Flipkart Co-Founder Binny Bansal Plans New Cross-Border E-Commerce Startup

Flipkart Co-Founder, Binny Bansal, who recently sold his remaining stake in e-commerce firm Flipkart, is planing to create a new cross-border e-commerce start-up, said a report by Moneycontrol, citing sources aware of the development.

Binny, who exited Flipkart in November 2018, is said to have received about $1-$1.5 billion from his shareholding in the home-grown e-commerce giant. 

In a latest, Binny is now looking to incubate a startup in the cross-border e-commerce segment, however unlike Flipkart – a consumer-facing internet entity, Binny is reportedly creating a startup that will provide design, product and manpower support to Indian and global e-commerce companies.

The report also affirmed that Binny is not looking for external funds and will most certainly bootstrap.

Citing one of the people privy to this development, the Moneycontrol report further said that the upcoming startup from Binny Bansal would be quite like a KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) firm for e-commerce. "The idea is to build a global firm that can work with commerce companies and provide them backend support."

Moreover, Binny is also head-hunting for a CEO to run this new start-up venture. “While Binny (Bansal) will put his capital, he is not going to run the venture, unlike Sachin (Bansal, the other Flipkart co-founder), who is running Navi full time." said the report.

Last year, Binny Bansal sold his stake in Flipkart, which was worth $264 million (more than ₹2,000 crore), to Chinese Internet giant Tencent.

Last month, Walmart paid $1.4 billion to acquire VC firm Tiger Global's remaining stakes in Flipkart.

E-Comm Platform Direct2U Raises Rs 1.8 Cr in Seed Round Led By Inflection Point Ventures

(L-R) Gaurav Ahlawat Co-founder & CEO,Anshuman Maheshwari Co-founder and COO

• Direct2U is a B2B2C-assisted E-commerce platform that aims to disrupt the rural market by providing finance and door-to-door delivery
• Funds raised will be used for technology development, hiring, marketing and expansion plans
• Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) has so far invested over INR 550 Cr across 170+ deals

B2B2C e-comm startup Direct2U, a brand of Flow Commerce Private Limited, has raised Rs.1.8 Cr in a Seed Round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). Funds raised will be used for technology development, hiring, marketing and expansion plans.

Direct2U (Flow Commerce Pvt. Ltd.) is a B2B2C-assisted E-commerce platform that aims to disrupt the rural market by providing access to finance and door-to-door delivery. Their strong relationships with various brands such as Samsung, Vivo, Prestige, and others allow the rural audience to select from a wide range of products. A unique OTP mechanism along with visual proof of delivery helps build the trust of MFI partners. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Odisha are currently being covered by the Company. Started revenue generation in Jan 23 and had a growth of 12% in Feb 23.

Flow commerce started on 10th Dec 2022 and Direct2U marketplace started posting revenue on 01st Jan 23 by Gaurav Ahlawat and Anshuman Maheshwari, Direct2U aims to simplify cross-border e-commerce thereby making it accessible to businesses of all sizes. The company has expanded its operations in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Karnataka with 23 warehouses.

Mitesh Shah, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures, says, “Direct2U has identified a promising white space i.e rural e-comm market and they are disrupting it by bringing in standardised processes which will elevate customer experience, business growth of the brands, generate employment for delivery staff and a safe payment process will give trust and comfort to the customers, many of whom are first time online shopper. Direct2U is solving all the connectivity problems and has created an integrated structure on one platform. We believe their growth trajectory and growth plans along with our support and network will help the Company to establish their leadership in this segment.”

Direct2U, a FLOW COMMERCE company, is a fully-integrated assisted ecommerce platform. A consumer durables marketplace that brings together lead generation, order fulfilment, cash (online transfer) and credit purchase options, along with the door-step delivery for the demand rich, underpenetrated rural Indian consumers in the deep rural pockets of Bharat. 

Gaurav Ahlawat, Founder, Direct2U, says, "Great experience dealing with IPV, a team of thorough professionals working closely with founders to understand the business in minute details from all perspectives. The fact that rural commerce, with tech-enabled last mile delivery along with a user friendly frontend platform, can be executed with positive unit level economics is a winning factor. Strict due diligence to build confidence in the startup business. IPV is instrumental in guidance through various mentor investors in supporting the business growth further.”

By 2026, India will have 1100 million Internet users and 350 million Internet shoppers. Tier 2 and below locations in rural India (BHARAT) are expected to add 88% of online shoppers and $7 billion in cumulative incremental online retail transactions between 2020 and 2030. Total internet user share from tier 2 and below towns will increase from 32% in 2021 to 46% in 2025-F to 54% in 2025-F. (2030-F)

About Direct2U

FLOW COMMERCE is a fully integrated assisted e-commerce platform (owning the brand Direct2U, a consumer durables marketplace that brings together lead generation, order fulfillment, cash (online transfer), and credit purchase options, along with the door-step delivery for the demand-rich, underpenetrated rural Indian consumers in the deep rural pockets of Bharat.

About Inflection Point Ventures & Physis Capital

Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) is an angel investing platform with over 7400 CXOs, HNIs, and Professionals to together invest in startups. The firm supports new-age entrepreneurs by providing them with monetary & experiential capital and connecting them with a diverse group of investors. IPV has announced the launch of a $50 million CAT 2 AIF Physis Capital to invest in pre-Series A to Series B growth-stage start-ups.

Flip Closes $60 Million Series B Round to Reimagine the Next Era of E-Commerce

Business Wire India

Flip, the next-generation e-commerce platform combining a TikTok-like discovery experience with a premium e-commerce service, announced a $60 million Series B funding round at a valuation of $500 million. The funding round was led by WestCap with participation from previous investors Mubadala Capital and Streamlined Ventures, bringing the company’s total capital raised to $95 million.  

This press release featres multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220719005030/en/

 

(Photo: Business Wire)

The Series B round follows a period of rapid growth where Flip grew its user base by 500% since the beginning of 2022, while growing transactions on the platform by over 600% during that same period. The company plans to use the funding to expand the team, deepen its brand partnerships, and launch its own third-party social commerce marketplace this summer.

Flip built an experience that combines the power of social discovery with the convenience of e-commerce in an organic fashion. Shoppers visit Flip as a single destination to discover and learn about products through 60-second videos of user-generated content that are instantly shoppable, with a one-click checkout and same day shipping. Shoppers can then turn into creators by sharing their own video reviews and monetizing them as other users in the community engage and shop through their content.

“Our thesis from day 1 was that the future of commerce is centered around people. No one sells a product better than the customer that has purchased that product multiple times, and we see that every day on Flip,” said Noor Agha, Founder and CEO of Flip. ”Through our patented technology that dynamically connects digital content to physical products, we’ve developed a seamless discovery-to-purchase cycle where users can shop instantly through content, share their own video reviews of products they’ve purchased, while monetizing their content over time. It’s the beginning of the next era in e-commerce.”

As the lead investor, WestCap will leverage its expertise in scaling and operating leading technology marketplaces, including Airbnb, iCapital, GoodLeap, StubHub and Hopper. Tina Yuan, Vice President of Investments at WestCap, will join Flip’s Board of Directors, and Brian Reinken, Partner at WestCap, will serve as a board observer.

"Flip has thoughtfully stitched together complex technologies to redefine and elevate the way we discover products and shop online," said Laurence Tosi, Founder and Managing Partner at WestCap. "Their cutting-edge social commerce model is here to stay and ready to scale. The beauty industry is a first-mover, but that’s just the beginning and we could see other industries follow suit.”

“As early investors in Flip, we’ve been impressed not just by the product, but by the speed of execution and innovation. The company delivers a novel e-commerce solution for today's consumers that has the potential to scale globally. We're happy to partner with the company on that journey,” said Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures, Mubadala Capital.

Flip is also announcing the launch of its own third-party social commerce marketplace to extend access to the platform for independent brands, while enabling a single, trusted destination for shoppers. Emerging brands will now be able to access Flip’s social community of shoppers and creators along with a full suite of proprietary e-commerce tools. All brand partners will have their own dashboards with insights into their brand performance, including sales data, order management, content engagement, content performance, and more, enabling them to receive instant feedback from a social community of shoppers reviewing their products.

For more information about partnering with Flip, visit https://company.flip.shop/sellwithflip.

About Flip

Flip is building the next-generation social & live commerce platform for people to shop through other people. With a growing community of shoppers sharing video reviews of products they’ve purchased on the platform, buyers can discover products through 60 second videos of user-generated content that is instantly shoppable with a one-click checkout and same day shipping. Every shopper can then become a creator by sharing their own reviews and monetizing their content.


To learn more, visit www.flip.shop or download the Flip app on iOS or Android.

About WestCap

 WestCap is a strategic investor and operator in growth equity that partners with visionary leaders to build generational companies. WestCap's team is comprised of seasoned entrepreneurs and company builders who work side-by-side with founders to help companies scale. WestCap has made notable investments like Airbnb, StubHub, Ipreo, Addepar, Hopper, iCapital, SIMON, GoodLeap and NYDIG. The firm has offices in New York, San Francisco and London. For more information, visit www.WestCap.com.
 

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220719005030/en/

Sustainable Products E-Commerce Marketplace SustainKart Closes Pre-Seed Round Led by India Accelerator

SustainKart, a Hyderabad-based e-commerce marketplace exclusively for sustainable products, has raised $500K in its pre-seed round led by India Accelerator. The round was able to close in a record time and saw the participation of several HNIs, industry experts as part of India Accelerator’s network.

SustainKart offers a wide range of eco-friendly, green & clean products across all lifestyle categories, from fashion to decor, food & nutrition, kids care, pet care, furniture & furnishings to home care, all under one roof. It helps conscious Indians choose products hassle-free. The platform ensures the authenticity of the products & brand claims by a strong audit process.

Commenting on the investment, Mona Singh, Co-founder of IA said, “Our decision to invest in SustainKart is consistent with our philosophy to back brands that promote eco-friendly living. Apart from this, we are amazed with how SustainKart is at the forefront of bringing innovative solutions in changing the spending pattern of Indian households for their lifestyle commodities.”

Founded by renowned entrepreneurs Shilpa Reddy & Kanthi Dutt, the platform was launched in January 2021 and has witnessed massive growth in the last year. With over 950 brands and 68000 SKUs, it is the largest e-commerce marketplace in Asia for clean D2C brands & sustainable consumers.

It aims to grow into a house of brands with celebrity co-founders. Bhoomitra, a beauty brand by SustainKart backed by actress Keerthy Suresh was launched a couple of months ago. “We plan to launch a series of private labels with A-lister celebrity co-founders to have a stronger foothold in the sustainable D2C space. Multiple strategic seed-stage D2C brand acquisitions are planned for this year”, says founder Kanthi Dutt.

On track to capture a share of $ 4BN of the Indian sustainable consumer e-commerce space by 2026, leading brands like mCaffeine, Tribe Concepts, Neemas, Let’s Shave, SuperBottoms, amongst several others have already been listed on the platform in its first year. “Sustainable consumerism is only growing. Thanks to the pandemic, only more people realized the impact of consumer behavior on climate change. However, sustainability is a journey that has caught momentum now, like never before”, says Shilpa Reddy, co-founder, SustainKart.

SustainKart not only hosts a long list of leading brands that are Vegan, cruelty-free, upcycled- recycled, biodegradable, hand-made, organic and chemical-free but also promotes local & small clean brands. They provide a single convenient platform where consumers can find sustainable alternatives for every need and motivate people to choose a nature-friendly sustainable lifestyle.

Singapore's Shopmatic Secures $5.7 Mn From ACP Pte, Spring Seeds Capital

Singapore-based e-commerce firm, Shopmatic has raised $5.7 million in pre-series A round led by led by technology venture capital firm ACP Pte Ltd and Spring Seeds Capital. Spring Seeds Capital is an investment subsidiary of Spring Singapore, an agency under Singapore's trade and industry minister.

The company plans to utilize freshly infuse funds to aggressively expand to Indonesia, the Philippines and West Asia.Commenting on the development, Sameer Narula, Managing Partner, ACP said, “By using the deep data-sets generated on its platform, Shopmatic has the potential to enable SMEs and partners better target their services and products and to accelerate the adoption of e-commerce in these high-growth markets," Narula, as part of this round will be joining the board of Shopmatic.

Commenting on the development, Sameer Narula, Managing Partner, ACP said, “By using the deep data-sets generated on its platform, Shopmatic has the potential to enable SMEs and partners better target their services and products and to accelerate the adoption of e-commerce in these high-growth markets," Narula, as part of this round will be joining the board of Shopmatic.

Founded in 2014 by Anurag Avula, Yen Lim and Kris Chen, Shopmatic offers merchants and individual entrepreneurs a platform to sell online. It enables small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs to build online stores with integrated payment and shipping functions and sell their products or services through multiple channels.

“With this round of funds, we aim to expand our service to a wider seller base across more markets in Asia and other emerging markets," said Anurag Avula, CEO, Shopmatic.

With an angel investment of $1.5 million from undisclosed investors from India, the US and Singapore, founder launched the Shopmatic. Company has last year launched Shopmatic Go, a mobile-centric product with more than 1,30,000 downloads since November, and has acquired Taiwan-based 5xRuby, a technology development house.

Launched In 2013 This Husband-Wife Duo's Startup Now Sells Engineering Goods To 10 Countries

Having heard stories from her husband about difficulties in procuring the right material for use in various industries, and knowing how important and at the same time troublesome this process is, she decided to change the situation. Aware of the intricacies of the industry, she firstly narrowed down on the problems of the industry and then started this venture in hopes of alleviating them.

THE IDEA

Lavanya Natarajan found that this industry was plagued by these three problems

• Sourcing genuine / authentic goods


• Accessibility of product technical information


• Ease of procurement.

After careful deliberation, she decided to launch Steelsparrow hoping to overcome these problems. Steelsparrow is an e-commerce startup supplying a variety of complex industrial products to the industry. Currently, it deals with more than 200,000+ industrial products and has secured more than 1,000 customers in just a span of 2 years. The startup focuses only on genuine and quality industrial products and ensures its customers have access to hard to find quality products in the market.

MEET THE MAKERS

The Bangalore-based startup was an initiative by husband-wife duo - Lavanya Natarajan and Venkatesh.

Lavanya Natarajan is an MCA graduate and has now been working at Steelsparrow for three years in the capacity of a Managing Director. She has done an enormous amount of research work on the e-commerce domain and is a natural leader.

Venkatesh is a Mechanical Engineer and has more than 20+ years experience in the oil and gas industry in various positions. He is a strong product engineer having exposure to a great domain of industrial products with a good commercial acumen.

USP

This industry is not that organized yet and most of the transactions are done through individuals or firms who have a monopoly and hence have the freedom to set the price. This startup is an initiative to organize this sector and ensure some order. They sell only genuine industrial goods and ensure quality goods are delivered on time. They offer the lowest prices for the goods in India and it is guaranteed. They ensure availability of goods to the industrial customers when they need it desperately. Apart from just providing material in a completely transparent method, they also provide technical support to their customers whenever they need.

FUNDING

They have a seed funding of Rs.24 Lakhs which was completely done using the founders' savings in 2013.

TARGET MARKET

Steelsparrow.com serves a wide variety of industries starting from running textile mills to large construction sites. It enables the users in any remote areas to search and order quality industrial products and they are shipped mostly within the same day. This enables customers to source their industrial needs and it is a new experience for the industry.

PLAN OF ACTION

Without any external investments, the company has grown and established itself as one of the favorite brands in the industry. They have already exported industrial goods to more than 10 countries in the world with great praise and success. They have a regular clientele of more than 1,000+ customers already. A great point for budding entrepreneurs to note is that  they have been very careful in burning  cash.  They haven't spent money on any sort of paid advertisements so far and their cost of customer acquisition is very low.

They are currently focusing on adding more products before they launch their much awaited marketing campaign. Next they will soon be upgrading their website and expanding their product line. They will also be looking for Venture capitalists to invest in their company for the planned expansion. Their target is to offer a record value to their investors in the shortest time frame.

 

Launched In 2013 This Husband-Wife Duo's Startup Now Sells Engineering Goods To 10 Countries

Having heard stories from her husband about difficulties in procuring the right material for use in various industries, and knowing how important and at the same time troublesome this process is, she decided to change the situation. Aware of the intricacies of the industry, she firstly narrowed down on the problems of the industry and then started this venture in hopes of alleviating them.

THE IDEA

Lavanya Natarajan found that this industry was plagued by these three problems

• Sourcing genuine / authentic goods


• Accessibility of product technical information


• Ease of procurement.

After careful deliberation, she decided to launch Steelsparrow hoping to overcome these problems. Steelsparrow is an e-commerce startup supplying a variety of complex industrial products to the industry. Currently, it deals with more than 200,000+ industrial products and has secured more than 1,000 customers in just a span of 2 years. The startup focuses only on genuine and quality industrial products and ensures its customers have access to hard to find quality products in the market.

MEET THE MAKERS

The Bangalore-based startup was an initiative by husband-wife duo - Lavanya Natarajan and Venkatesh.

Lavanya Natarajan is an MCA graduate and has now been working at Steelsparrow for three years in the capacity of a Managing Director. She has done an enormous amount of research work on the e-commerce domain and is a natural leader.

Venkatesh is a Mechanical Engineer and has more than 20+ years experience in the oil and gas industry in various positions. He is a strong product engineer having exposure to a great domain of industrial products with a good commercial acumen.

USP

This industry is not that organized yet and most of the transactions are done through individuals or firms who have a monopoly and hence have the freedom to set the price. This startup is an initiative to organize this sector and ensure some order. They sell only genuine industrial goods and ensure quality goods are delivered on time. They offer the lowest prices for the goods in India and it is guaranteed. They ensure availability of goods to the industrial customers when they need it desperately. Apart from just providing material in a completely transparent method, they also provide technical support to their customers whenever they need.

FUNDING

They have a seed funding of Rs.24 Lakhs which was completely done using the founders' savings in 2013.

TARGET MARKET

Steelsparrow.com serves a wide variety of industries starting from running textile mills to large construction sites. It enables the users in any remote areas to search and order quality industrial products and they are shipped mostly within the same day. This enables customers to source their industrial needs and it is a new experience for the industry.

PLAN OF ACTION

Without any external investments, the company has grown and established itself as one of the favorite brands in the industry. They have already exported industrial goods to more than 10 countries in the world with great praise and success. They have a regular clientele of more than 1,000+ customers already. A great point for budding entrepreneurs to note is that  they have been very careful in burning  cash.  They haven't spent money on any sort of paid advertisements so far and their cost of customer acquisition is very low.

They are currently focusing on adding more products before they launch their much awaited marketing campaign. Next they will soon be upgrading their website and expanding their product line. They will also be looking for Venture capitalists to invest in their company for the planned expansion. Their target is to offer a record value to their investors in the shortest time frame.

 

Aurangabad-based Tidyhomz Is All-Things-Home E-Commerce Platform

[caption id="attachment_103286" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Team Tidyhomz[/caption]

A clean and tidy home is everyone's dream. After a long day at work, one just wants to go back to a clean, well arranged place where everything you need is right in front of your eyes and you don't have to spend the precious 'me' time you had projected in finding the sunglasses that you have to wear tomorrow. Sounds like your dream scenario, too? Well, making these 21st century modern dreams come true is an Aurangabad, Maharashtra based startup called Tidy Homz.

The startup is an online one-stop platform for all your home related needs, right from the often needed basic utility items to some fancier wooden furniture and furnishings, everything has been available on the platform.

With Tidy Homz, Pritika Chatterjee and Ajinkya Save, founders, aim to innovate, manufacture and even import in certain products which they think should be a basic in every Indian household.

[caption id="attachment_103284" align="aligncenter" width="341"] Pritika Chatterjee and Ajinkya Save[/caption]

Further, they aspire to make the daily Indian living much more simpler and easier. Their main mission is to get people interested in the various market products for their household which they might have not even known or seen before.

According to them, the typical Indian buyer always seeks for two things i.e. good quality and good price. And, these two are the things which set Tidy Homz apart from any other such startup currently in the market. In addition to this, they manufacture their own products and the parent company of Tidyhomz is an export house therefore the company says it understands what it takes to make a good product.

Tidyhomz launched its website on 8th January 2016 and have got close to 250 orders in just 10 days. The unique startup has around 250 SKUs till now and starting 1st Feb, they aspire to introduce at least 2 products per week.

Their parent company has put in 2 crores initially and now the startup is looking out for external investments.

The startup's future plans include taking the number of SKUs from the current 250 to 1,000 figure by the end of the year and have a good presence in all the 65 cities that they're catering to right now.

Aurangabad-based Tidyhomz Is All-Things-Home E-Commerce Platform

[caption id="attachment_103286" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Team Tidyhomz[/caption]

A clean and tidy home is everyone's dream. After a long day at work, one just wants to go back to a clean, well arranged place where everything you need is right in front of your eyes and you don't have to spend the precious 'me' time you had projected in finding the sunglasses that you have to wear tomorrow. Sounds like your dream scenario, too? Well, making these 21st century modern dreams come true is an Aurangabad, Maharashtra based startup called Tidy Homz.

The startup is an online one-stop platform for all your home related needs, right from the often needed basic utility items to some fancier wooden furniture and furnishings, everything has been available on the platform.

With Tidy Homz, Pritika Chatterjee and Ajinkya Save, founders, aim to innovate, manufacture and even import in certain products which they think should be a basic in every Indian household.

[caption id="attachment_103284" align="aligncenter" width="341"] Pritika Chatterjee and Ajinkya Save[/caption]

Further, they aspire to make the daily Indian living much more simpler and easier. Their main mission is to get people interested in the various market products for their household which they might have not even known or seen before.

According to them, the typical Indian buyer always seeks for two things i.e. good quality and good price. And, these two are the things which set Tidy Homz apart from any other such startup currently in the market. In addition to this, they manufacture their own products and the parent company of Tidyhomz is an export house therefore the company says it understands what it takes to make a good product.

Tidyhomz launched its website on 8th January 2016 and have got close to 250 orders in just 10 days. The unique startup has around 250 SKUs till now and starting 1st Feb, they aspire to introduce at least 2 products per week.

Their parent company has put in 2 crores initially and now the startup is looking out for external investments.

The startup's future plans include taking the number of SKUs from the current 250 to 1,000 figure by the end of the year and have a good presence in all the 65 cities that they're catering to right now.

Meet Pumpkart, A Chandigarh-Based Startup Praised by Google's Sundar Pichai

These days you can buy almost anything online from stationary to your furniture, so why to stop at just that. Here we have Mr. K S Bhatia who took the e-commerce platform to the next level. The Chandigarh-based startup Pumpkart and as the name suggests is in the business of selling all kinds of pumps online. With this venture, Mr. Bhatia has revolutionised the industry.

Notably, Pumpkart is India's largest online megastore for agricultural and domestic pumps.

This innovative e-commerce website got Google CEO Sundar Pichai praise recently during the Digital India Submit in Sillicon Valley. Google India has selected Pumpkart.com as a Regional SME Hero from 25 SMEs national finalists.



The startup has tied up with the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Govt. of India, to deliver high quality water pumps at cost effective prices to the farmers and others remotely through a wide extended CSCs network. It is also coming up with O2O offline stores very soon with the opening of first one within this month in Chandigarh.

THE IDEA

Pumpkart.com was launched by K S Bhatia in June 2014. It was launched with the mission of making the Indian water pump industry more organized and structured. Having had an experience of over 18 years in the same industry, Mr. Bhatia knew the full potential of a venture like this. He was fully aware that this was an untouched territory which could be taken advantage of.  Like any other e-commerce website they cater to the needs of their customers which in this case happens to be pumps. They don't just deliver products but they also provide free installation services along with technical support.

This entire idea was not just his doing, credits must go to his son as well. This whole thing started when his 14-year-old son, who is quite the techie gifted his father the domain name.

MEET THE MAKERS

A chemical engineer by background, he worked with few manufacturing companies before he struck oil in the form of Pumpkart. He has worked in this industry for almost 18 years and has a lot of experience in this field. He is a portfolio entrepreneur who holds more than one business to reform the Indian water management solutions industry.

USP

Pumpkart is a one of its kind company that caters to this sector, this itself sets it apart from the rest.  They do have some other features that lure customers to Pumpkart rather than going through a plumber or going through the hassle of going through the local shop.

• They provide free installation in rural and urban areas.


• They have a lot of variety, from small house pumps to agricultural pumps, you name it and it will be there.


• They have a well-informed support staff on board that help out the customers in making the right choice based on their needs.


• They also offer EMI options to ensure easy availability of products to farmers

DODGING THE COMPETITION

This sector has been quite unorganized and is mostly dominated by individual manufacturers and retailers. With the launch of Pumpkart in 2014, it aims to bring stability to the sector. There is no other player in the market that can match up to Pumpkart in this field. In a short span of time, they have managed to make associations with 100 plus brands and more than 500 total vendors, including dealers and distributors. Being the first in this field, this does give them an edge over any future players as well.

FUNDING

They are currently in talks with a number of investors right now regarding the same. Currently, Pumpkart is boostrapped and running on personal money of the founder.

THE JOURNEY TILL NOW

They journey of Pumpkart till now has been extremely good and they have been showered with awards for doing so well.

• It was named in list of the top 20 E-Retailers 2014 in India Award from Times of India


• Google India has selected Pumpkart.com as a Regional SME Hero from 25 SMEs national finalists.

They are based out of Chandigarh and have a team of experts handling their different departments like technical support, online promotions, customer support, logistics and business development. In the last one year, the company has really grown with over 10,000 happy customers so far, generating a revenue of over 60-65 lakhs per month. They seem to be doing really well.

THE ROAD AHEAD

They have plans to open their very own stores in various cities across the nation starting with Chandigarh this Jan. This is their O2O (online to offline commerce) strategy to increase their customer base. They plan to open 100 display stores in next four years with service centres by the name of www.repairingindia.com.

Apart from this, they are also planning to launch an app soon to provide a better experience to their users.

They are also focusing on CSCs and VLEs to cater rural customers online and deliver products and services at their door for free. They have made deals with the e-Governance Services Limited, an initiative of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeiTY) under the IT ministry of India. This has been done to extend their reach to the rural markets which are a huge target market. This association will help them deliver water pumps through Common Service Centers (CSC), a kiosk with a computer and internet accessibility nationwide.

Meet Pumpkart, A Chandigarh-Based Startup Praised by Google's Sundar Pichai

These days you can buy almost anything online from stationary to your furniture, so why to stop at just that. Here we have Mr. K S Bhatia who took the e-commerce platform to the next level. The Chandigarh-based startup Pumpkart and as the name suggests is in the business of selling all kinds of pumps online. With this venture, Mr. Bhatia has revolutionised the industry.

Notably, Pumpkart is India's largest online megastore for agricultural and domestic pumps.

This innovative e-commerce website got Google CEO Sundar Pichai praise recently during the Digital India Submit in Sillicon Valley. Google India has selected Pumpkart.com as a Regional SME Hero from 25 SMEs national finalists.



The startup has tied up with the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Govt. of India, to deliver high quality water pumps at cost effective prices to the farmers and others remotely through a wide extended CSCs network. It is also coming up with O2O offline stores very soon with the opening of first one within this month in Chandigarh.

THE IDEA

Pumpkart.com was launched by K S Bhatia in June 2014. It was launched with the mission of making the Indian water pump industry more organized and structured. Having had an experience of over 18 years in the same industry, Mr. Bhatia knew the full potential of a venture like this. He was fully aware that this was an untouched territory which could be taken advantage of.  Like any other e-commerce website they cater to the needs of their customers which in this case happens to be pumps. They don't just deliver products but they also provide free installation services along with technical support.

This entire idea was not just his doing, credits must go to his son as well. This whole thing started when his 14-year-old son, who is quite the techie gifted his father the domain name.

MEET THE MAKERS

A chemical engineer by background, he worked with few manufacturing companies before he struck oil in the form of Pumpkart. He has worked in this industry for almost 18 years and has a lot of experience in this field. He is a portfolio entrepreneur who holds more than one business to reform the Indian water management solutions industry.

USP

Pumpkart is a one of its kind company that caters to this sector, this itself sets it apart from the rest.  They do have some other features that lure customers to Pumpkart rather than going through a plumber or going through the hassle of going through the local shop.

• They provide free installation in rural and urban areas.


• They have a lot of variety, from small house pumps to agricultural pumps, you name it and it will be there.


• They have a well-informed support staff on board that help out the customers in making the right choice based on their needs.


• They also offer EMI options to ensure easy availability of products to farmers

DODGING THE COMPETITION

This sector has been quite unorganized and is mostly dominated by individual manufacturers and retailers. With the launch of Pumpkart in 2014, it aims to bring stability to the sector. There is no other player in the market that can match up to Pumpkart in this field. In a short span of time, they have managed to make associations with 100 plus brands and more than 500 total vendors, including dealers and distributors. Being the first in this field, this does give them an edge over any future players as well.

FUNDING

They are currently in talks with a number of investors right now regarding the same. Currently, Pumpkart is boostrapped and running on personal money of the founder.

THE JOURNEY TILL NOW

They journey of Pumpkart till now has been extremely good and they have been showered with awards for doing so well.

• It was named in list of the top 20 E-Retailers 2014 in India Award from Times of India


• Google India has selected Pumpkart.com as a Regional SME Hero from 25 SMEs national finalists.

They are based out of Chandigarh and have a team of experts handling their different departments like technical support, online promotions, customer support, logistics and business development. In the last one year, the company has really grown with over 10,000 happy customers so far, generating a revenue of over 60-65 lakhs per month. They seem to be doing really well.

THE ROAD AHEAD

They have plans to open their very own stores in various cities across the nation starting with Chandigarh this Jan. This is their O2O (online to offline commerce) strategy to increase their customer base. They plan to open 100 display stores in next four years with service centres by the name of www.repairingindia.com.

Apart from this, they are also planning to launch an app soon to provide a better experience to their users.

They are also focusing on CSCs and VLEs to cater rural customers online and deliver products and services at their door for free. They have made deals with the e-Governance Services Limited, an initiative of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeiTY) under the IT ministry of India. This has been done to extend their reach to the rural markets which are a huge target market. This association will help them deliver water pumps through Common Service Centers (CSC), a kiosk with a computer and internet accessibility nationwide.

Mumbai-Based SpareGuru Is A 'Flipkart' Just For Spare Parts

Is the hunt for your old modelled refrigerator's spare part, giving you sleepless nights? Have you contacted multiple spare part dealers but don't know whom to trust? This is a kind of situation in which all most all of us get entangled at some point of time in our life. But, with SpareGuru, all this is going to be a thing of the past.

Based in Mumbai, SpareGuru is a marketplace that enables sellers, dealers and manufacturers all across the country to sell and purchase spare parts. With SpareGuru, one can easily shop for spare parts in the same way one buys clothes, vegetables etc. online.

Understanding the nature of the market they're working in, the startup has enabled phone, email and text/Whatsapp based purchasing as well. Along with this, by allowing payment modes like Funds Transfer, they wish to make the entire purchasing process a tension free experience for their customers. Various other interesting features like automatic product quotations etc. are currently under process.

The spare part market in the country is currently very fragmented and not so pro-technology. This makes it a difficult task to tie up with suppliers and connect with them. For example, on the breakdown of a machine, the owner typically has to contact multiple suppliers for quotes and the process of getting quotes in itself takes a long time. One might not even be able to reach the proper supplier as there are too many man in the middle and connecting with the right supplier becomes a big and daunting task. This is where Spareguru comes in and solves all these problems. By providing instant online quotes and tieing-up with multiple suppliers and best manufacturers in the country, the innovative startup helps the customer reach directly to the source directly and in a much efficient way.

[caption id="attachment_102389" align="alignleft" width="327"] (L-R) Ketur Shah & Gaurav Wadhwani, Co-founders, SpareGuru.com[/caption]

SpareGuru has been founded by two college mates, Ketur Shah and Gaurav Wadhwani. Alumni of the Prestigious University College London, Ketur has done his MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship, while Gaurav has done his MSc in Web Sciences and Big Data analytics. They together conceived the idea for SpaceGuru while working on a dissertation and business pitch for their post-graduation degree on how one can make use of technology and Big Data to change the way Spare parts are purchased in India. And, Ketur family's 35 years of experience in the business of industrial Supply only worked in their advantage.

Seeing the nature of their market , they have worked out a strategy to acquire customers only on the basis of low margins and high quality products. At the moment, they have selected the Automobile spares and Earth moving spares niche for themselves. Their future plans involve tieing-up with various Generic Industrial Spares like Nut bolts etc. and become the Flipkart for any industries SpareParts requirements.

Mumbai-Based SpareGuru Is A 'Flipkart' Just For Spare Parts

Is the hunt for your old modelled refrigerator's spare part, giving you sleepless nights? Have you contacted multiple spare part dealers but don't know whom to trust? This is a kind of situation in which all most all of us get entangled at some point of time in our life. But, with SpareGuru, all this is going to be a thing of the past.

Based in Mumbai, SpareGuru is a marketplace that enables sellers, dealers and manufacturers all across the country to sell and purchase spare parts. With SpareGuru, one can easily shop for spare parts in the same way one buys clothes, vegetables etc. online.

Understanding the nature of the market they're working in, the startup has enabled phone, email and text/Whatsapp based purchasing as well. Along with this, by allowing payment modes like Funds Transfer, they wish to make the entire purchasing process a tension free experience for their customers. Various other interesting features like automatic product quotations etc. are currently under process.

The spare part market in the country is currently very fragmented and not so pro-technology. This makes it a difficult task to tie up with suppliers and connect with them. For example, on the breakdown of a machine, the owner typically has to contact multiple suppliers for quotes and the process of getting quotes in itself takes a long time. One might not even be able to reach the proper supplier as there are too many man in the middle and connecting with the right supplier becomes a big and daunting task. This is where Spareguru comes in and solves all these problems. By providing instant online quotes and tieing-up with multiple suppliers and best manufacturers in the country, the innovative startup helps the customer reach directly to the source directly and in a much efficient way.

[caption id="attachment_102389" align="alignleft" width="327"] (L-R) Ketur Shah & Gaurav Wadhwani, Co-founders, SpareGuru.com[/caption]

SpareGuru has been founded by two college mates, Ketur Shah and Gaurav Wadhwani. Alumni of the Prestigious University College London, Ketur has done his MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship, while Gaurav has done his MSc in Web Sciences and Big Data analytics. They together conceived the idea for SpaceGuru while working on a dissertation and business pitch for their post-graduation degree on how one can make use of technology and Big Data to change the way Spare parts are purchased in India. And, Ketur family's 35 years of experience in the business of industrial Supply only worked in their advantage.

Seeing the nature of their market , they have worked out a strategy to acquire customers only on the basis of low margins and high quality products. At the moment, they have selected the Automobile spares and Earth moving spares niche for themselves. Their future plans involve tieing-up with various Generic Industrial Spares like Nut bolts etc. and become the Flipkart for any industries SpareParts requirements.

This New E-commerce Startup Exclusively Sell 'Made In India' Products

With India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, promoting his pet project the 'Make in India' initiative with all enthusiasm and determination, how could the industry remain far behind ?

GruhUdyog.in, an Ahmedabad based startup has jumped right in, in order to show its support for PM Modi's ambitious initiative by launching an e-commerce portal meant exclusively to sell 'Made in India' products. The portal will offer all types of Made in India products from Home, Artisans, Community, Groups, Local Shops, Cottage Industry, Handloom & Handicraft enterprises, MSME establishment, NGO, and Co-operatives etc.

With westernisation, modernisation and the flowering of various e-commerce portals, our very own Indian artisans have had a hard time competing with their western counterparts. By providing them a platform similar to the one provided to their western counterparts, GruhUdyog.in is making sure that the Indian artisans, manufacturers and producers finally get their long well deserved due.

As an early mover consolidator for local stores & brands with technological and application integration strength the startup offer unique solution for multi model markets (B2C, B2B and specialized products).



Co-founders Amit Patel and Jayesh Gohel, came up with the idea for GruhUdyog.in after they realised that people are in desperate need of a single platform from where they can enjoy India’s famous local brands & products that too from within the comfort of their homes. Amit has over 15 years of rich experience in the industry- managing teams with over 35 people. Jayesh, on the other hand, is a recognised tech expert – with an experience of managing teams with over 50 people.

"Customers need single platform from where they can enjoy India’s famous local brands & products. Customers are also looking for better insight of city special products & offerings from households, artisans & other stake holders from every corner of the country." said Amit in a statement to IndianWeb2.

On GruhUdyog.in, buyers have web and mobile access to nearby local stores as well as famous stores across the country. The self funded startup aims to cover as many local stores / shops and households / artisans products possible from across the country in well defined category.

So, if you're a lover of Indian products and want to make sure that the art and the love with which they manufacture their products never dies, log on to GruhUdyog.in right away and shop your hearts out.

Mumbai-Based PlanetSuperHeroes Is Probably India's Biggest E-Tailer For Authentic Super-Heroes Merchandise

Has owning a miniature of your favourite superhero character always been your dream? Well, this dream can now see the daylight and become a reality with a super company from Mumbai called Planet Superheroes totally understanding your hero mania and becoming a superhero in their own way for all those superhero fanatics out there.

Founded in the year 2013, the startup boasts of being the country's only online website dedicated to authentic Superhero & Comic Character Merchandise. With Planet Superheroes, the founders have an aim of disrupting the nascent but exploding character merchandising space in India.

It's a little absurd to note that even though India has a multi-billion dollar entertainment business, we still don't have enough players catering to the Indian's merchandise need. This is what triggered the founders, Jaineel Aga, Sumit Shah and Karan Rai, to come up with Planet Superheroes.



The Mumbai headquartered company is just not another e-commerce merchandising company on the block. Planet superheroes is different from others in its domain as it is the only one offering 100% authenticity proof Superhero and Comic Merchandise products across hundred categories. According to them, they are like a proverbial "Candy Shop" for any Superhero Candy.

With the popularity of shows and movies like The Avengers and Game of Thrones etc. growing at an exponential rate in India, the demand for there merchandising has also increased manifolds.

The currently bootstrapped startup is now looking on raising an angel round in order to pursue the future goals for the startup.

Planet superheroes future plans includes introducing cartoons from the 90s like Johnny Bravo T-Shirts & Dexter Hoodies, Bar Accessories themed around "Duff Beer" from the Simpsons etc. that have great Nostalgic Value attached to them. Further, the startup also has plans of launching its native platform and app soon.

So, if you're also a superhero fanatic, then this is the "it" place to be.

The story of Srijata Bhatnagar, an entrepreneur who took the road less travelled

How many of us leave the conventional methods and follow what we are really passionate about? If you are one of them, you will relate to the story of Srijata Bhatnagar, the founder (and CEO) of EthnicShack, a Bangalore based e-commerce startup. EthnicShack is India's most loved brand for Handmade, Hand-woven & Handcrafted products. Since childhood, Srijata was always very passionate about handmade, hand-woven and handcrafted products. Her trait of doing something different form the rest inspired her to make her passion into a business reality.

[caption id="attachment_94422" align="alignleft" width="292"] Srijata Bhatnagar, Founder - EthnicShack.com[/caption]

EthnicShack makes lively and exclusive hand crafted Apparels, Accessories and Home Decor products that caters to the taste of new age highly fashion and trend conscious women, kids and men. Their products restore the old glory of our past by appreciating and popularizing forgotten Indian Handicrafts. "We believe in breaking the stereotypes that Ethnic is only for special occasions and handcrafted products are boring and costly. Our brand has an extensive range of uber stylish products developed in collaboration with rural artisans and fashion enthusiasts that are affordable and can be part of our daily life,: she says.

It has been about a year since they started their operation. Currently they market their products through their website and are looking to expand their product into online market places slowly. "Products will soon be available on ebay, flipkart, snapdeal, amazon and many others. We will also start with our International foray soon," she adds excitedly.

EthincShack products are made using traditional techniques, having Indian character and yet made for modern generation and times. They focus on brilliant designs and manufacture quality products that are affordable too. They work with rural and marginal artisans very closely and co-create these products with the help of our team of qualified designers from NIFT, NID and other esteemed design institutes. "We aspire to be the leading brand for handmade products yet with a modern outlook," says Megha Gupta, a team member who handles their media relations.

"In the process we discovered some forgotten arts and crafts from rural parts of India and met with passionate tribal and village artisans who are struggling to keep their art alive. Learnt about different natural materials, colors, time intensive processes used to make just one piece of these arts and craft products; learnt how majority of these artisans are village women, who have acquired these skills from their mothers and grandmothers since childhood and are trying to keep it alive simply for the love of it," says Srijata.



The company does a lot of research on trends and preferences of their target market. After brainstorming sessions with the designers, they come up with designs, cuts, products that may suit today's multi-tasking generation. "This way, all our products bear exclusive prints and cuts," she adds. You will also see a lot of Fusion in their products. They have a team of 10 people working from their Office/Studio based out of Bangalore who handle Design, PR, Marketing, Legal and Finance matters of the company. Apart from this, they have about 30+ artisans in their extended family who they work with very closely. The artists are from all over the country.

The online startup is currently in bootstrapped mode but looking for investment to expand and generate 3 times revenue as compared to last year. "We have an over-whelming demand and acceptance due to the fact that we are helping the small scale and grassroots level artisans in rural areas of Andhra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal etc. by working with them directly," says Srijata. They are now going to engage with artists from North Eastern States and North India. "This way we will widen the spectrum of our offerings," she adds.

As a message for future Entrepreneurs, Srijata says, "Failure comes as a combo package with entrepreneurship, but no one talks about it. I think it's important we realize that failure teaches us more than success, and we should embrace failure more gracefully. Even Thomas Edison failed more than 1000 times before being able to successfully create the electric bulb.” Being an entrepreneur who has bootstrapped her startup, she adds, “People starting up on bootstrapping should remember that if you don't have sufficient amount of savings and/or other source of income and/or a partner to back up for your expenses; it's going to be extremely tough to survive."