedule follow-up meetings and fill in questionnaires within the meeting console. Then there are AI-powered dynamic nudges to identify when a customer is losing interest or a sales associate is straying from the ideal sales pitch. Finally, one can access video meeting recordings in a YouTube-like format that provides transcripts to analyse critical points and assess sales call quality.

The platform charges a monthly subscription based on the number of sales agents and tiered pricing depending on the features used by a company. It plans to onboard at least 1K paying customers in 2022, up from 20 clients worldwide, and eyes an ARR of $2 Mn. It aims to grow the number of customers to 4K by 2025 and hit $54 Mn in revenue.

IndiaP2P

Why IndiaP2P Made It To The List

Indians mostly favour equity investments due to higher returns than the earnings from debt investments like bonds, debentures and mortgages. However, a good understanding of the debt market can help one earn good returns minus the heightened risks of the stock market. Therefore, Mumbai-based IndiaP2P was launched in 2021 as a peer-to-peer lending platform that would benefit both borrowers and lenders.

The tech-driven marketplace enables lenders to earn higher returns than conventional savings, around 16-18% against the industry average of 7-9%. On the other hand, borrowers on this platform, primarily small-town women entrepreneurs, can raise loans at lower interest rates. People can invest INR 5K- 50 Lakh, while borrowers can raise loans up to INR 50K from a single lender and a total of INR 10 Lakh.

The company offers an ‘income plan’ where the interest income is credited to the bank every month and a ‘growth plan’ where the payment is re-invested every month to compound. IndiaP2P charges an annual fee of INR 250 and an interest commission from investors/lenders.

The startup has not disclosed total loan disbursals or the asset under management, but it claims to have onboarded close to 100K borrowers. Its on-ground executives do the due diligence before loans are approved and provide credit counselling, thus minimising the risk of default. Moving forward, it will expand its portfolio of debt-based investment products to offer low-to-high risk high-return categories.

Insciple

Why Insciple Made It To The List

Job vacancies and their descriptions seem to flood the internet all the time. But former Yes Bank executive Neeraj Agarwal noticed that students desperately needed industry-specific career counsellors to nail suitable job opportunities. Keen to give young people a headstart in their professional life, he launched Insciple in 2021 to video-connect them with veteran industry professionals who will help chalk out sound career plans.

The Mumbai-based startup enables one-on-one career counselling by professionals from 10 countries and 40 different fields, with an average work experience of 10 years. Each advisor gets to choose the topic of discussion, sets up the consultation fee and provides a 30-minute video consultation on a range of career-related matters. Students can browse through their profiles to zero in on an advisor of choice, pay the fee and book an appointment.

Each session costs INR 2,000-4,000, based on the value the consultant brings and their popularity. Some popular names include chef Himank Bhardwaj, TikTok’s HR executive Malavika Rajagopalan and tech journalist Sugandha Malhotra. Insciple charges a commission on each consultation fee to generate revenue.

Although the platform started its career counselling services for teenagers, it is now helping working professionals keen to shift gears mid-career or move to managerial positions. It plans to add 100+ different career fields in 2022, including the less-talked topics such as getting promotion-ready and rejoining the workforce after gap years.

KareXpert

Why KareXpert Made It To The List

India’s public healthcare system is too overburdened due to a lack of resources and inadequate application of modern technology. However, healthtech solutions like telemedicine, health record digitisation and AI for predictive analysis/diagnosis may soon improve this scenario.

Observing that legacy solutions led to inefficiencies, a dip in service quality and revenue loss, Gurugram-based KareXpert was launched in 2018 to provide timely tech support for service enhancement and business growth. It is a SaaS platform that charges a monthly subscription from hospitals for a plug-and-play cloud gateway that can remotely connect healthcare providers with medical equipment and IoT devices, manage data silos, track transactions and provide business intelligence and analytics. It also brings many healthcare modules together as a pre-integrated stack, including a health management information system, electronic medical records, laboratory information management system, telemedicine and connected ambulances.

Karkhana.io

Why Karkhana.io Made It To The List

India is often lauded as a global manufacturing hub, but it has seen sluggish growth in components/parts manufacturing. Aiming to improve the country’s capability in this area, Mumbai-based Karkhana.io has set up a marketplace that connects spare parts manufacturers with global enterprises specialising in defence, robotics and medical equipment besides emerging sectors like electric vehicles, home automation and UAVs (drones).

Apart from bridging the demand-supply gap, the startup offers many value-added services to speed up and smoothen the entire procedure. These include identifying the suitable raw materials, ensuring IP protection, finding the right vendor, issuing quotations, project management, communications management and shipping. It has also partnered with 150+ small and medium manufacturers to provide CNC machining, 3D printing, metalworking and vacuum casting services for prototyping and mass production. Karkhana.io charges a fee from its customers, depending upon the order size.

The company rose to prominence in 2020 when it came out with tools for making personal protective equipment (PPEs) and ICU equipment such as valves, connectors and ventilator parts. In 2022, it will focus on building the ecosystem for EVs, healthtech, aerospace and defence and onboarding related MSMEs to strengthen its supply chain. It also plans to launch a portal for providing tools to suppliers for end-to-end project management.

Maximl

Why Maximl Made It To The List

In India, a large chunk of the deskless workforce (mostly grey-collar workers) is not digitally empowered, impacting overall productivity, collaboration and growth prospects. To help employees become digitally savvy and their companies more efficient in terms of standardised shop floors and seamless communication, Maximl was conceptualised in 2017 at IIT-Madras and launched the following year.

By integrating a Maximl dashboard with the in-house system, a manufacturer can provide work instructions, on-field collaboration tools and on-the-job training to help people become more efficient and learn more about safety norms and quality standards to improve work quality. The subscription-based SaaS platform has in place a flagship cloud-based product called Connected Worker that offers real-time communications, knowledge-sharing and seamless collaboration between management and employees across tasks, including production, inspection, outage, quality audits and more. The platform can also generate workflows based on operational data and insights from workers.

Currently, Maximl has a strong presence in the oil and petrochemicals and metals space, and 8-10 major refineries are using its solutions. It also claims an ARR of $1 Mn for FY22. In the next financial year, it plans to foray into new sectors such as power, chemicals and industrial OEMs besides onboarding consultants to draft safety and best practices templates. It will also fortify its position in the North American, LATAM, the EU and the SEA markets.

Mykare Health

Why Mykare Health Made It To The List

Healthcare in India has improved post-Independence, but the country is yet to cope with major issues like an inadequate health infrastructure, meagre outlay and expensive services. Moreover, the cumbersome medical process – from selecting the right hospital to making sense of the paperwork to getting insurance claims reimbursed – are always riddled with difficulties.

Senu Sam, a former executive of Apollo Hospitals, faced similar difficulties when his father had surgery at a local hospital. He soon realised that small and medium-sized healthcare facilities are underutilised and disorganised at times. This led to the concept of Mykare Health, set up in 2020 as an asset-light network of hospitals for patients undergoing specialised surgery in India and abroad.

The Kochi-based startup offers a host of solutions to fund specialised surgeries, including cost structuring, flexible payments, no-cost EMIs and an AI-enabled insurance platform. It also provides access to top surgeons and medical centres, meticulous postoperative care for quick recovery, 24×7 in-app screening and more. The company claims that its services help patients save 20-40% on surgery and post-surgery costs.

Mykare Health has already served more than 1,500 patients and facilitated 450+ surgeries directly and through 80+ associates, including pharmacists, hyperlocal medical consultants. The company also runs four Mykare medical centres in Chennai and plans further expansion across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Bangladesh. It claims an ARR of INR 5 Cr for FY22, earning via commission per package and premium subscriptions from users seeking preventive care. It plans to take the number of medical centres to 20 by CY22 and open the subscription services for all from the current 100 beta users.

Neuphony

Why Neuphony Made It To The List

The Covid crisis has brought about unforeseen tragedies and taken a severe toll on our mental health. But there was a personal tragedy that drove Ria Rustagi and Bhavya Madan to set up their wearable healthtech startup Neuphony. The untimely death of Rustagi’s sister Pankhuri due to a rare brain condition and the grief that followed made the duo realise the need for a holistic solution to cope with mental health conditions.

In December 2018, Madan, who was then pursuing his master’s in human-computer interface, came up with the idea of a device to help patients suffering from speech complications. After conducting several surveys and interviews, they decided to work on brain health and mental fitness first. That was how Neuphony, also known as PankhTech (an ode to Pankhuri), was born.

So far, the company has developed two products. The first one is a head wearable band that uses an SDK to read brain activity to help improve memory and auditory processing, decision-making, emotional and social responses and brain training for spatial orientation. The second is a mobile app focusing on self-awareness and an ML model recommending custom meditation techniques. The mobile app and the headband can also be synced to measure the neurofeedback, based on which meditation techniques are recommended.

The wearable piece tracking brain activity will have two price points (INR 15,000 and INR 35,000), depending on the number of sensors. In addition, the plug-and-play SDK will cost INR 4,000 per licence per month. The mobile app can also be used without the headphones and can work as a meditation and mood tracker for INR 100 a month.

Neuphony’s head wearable product recently witnessed 25 early adopters and will be rolled out for home psychotherapy by the end of 2022. The company is also working on a communication device for patients with speech difficulties, with a tentative timeline of 2025.

NeuroPixel.AI

Why NeuroPixel.AI Made It To The List

Cataloguing apparel in the best possible way is a challenging task carried out by every fashion outlet, and online fashion shops are no exception. This critical chore cannot be ignored as 60% of purchase decisions made by online shoppers depend on great images and attractive product presentations. However, most buyers remain sceptical about the real-life effect of a newly purchased outfit even though they liked the look and feel of the clothes online. Aware of these issues, former Myntra chief Arvind Nair and image processing specialist Amritendu Mukherjee decided to develop a deep neural network (DNN) for personalised try-on in the digital space using virtual mannequins.

Set up in 2020, the Bengaluru-based deeptech SaaS company offers a cloud-based, pay-as-you-go platform to make this rendering possible. Simply put, NeuroPixel’s AI-powered tool allows you to get a product photoshoot done using any mannequin. Next, its proprietary technology will render the apparel on virtual models of different sizes in different poses to help buyers make the best choice. The startup has recently launched its paid pilot for T-shirts and polo shirts.

NeuroPixel claims to be reducing cataloguing and merchandising spending by 30% and cutting down on time by 90%. Within this year, it plans to launch other outfit categories such as formal and casual shirts, kurtis and lingerie with the help of AI-powered cataloguing. It envisions personalising catalogues based on age and ethnicity in the long term.

NeuroTags

Why NeuroTags Made It To The List

Ecommerce was the most funded sector in 2021, with startups in this space amassing $10.6 Bn in funding. Even then, a large number of people still prefer to shop offline as e-shoppers often end up buying fake products. This has become a matter of concern for new-age retailers keen to grow their online user base by addressing such problems.

Set up in 2018, Pune-based NeuroTags helps companies fight the ‘counterfeit’ threat by providing anti-counterfeiting solutions powered by AI. The company has developed a double security layer for product provenance – an ‘open’ tag or QR code on the package that can be scanned for product details and an ‘inside’ tag scanned post-purchase to get the user name tagged to that product. Next, the status of both tags gets updated on the company’s server in the cloud. These are unique tags to prevent data replication, incorporated during manufacturing and controlled by backend software.

The startup gathers consumer data via the ‘inside’ tag to offer an e-warranty service. Also, this data is used for a consumer engagement and data analytics platform. It further influences buying decisions through targeted ads and enhances customer engagement through a digitised after-sales service.

The startup works directly with brands and currently services several industries such as electrical and electronic appliances and accessories, jewellery, cosmetics and spirits and wines. It has a monthly subscription model in place and works with 40 big and mid-sized enterprises in India and the US, including the Raymond Group, Syska and Flo Mattress, among others. The company claims to have embedded its security solutions in 30 Cr products and engaged with more than 5 Mn consumers on behalf of its clients. It plans to scale its product reach by 10x by CY23.

OneRare

Why OneRare Made It To The List

Born out of serial entrepreneur Gaurav Gupta and wife Supreet Raju’s love for food, travel and enthusiasm about all things blockchain, New Delhi-based OneRare is a food metaverse platform. The one-year-old startup is developing a world where users can produce NFT ingredients, sell them at a marketplace, make gamified recipes (again as NFTs) and play mini-games on the platform.

The ‘foodverse’ is being developed to help foodies engage with their favourite food creators, play immersive games and build a community around food on a blockchain-powered platform. It also allows celebrity chefs, restaurants and food brands to create virtual food experiences and signature dish NFTs and interact with a global audience.

Now in the pre-release mode, OneRare’s web platform has four parts. There is a virtual farm where farmers grow the crops used as ingredients. Next comes a farmer’s market where the produce is sold to collectors. Then there is a kitchen where users browse through recipes and combine ingredients to prepare new dishes as NFTs. Finally, there will be a playground for NFT owners who can battle it out via mini-games. The company plans to use the proceeds from the virtual games to raise awareness and funds to eliminate global hunger. Its revenue will come from tokenising celebrity chefs’ signature recipes as NFTs. It will also allow users to swap OneRare NFTs for meals and deals in real-world restaurants.

The startup will launch OneRare (ORARE) utility tokens by March 2022 to facilitate transactions in the farmer’s market and gameplay on the playground besides in-game upgrades and participation in governance on-chain and off-chain. Its public launch will take place by June this year.

Orange Wallet

Why Orange Wallet Made It To The List

The blockchain universe is full of jargon, and user experience is often fragmented as they need to access multiple platforms. So, Jaipur-based Orange Wallet was launched in 2021 to ensure cross-chain operability, helping users move crypto funds and NFTs from one network to another by leveraging every chain’s decentralised financing (DeFi).

Simply put, the Polygon-focussed cross-chain mobile wallet provides access to DeFi, NFTs, IDOs and DAOs across five EVM-compatible chains — Ethereum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Arbitrium and Avalanche. It rewrites the UI of every protocol integrated with the Orange Wallet to simplify the user experience on these systems. The wallet is still in the consumer acquisition stage.

Other features include reduced transaction costs, access to all DeFi protocols at one touch, conversion to fiat money on-ramp and click-and-mint NFT services akin to an NFT social media. It also allows cross-chain swaps so that users can transfer tokens between different chains. For example, one can move it from $USDT on Polygon to $BNB on BSC or $WBNB on Avalanche to $WETH on Ethereum.

The Ethereum Layer 2 product is currently in beta. The wallet is available on iOS and Android and has clocked more than 14K downloads to date. Orange Wallet is a pre-revenue startup but intends to monetise through mediator fees on services, from DApps for featuring those on the platform, from various protocols to host their yield farms and from users for fiat conversions. It will soon provide native UI support for all prominent DeFi and DApps and further support NFT marketplaces. The company aims to launch these features by the end of 2022.

Pepper Farms

Why Pepper Farms Made It To The List

Smallholding/shrinking farm sizes is a key reason why Indian farmers find it difficult to ensure efficiency and generate adequate incomes. Shalini Aggarwal, a chartered accountant by profession, faced the land crunch issue when she decided to take up commercial farming on a piece of land owned by her family. To address this pain point, Aggarwal and serial entrepreneur Saurabh Singla set up Pepper Farms in 2020.

The Gurugram-based startup has developed a network of farms across India to consolidate small farmlands and optimise their productivity through agritech solutions, farm inputs and efficient farm management alongside financial resources, market linkages and selling the produce as a collective. It has two business models in place – leasing and aggregation and product franchising. In the first case, the company restructures small and fragmented farmlands via leasing and aggregation and exercises complete control over operations. Otherwise, farmers can retain their ownership, and Pepper Farms only buys the produce under a franchise contract. The company has crop ownership in both models and closely monitors product quality.

Currently, the startup focusses on greenhouse farming and produces a few vegetables such as bell peppers and seedless cucumbers across 35 farms in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand, spanning 160 acres. It supplies the aggregated produce to Otipy, Amazon India, BigBasket and APMCs and earns revenue from variable commissions on sales.

This year, Pepper Farms plans to add more varieties, including mushrooms, leafy vegetables, peas, broccoli, melons and tomatoes. It also aims to expand its network to 500 farms across 1,000 acres, beginning with Rajasthan.

Powerplay

Why Powerplay Made It To The List

The traditional construction sector currently employs 16% of the working population in India. But very few tech companies have come out with new-age solutions to help digitise construction processes. Consequently, small and medium contractors still rely on pen and paper. (Some have graduated to WhatsApp, though, to track workers’ progress.) To help this segment deal with many operational challenges, costly delays and budget overhauls, Powerplay was launched in 2019.

This Bengaluru-based app-first company simplifies site-to-office communications by connecting multiple stakeholders and enabling them to communicate and collaborate. Project managers, workers and partners can use the one-stop platform for tracking tasks, progress, deliverables and payments and further streamline the often complex and multi-stakeholder project management process.

RetainIQ

Why RetainIQ Made It To The List

In today’s digital-first world, digital marketing has emerged as a critical success component for any business, big or small. The measure of good marketing lies within conversion and retention rates, but many organisations fail to optimise marketing channels to ensure long-term growth. Launched in 2021, Bengaluru-based RetainIQ is a communication automation platform that helps ecommerce stores and brands to convert and retain their customers by leveraging social networking services such as email, WhatsApp, SMS and push and on-site notifications. It helps brands deliver a personalised experience across various touchpoints through an integrated digital marketing dashboard.

The SaaS-based plug-and-play platform charges $49 per month and offers two services — pre-purchase and post-purchase retention flows. Both enable in-house marketers to set up conversations based on email and other communication templates like on-site welcome messages, checkout recovery and product launch. Clients can also customise these templates in sync with their brand’s theme for websites or email, thus removing the dependence on designers and engineers.

Scrut Automation

Why Scrut Automation Made It To The List

While working on a startup idea, cofounders Aayush Choudhury, Kush Kaushik and Jayesh Gadewar faced a major challenge as they went through the compliance procedures of five different information security standards. The issue: When evidence artefacts and cloud controls were manually tracked, the exercise gobbled up the team’s bandwidth. So, Gadewar built internal tools to monitor the cloud environment and track potential loopholes. Eventually, the trio discontinued the earlier concept, but their security tools took centre stage, and Scrut Automation was born in 2021.

The New Delhi firm automates labour-intensive compliance tasks using SaaS tools and cloud integrations and auto-collects hundreds of evidence artefacts within hours. Otherwise, this process could have taken weeks, the company claims. Scrut’s flagship product is a governance, risk and compliance (GRC) tool that can be integrated with any cloud service provider and other commonly used tools to collect evidence and flag any deviation across 150+ controls.

The startup charges a licence fee for its enterprise tech solution that brings all infosec compliance standards and internal SOPs on a single platform and advises against factors that may lead to slips and loopholes. It is also building a marketplace for infosec resources, including auditors, subject matter experts and penetration testers, and plans to open a US office by the end of 2022.

Soptle

Why Soptle Made It To The List

The rise and rise of ecommerce over the past few years impacted offline intermediaries (read savvy suppliers) who connected manufacturers and sellers. Nevertheless, buyers in small-town India still rely on local shops, while these retailers are heavily dependent on the middlemen for access to the latest products. This traditional approach often leads to rising costs and shrinking profits due to supply chain inefficiencies. That is why Gurugram-based Soptle has created a manufacturer-only marketplace for Indian SMEs, connecting rural and small-town retailers with regional brands.

Set up in 2021, the platform has developed an Android app to help retailers browse through all products and deals available from manufacturers and place orders directly. In fact, an army of Soptle development partners (SDPs) work with retailers to drive the adoption of the retailer app. It also provides a web dashboard for manufacturers to upload catalogues with the latest prices and trade schemes. Revenue comes from commissions on transactions and logistics services provided by the company.

Soptle acquired 10K retailers and onboarded more than 50 manufacturers within two months of the launch. By 2022, it plans to onboard 80K+ retailers, 3K+ manufacturers, 2K+ SDPs and hit INR 750 Cr in revenue. It aims to take the number of retailers to 500K by 2025.

Spenny

Why Spenny Made It To The List

The healthy saving habit of Indian kids is often attributed to the widespread use of the traditional gullak or the earthen piggy bank. Built on the same concept of saving spare changes, Bengaluru-based Spenny was launched in 2019 as a micro-savings and investment app.

The startup helps users save some spare change from their daily transactions so that a tiny portion of their money is secured without fail. For example, every time a customer makes a transaction, it gets a notification via text messages and rounds up the amount to what’s closest – INR 10, 20, 50 or 100. The money is automatically invested into digital gold or a diversified mutual fund portfolio, and Spenny earns a commission on each investment.

The fintech firm uses encryption for foolproof security and partners with insured custodians to ensure that the assets are held safely and liquified easily. It also offers a debit card for easy cash withdrawal. So far, the company has recorded micro-savings worth over INR 1.5 Cr.

Stockpe

Why StockPe Made It To The List

Building a robust investment portfolio is essential to secure one’s financial future. But in India, people often lack the financial discipline to pursue active investment options for the long term due to a lack of basic financial knowledge and a risk-averse attitude. As a result, three out of every four demat accounts lie inactive today.

To bridge this knowledge gap, New Delhi-based StockPe was started as an online financial literacy platform in 2021. Unlike YouTube lessons or text-heavy courses, it offers a gamified platform to understand the nitty-gritty of the stock market. From mastering the basics to reading stocks and more, users can move up the learning curve by unlocking more advanced levels. The company targets students aged 18-24 in the Delhi-NCR region. Users need to open StockPe learning accounts on the platform to practise trading in a simulated market. They can also use real money to compete against peers in learning tournaments and earn monetary rewards. StockPe gets a commission from each user investing in these tournaments.

The startup’s Android app is currently limited to 500 early users, but it plans to take the number to 2,000 by April 2022. It will diversify the platform within a year by adding more financial instruments such as forex, mutual funds, and crypto. StockPe aims to achieve a positive cash flow within the next two years by scaling to 1 Mn+ users and onboarding people aged between 25 and 55.

Stratzy

Why Stratzy Made It To The List

During their college days, BITS Pilani alumni Mohit Bhandari and Gaurav Sangle joined a finance club called Wall Street and realised the need for stock market training in story formats. After helping their juniors learn about the stock market, crypto and various investment-related topics, the duo decided to launch Stratzy in 2021 and build a neobroker layer. This would provide access to expert-curated, research-driven ideas and strategies to master the investment dos and don’ts.

The Mumbai-based startup works at the intersection of fully automated, algo-driven robo advisory and active stock-picking. Powered by Stratzy’s virtual investment guide, users can pick and directly invest in the baskets, gaining stock-picking knowledge and earning hassle-free returns from investment-worthy stocks. The system also allows investors to ace their timings, buying and selling stocks at the right time for optimum returns. Besides, the company hosts the Stratzy Club, where users can engage with friends, learn from them or teach them investment strategies.

It has partnered with several digital stock-broking platforms, including Zerodha, 5paisa, Paytm Money, and more. Existing users on those platforms can avail themselves of Stratzy’s services, and vice versa. Currently, the service is free for users, but the company charges a part of the broker’s fee as commission.

Since its launch, Stratzy has enabled more than INR 1 Cr worth of investments for 30K+ users. It will onboard 1 Mn+ users by the end of the current calendar year and introduce a subscription-based premium service called Stratzy Edge+ for curated investment strategies.

SuperK

Why SuperK Made It To The List

In India, traditional and unorganised retail across non-metro cities and small towns accounts for more than 80% of the total market, while big-box retail and retail chains are still limited to less than 2%. Of course, grocery retail has surged to a $600 Bn opportunity. But given the advent of modern trade, ecommerce and quick commerce, the time is ripe for brick-and-mortar kirana stores to pivot and grow. With that in mind, Kadapa-based SuperK was launched in 2021 to set up a franchisee network and help small retailers streamline processes and offer a better customer experience to compete with big players.

The mobile-first startup has developed an integrated software system that connects warehouses, stores and suppliers. It rebrands existing small-format stores with SuperK branding and helps them with standardised pricing, discounts, cashback and digital billing, along with a wider range of products. SuperK manages procurement and merchandising for all the physical stores through a standard operating plan. It claims a $5 Mn ARR for FY23, with earnings commission from sales margin, franchise fees and brand partnerships.

SuperK is currently operational in two districts and 10 towns in Andhra Pradesh and plans to cover six more districts by this year. It aims to expand its operations across Central and Southern India in another three years.

Truegy

Why Truegy Made It To The List

Background checks have become a critical component of HR and legal processes, the lending industry, matrimonial sites and even dating apps. So, second-time entrepreneur Ajay Setia started Truegy in 2021 to simplify the process.

Truegy works like LinkedIn for individuals, allowing them to register their profile by uploading their documents for educational, employment-related and other requirements. For its enterprise clients, the Gurugram-based company offers a subscription-based, pay-as-you-go model to verify potential candidates’ profiles with the help of PAN, Aadhaar cards, passports, physical address proofs, bank accounts, employment history and educational institutions. The tech-driven verification process is thorough and considers 50+ API and data points. These datasets form the base of an insight called TruScore that ensures that the enterprise/user is not duped by an imposter.

The company claims to have more than 22K TruProfiles and counting. It is currently working on customer acquisition and aims to onboard 100+ employers in 2022 for background verification during the hiring process.

The post 30 Startups To Watch: The Startups That Caught Our Eye In February 2022 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Union Budget 2022 is the hottest topic of discussion right now, and it has brought good tidings for the country’s startups. Globally, it remains the third-largest startup ecosystem after the US and China, affirms the Economic Survey 2022, and the total number of recognised startups in the country has now surpassed 61K.

This indicates a culture of resilience in the wake of the pandemic and the beginning of great innovation. Banking on artificial intelligence and machine learning, many early-stage startups covered here are looking to automate solutions to every problem, from deciding where to invest to the best possible hire for a company.

As we shortlisted the startups for the January 2022 edition while the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic raged on, the idea was to look for novel ideas and tech startups testing the theory ‘AI would be the future’.

30 Startups To Watch: January 2022

With the focus on startups automating processes for consumers and enterprises, we deep-dived into various sectors and handpicked some unique business models and excellent brands. From enabling ecommerce to creating healthy lifestyles and automating finances to hiring processes — these startups are literally transforming the traditional tech industry.

We have presented five lifestyle startups here, with fashion, healthy living and elective care being clubbed together. You will find as many fintech startups covering a wide range, from investing in startups after the successful run of Shark Tank India to goal-based savings. Better still, we found two exciting gaming companies, one an intriguing combination of trading and skill-based gaming and the other organising esports tournaments.

Although some of these startups are older than our usual list of three-year-olds, they began full-fledged operations only after 2019. As the need for product customisation and complementary business processes is rising fast, these startups have attracted a vast user base as they continue to solve fundamental pain points that hurt many sectors.

Check out the 24th edition of Inc42 Plus’ 30 Startups To Watch list.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups in alphabetical order.

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